Derek Lester

Derek is a Mechanical Engineer in the power industry, specializing in emerging energy technologies within the New Energy Solutions Group at Burns & McDonnell. His work focuses on the development and evaluation of fuel cells, carbon capture, geothermal and other emerging generation solutions. He supports clients through early-stage project development, leading technical assessments, feasibility studies, and engineering efforts required to advance projects through stage gates toward final investment decisions.

Derek works across multidisciplinary engineering efforts, develops technical scopes, supports commercial strategy, and evaluates integration of new technologies within existing energy infrastructure. With a foundation in detailed design and execution of simple and combined-cycle natural gas power generation projects, he brings a full project life-cycle perspective—from conceptual development through construction and commissioning. His background enables him to align technical solutions with execution strategy, cost, operability, and long-term project performance.