Oak Ridge Today

UT students, faculty members safe after London attacks

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Officials have accounted for the 43 University of Tennessee students and four faculty members in London, and all are safe, UT said Monday.

Oak Ridge Today has received a report that one of the students is from Oak Ridge, but UT wasn’t able to confirm that. A spokesperson said she didn’t have access to student information.

“I can tell you we have 43 students and four faculty members in London, and all have been accounted for/are safe,” said Katherine Saxon, UT coordinator for student communications and social media team member. [Read more…]

A first of its kind: UT, ORNL offer ‘big data’ doctorate

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The use of big data—collecting and interpreting vast amounts of information—has rapidly grown in importance across areas ranging from health care to nuclear security.

To help meet that demand, the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have created a first-of-its kind data science and engineering doctoral program, the only one in the United States to pair a university and national laboratory and one of just three such big data doctoral programs in the U.S. overall, a press release said.

The program, which was announced at the spring UT Board of Trustees meeting, hopes to enroll 15 Ph.D. candidates when it begins this fall, with the eventual goal of having 100 students at any given time.

In granting approval for the new program last week, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission noted that it is an answer to its call for the state’s higher education institutions to strengthen graduate-level education and address challenges befitting top research institutions, the press release said. [Read more…]

Community forum on immigration is Thursday

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De Ann Pendry

De Ann Pendry

There will be a community forum on immigration in Oak Ridge on Thursday.

A press release said the forum will provide information on how immigration has been affected by current politics and the issue of living without documentation in Oak Ridge.

The main speaker will be De Ann Pendry, a senior lecturer and adjunct assistant professor in anthropology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

The forum is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 27, in the sanctuary at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The forum is free, and the public is invited, the press release said. It’s sponsored by Women’s Interfaith Dialogue of Oak Ridge, or WIDOR; Oak Ridge Interfaith Partnership, or ORIP and the League of Women Voters, or LWV. [Read more…]

UT students studied how to use Centennial for more than golf; hear their recommendations Tuesday

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Centennial Golf Course in east Oak Ridge is pictured above. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

Centennial Golf Course in east Oak Ridge is pictured above. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

A team of graduate business students at the University of Tennessee have studied ways the city can use Centennial Golf Course for more than just golf, and the students will present their recommendations on Tuesday. The meeting is open to the public.

The graduate students are from UT’s Master of Business Administration, or MBA, program. They will present their recommendations from a recent “Innovations in Practice” project to the City of Oak Ridge at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom.

There has been discussion of how to increase revenues at the golf course, including at Oak Ridge City Council meetings when the city has been asked to provide more money for the golf course.

A press release said the study of Centennial Golf Course took the group of four MBA students approximately seven weeks to complete. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge students compete in Southern Appalachian Science, Engineering Fair

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Ryan Armstrong earned second place for his project titled “Quantifying the Evolution of Gas from Li-ion Battery Materials” under the mentorship of Gabriel Veith of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Along with a $750 scholarship and trophy, Ryan will travel to Los Angeles, California in May to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair. (Submitted photo)

Ryan Armstrong earned second place for his project titled “Quantifying the Evolution of Gas from Li-ion Battery Materials” under the mentorship of Gabriel Veith of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Along with a $750 scholarship and trophy, Ryan will travel to Los Angeles, California, in May to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair. (Submitted photo)

 

Seven research students from Oak Ridge High School competed in the 66th Annual Southern Appalachian Science and Engineering Fair hosted at the University of Tennessee. The competition was held March 27-30 with the awards ceremony on Thursday evening. There were 55 Senior Division projects in competition, a press release said.

Five of the students were part of the Math, Science, and Computer Science Thesis course at ORHS that is advised by Tammy Carneim and Jessica Williams. The remaining two did their research independently with the help of teachers Deni Sobek and Sharon Thomas.

Ryan Armstrong earned second place for his project titled “Quantifying the Evolution of Gas from Li-ion Battery Materials” under the mentorship of Gabriel Veith of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Along with a $750 scholarship and trophy, Armstrong will travel to Los Angeles, California, in May to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair.

Jasleen Narula earned fourth place and $100 for her project titled “Rapid High-Throughput Toxicity Screening of East Tennessee Water Samples Using Autobioluminescent Yeast Assay” under the mentorship of Steven Ripp. [Read more…]

UT professor to discuss U.S.-Russian relations on Tuesday

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Michael R. Fitzgerald

Michael R. Fitzgerald

Michael Fitzgerald, professor of political science at the University of Tennessee, will discuss relations between the United States and Russia at Lunch with the League on Tuesday.

Lunch with the League starts at noon Tuesday, April 18, in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. The church is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Fitzgerald served on the faculty of the University of Missouri before he joined UT in Knoxville in 1978. He received his master’s and doctorate degrees in political science at the University of Oklahoma. After he graduated from the Honors College at Western Michigan University in 1969, he served in the U.S. Army, including a tour of duty in Vietnam with the 25th Infantry Division, during which he received two Bronze Star Medals for meritorious service, a press release said.

“Relations between the United States and the Russian Federation steadily have declined over the past two decades,” Fitzgerald said in the press release. “Tensions between the world’s most prominent nuclear powers have risen to levels unseen since the worst days of the Cold War. A survey of the causes and contours of the deteriorating current impasse in U.S.-Russian relations leads to the conclusion that we are well into a second Cold War fraught with all the uncertainty and danger that defined the first. Effectively dealing with Putin’s geopolitical strategy to, once again, make Russia internationally relevant requires realistic thinking about Russian history, culture, and politics.” [Read more…]

Cybersecurity brown bag lunch on Monday: ‘Cyber Hygiene for Individuals and Small Businesses’

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The Cyber and Information Security Consortium, or CISC, and the University of Tennessee’s Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy have partnered to hold monthly brown bag lunches to hear talks on key topics regarding cybersecurity, a press release said.

