Oak Ridge Today

Oak Ridge Schools announces six-year digital learning, STEM partnership

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Bruce Borchers

Bruce Borchers

On Wednesday, Oak Ridge Schools announced a new collaboration with Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, to create authentic digital learning environments in classrooms district-wide. Through a six-year partnership, Discovery Education will support Oak Ridge Schools’ plan to implement a 1:1 learning initiative with engaging digital content and sustained, customized professional development.

This new partnership also supports Superintendent Bruce Borchers’ recently announced plan to transform Oak Ridge Schools into the premier preK-12 STEM school district in the nation. The district’s goal is to become a leader in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education through continuation and expansion of Oak Ridge’s already well-regarded educational opportunities for students along with additional enhancements to technology infrastructure, professional development, and access to devices, which will place dynamic digital content in the hands of each student.

As part of this new collaboration, all K-12 classrooms will have access to Discovery Education Streaming Plus. Discovery Education Streaming Plus features more than 155,000 dynamic digital learning objects that support all subject areas and learning styles, including videos, skill builders, games, audio files, images, writing prompts, and encyclopedia articles. It also includes hundreds of model lessons and instructional exemplars. [Read more…]

UT, ORNL, NASA, TVA help robotic ‘football’ kick off this week

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FIRST Robotics' Aerial Assist

This image shows what a game of FIRST Robotics’ Aerial Assist, a football-like game played by robots, might look like. (Photo courtesy University of Tennessee)

KNOXVILLE—Football season is still months away, but those needing a quick fix before fall can get a chance to see a version of the game played by competitors functioning like well-oiled machines.

The FIRST Robotics Competition Smoky Mountain Regional returns to the Knoxville Convention Center March 26-29, and is centered around a game featuring strong elements from football and soccer called Aerial Assist.

The idea behind Aerial Assist is that the 50 teams at the competition—from as far away as St. Louis and as close as the L&N STEM Academy across World’s Fair Park—will each build a robot capable of throwing, kicking, or running with a round ball with the goal of scoring a goal at each end of a field, or one capable of playing defense.

The University of Tennessee’s College of Engineering in Knoxville helps sponsor the event along with various technology and industry organizations such as NASA, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Schools selects Teacher Leaders

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The Oak Ridge School system has announced its selections for Teacher Leaders for the 2014-15 school year.

The Teacher Leader initiative was conceived and launched as a result of the Tennessee Department of Education’s push to create a differentiated pay scale for teachers in all counties. The department encouraged systems to either adopt a structure where teachers receive pay bonuses based on student test scores and eliminate increases in pay for advanced degrees or years of service, or adopt programs that ask teachers to take on greater responsibilities in schools.

“When presented with the opportunity to reward teachers for their dedicated and outstanding service, we decided not to get rid of our steps and lanes that reward teachers for their time and dedication to the classroom and earning advanced degrees, but rather recognize teachers that step up and take on greater leadership roles around STEM, analyzing data, and reinforcing professional learning communities,” said Bruce Borchers, Oak Ridge Schools superintendent. [Read more…]

UT Arboretum Society presents stormwater management lecture Tuesday

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The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society will present “The SMART Approach to Stormwater Management” on Tuesday at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge. The lecture starts at 7 p.m.

Daniel Yoder, professor of biosystems engineering and soil science at the University of Tennessee, will present the program. A specialist in soil and water engineering, Yoder earned his undergraduate and doctorate degrees at Purdue University. His responsibilities and expertise include surface hydrology, erosion control, water quality, and hydrologic monitoring. [Read more…]

ORNL’s CASL, Westinghouse simulate neutron behavior in nuclear reactor core

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AP1000 Pressurized Water Reactor

CASL is developing and applying new modeling and simulation technology (Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications Core Simulator or VERA-CS) to resolve and predict the detailed neutron distribution of the power-generation reactor core residing in reactor vessels. (Image courtesy of Westinghouse)

Test run signals emergence of the next generation in nuclear power reactor analysis tools

Scientists and engineers developing more accurate approaches to analyzing nuclear power reactors have successfully tested a new suite of computer codes that closely model “neutronics”—the behavior of neutrons in a reactor core.

Technical staff at Westinghouse Electric Company LLC, supported by the research team at the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors, or CASL, used the Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications core simulator (VERA-CS) to analyze its AP1000 advanced pressurized water reactor. The testing focused on modeling the startup conditions of the AP1000 plant design. [Read more…]

David Allen named to top safety position at DOE’s Oak Ridge Office

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David R. Allen

David R. Allen

David Allen has been named assistant manager for Safety and Technical Services at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office.

In this federal senior executive service position, Allen will report directly to the ORO manager and will be responsible for managing the performance of technical support in the areas of environment, safety and health, or ES&H; quality assurance; and engineering provided to multiple DOE site offices nationwide under the control of the department’s Office of Science Integrated Support Center. [Read more…]

Science Saturdays attract hundreds of students for lectures, tours

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Science Saturday Tour of Spallation Neutron Source

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Clarina De la Cruz, left, gives a tour of the Spallation Neutron Source to Science Saturday attendees Allison Campbell, Michael Campbell, Krista Barrett, and Joseph Gibbs. (Image courtesy of ORNL)

By Morgan McCorkle

Hundreds of science-minded students bypassed Saturday morning cartoons this semester, opting instead to participate in the first year of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Science Saturdays program.

Open to students in grades 8-12, the program’s free weekend lectures and hands-on activities centered on the science of rainbows, robotics and remote handling, the materials genome, crystals, biofuels, supercomputing, climate change, and more. [Read more…]

ORAU awards 30 research grants to junior faculty

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Oak Ridge Associated Universities has awarded competitive research grants totaling $150,000 to 30 junior faculty from ORAU member institutions. The annual grants are made through the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards program that provides funds to enrich the research and professional growth of young faculty.

The recipients, each of whom is in the first two years of a tenure track position, will receive $5,000 in “seed money” for the 2013-2014 academic year to enhance their research during the early stages of their career. Each recipient’s institution also matches the ORAU award with an additional $5,000, making the total prize worth $10,000 for each winner. Winners may use the grants to purchase equipment, continue research, or travel to professional meetings and conferences. [Read more…]

NNSA: President’s budget request includes $326M for UPF at Y-12

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Uranium Processing Facility

The proposed Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex is pictured above. (Submitted image)

President Barack Obama’s budget request for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 includes $326 million for the Uranium Processing Facility project at the Y-12 National Security Complex, federal officials said this week.

The president’s proposed budget, which still has to be considered by Congress, was released last week. The National Nuclear Security Administration released details on Monday.

The NNSA has also posted highlights of the president’s budget request. [Read more…]

‘VolsTeach Program’ at Lunch with League on Tuesday

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Peggy Bertrand

Peggy Bertrand

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“VolsTeach” will be the focus of a presentation by university faculty member Peggy Bertrand, the guest speaker at “Lunch with the League” at noon Tuesday in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church.

“VolsTeach” is a University of Tennessee program targeted to undergraduate math, science, or engineering majors who are interested in expanding their professional skills and exploring a career in secondary teaching. Without any additional credit hours, students can graduate in four years with a degree and obtain licensure as highly qualified teachers in their respective content areas. The program emphasizes early and ongoing field-based experiences. [Read more…]

Y-12 has second annual ‘Introduce a Girl to Engineering’ event

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Ultrasonic Detector Demonstrator

Natalie Layne, a Coalfield High sophomore, listens to an ultrasonic detector pointed at her eyes during the “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” at the New Hope Center on Thursday. (Submitted photos)

About 400 girls from East Tennessee schools were encouraged to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics during the second annual “Introduce a Girl to Engineering” event at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

The girls, who are in grades 9-12, interacted with women working in the engineering field, and they experienced hands-on activities at various exhibits hosted by Y-12, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee, and various engineering organizations, a press release said.

[Read more…]

B&W Y-12 awards scholarships to two Roane State students

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B&W Y-12 STEM Scholarships

B&W Y-12 Commercialization Manager Jeremy Benton, left, chats with STEM Scholarship winners Sara Lemmonds and Wes Jenkins, two Roane State Community College students who will split $5,000 in scholarships. (Photo courtesy of B&W Y-12)

B&W Y-12 recently awarded $5,000 in scholarships split between Roane State Community College freshmen Wes Jenkins and Sara Lemmonds, a press release said.

B&W Y-12 operates and manages the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge for the National Nuclear Security Administration.

The contractor said the scholarships are part of its effort to support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, education.

Recipients of the B&W Y-12 STEM Scholarship must be full-time students at Roane State pursuing a degree in one of the STEM fields of study.

Jenkins is a Harriman High School graduate and plans to major in biology. Lemmonds graduated from Oak Ridge High School and is enrolled in the college’s pre-med program.

[Read more…]