The next lunch will take place next week in the UT Outreach Center in Oak Ridge, and it will be on the subject of cyber hygiene.

Topic: “Cyber Hygiene for Individuals and Small Businesses”

Speaker: Scott Partelow, managing consultant for enterprise solutions at Sword and Shield Enterprise Security [Read more…]

UT professor to discuss last year’s wildfires on April 13 in Oak Ridge

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Henri Grissino-Mayer

Henri Grissino-Mayer

A University of Tennessee professor will discuss the devastating wildfires in the Southeast in 2016 during a talk in Oak Ridge on April 13.

The featured speaker will be UT professor Henri Grissino-Mayer, a renowned expert on ecosystems, a press release said. He will address the devastating fires, their cause, and what the future may be, a press release said.

The talk is titled “The 2016 Wildfires in the Southeastern U.S.: What Comes Next after Gatlinburg?” It will be presented by the University of Tennessee Arboretum Society.

It’s scheduled from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 13, in the UT Arboretum Auditorium at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

Grissino-Mayer is a professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and director of the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Science. [Read more…]

UT Arboretum Society has 50th annual Spring Plant Sale on April 8

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The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society’s 50th Annual Spring Plant Sale will gather the best of four local nurseries in one location. The public sale will be held on Saturday, April 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the UT Arboretum at 901 South Illinois Avenue (Highway 62) in Oak Ridge. The “Members Only” sale will be on Friday, April 7, from 5-7 p.m. (Submitted photo)

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society’s 50th Annual Spring Plant Sale will gather the best of four local nurseries in one location. The public sale will be held on Saturday, April 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the UT Arboretum at 901 South Illinois Avenue (Highway 62) in Oak Ridge. The “Members Only” sale will be on Friday, April 7, from 5-7 p.m. (Submitted photo)

 

The University of Tennessee Arboretum Society’s 50th Annual Spring Plant Sale will gather the best of four local nurseries in one location.

The public sale will be held on Saturday, April 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the UT Arboretum at 901 South Illinois Avenue (Highway 62) in Oak Ridge.

The “Members Only” sale will be on Friday, April 7, from 5-7 p.m. Memberships may be purchased at that time for this “early bird” shopping opportunity. Checks and credit cards will be accepted. [Read more…]

Tennessee higher education leaders met to help transfer students succeed

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Public and private university officials, whose work serves as a key to the success of Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam’s Drive to 55 initiative, met in February to collect more tools for growing the number of college-educated Tennesseans.

More than 130 transfer counselors, registrars, and advising directors from Tennessee’s public and private colleges and universities met in Murfreesboro on February 22-23 for the 2017 Tennessee Transfer Summit.

Attendees heard from transfer expert Janet Marling. Marling is vice president for student affairs at the University of North Georgia and executive director of the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students. She gave the keynote address on resolving obstacles to transfer student success.

India Lane, University of Tennessee associate vice president for academic affairs and student success, said collaboration is key for successful college transfers. [Read more…]

ORNL, HTS International Corporation to collaborate on manufacturing research

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory and HTS International are exploring collaborations in advanced manufacturing research such as conformal cooling. These specially placed coolant lines allow parts to cool faster, which increases productivity for molding and casting manufacturers. (Image by ORNL)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory and HTS International are exploring collaborations in advanced manufacturing research such as conformal cooling. These specially placed coolant lines allow parts to cool faster, which increases productivity for molding and casting manufacturers. (Image by ORNL)

 

HTS International Corporation and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have signed an agreement to explore potential collaborations in advanced manufacturing research.

The memorandum of understanding follows HTS’s recent decision to locate its headquarters and production operations in a Knox County business park adjacent to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at ORNL (in Hardin Valley). The lab’s expertise and unique facilities in materials science, metallurgy, and advanced manufacturing attracted the attention of HTS’s leadership during a 2015 visit to Tennessee.

“Our researchers push the boundaries of what’s possible with materials and advanced manufacturing techniques, and we value partners such as HTS,” said Thomas Zacharia, deputy for science and technology at ORNL. “Industrial partners help to ensure we’re tackling the right problems, and our results help them to improve production capabilities and American competitiveness.”

HTS supplies specialty products to the injection molding and die casting industries, using its proprietary metal fusion technology to produce large-scale steel production components with conformal cooling. These specially placed coolant lines allow parts to cool faster, which increases productivity for molding and casting manufacturers. [Read more…]

CNS introduces hundreds of girls to engineering

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Chloe Roach from Anderson County Career and Technical Center pedals a bike to generate electricity. (Photo by Y-12)

Chloe Roach from Anderson County Career and Technical Center pedals a bike to generate electricity. (Photo by Y-12)

 

Y-12 National Security Complex shows how STEM skills lead to careers

Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC recently hosted more than 200 female high school students from 15 area schools as part of Introduce a Girl to Engineering. The goal of the event was to inspire girls to consider careers in science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM, a press release said.

This program was conducted in concert with Girl Day, an initiative founded by DiscoverE and expands CNS’ existing relationships with area schools.

Kristin Waldschlager of CNS Educational Outreach said educating the younger generation about STEM-related opportunities is “critical” for Y-12.

“At Y-12, we have a sense of responsibility to make sure we support the development and growth of future scientists and engineers who could be working here,” Waldschlager said in the press release. [Read more…]