Oak Ridge Today

Ken Tarcza joins ORAU as chief of staff

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Ken Tarcza

Ken Tarcza has joined Oak Ridge Associated Universities as chief of staff.

Tarcza comes to ORAU after an impressive military and federal career, a press release said.

A graduate of West Point, Tarcza spent his military career serving in numerous roles, including assistant professor of mechanical engineering at West Point; commander of the Defense Contract Management Agency’s Southern Europe office in Wiesbaden, Germany; and chief of staff for the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

After retiring from the military in 2015, he went on to be a supervisory physical scientist for the U.S. Army Research Laboratory at Aberdeen Proving Ground before being named manager for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office and Office of Science Integrated Support Center/Consolidated Service Center in 2016. There, Tarcza and his organization helped enable more than $10 billion of annual program activity, the press release said. [Read more…]

Extreme Classroom Makeover applications due Jan. 31

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The deadline to submit a video application is about one week away (it’s Jan. 31, 2023) in a contest that awards $25,000 to improve STEM education in public schools in the Oak Ridge region. (Photo by ORAU)

The deadline to submit a video application is about one week away in a contest that awards $25,000 to improve STEM education in public schools in the region.

ORAU’s Extreme Classroom Makeover is open to third-grade to 10th-grade math and science teachers in public schools within 50 miles of Oak Ridge. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

The $25,000 can be used for new equipment to update classrooms with new technology, ORAU said.

A runner-up will receive $5,000 in new equipment.

[Read more…]

ORISE names safety, facilities director

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Chad Becker (Submitted photo)

The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education has named Chad Becker as the director of the new Office of Safety and Facilities.

Becker previously served as director of Facilities and Transportation, a role he has held for more than seven years, a press release said.

The new office was formed from a re-organization that merges the Facilities and Transportation Department (FTD) and the previously existing Environment Safety and Health Office (ES&H) into one unit.

“FTD and ES&H have long been critical programs supporting our government customers, including our flagship ORISE contract with the U.S. Department of Energy,” the press release said. “ES&H is an integral component of the ORISE Contractor Assurance Program.”

[Read more…]

Hartung named section manager at REAC/TS

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Charles ‘Chuck’ Hartung

 

Charles “Chuck” Hartung has been named section manager and education coordinator at the Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site in Oak Ridge.

Hartung retired in 2021 as director of the White House Medical Unit after completing a 37-year career in the U.S. Navy. He spent his first eight years in the Navy operating nuclear reactors on board aircraft carriers and teaching at the Naval Nuclear Power School before transitioning into nursing, a press release said. During his nursing career, he has held a wide variety of clinical and leadership roles in both inpatient and outpatient healthcare settings. These include various roles at the White House during the last four presidential administrations.

In his new position at REAC/TS, Hartung will provide management, nursing leadership, and education coordination for courses REAC/TS offers. [Read more…]

Extreme Classroom Makeover applications due Jan. 14

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Part of the ORAU campus in central Oak Ridge is pictured above on May 29, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

ORAU has re-launched its Extreme Classroom Makeover competition, which will award a math or science teacher $25,000 for new classroom equipment, and video applications are due Friday, January 14.

“The mission of Extreme Classroom Makeover is to improve science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in public schools,” a press release said.

The competition will award one 3rd through 10th grade math or science teacher at a public school within a 50-mile radius of Oak Ridge with $25,000 in new equipment to update their classroom with the latest technology, the press release said. One runner-up will receive $5,000 in new equipment. There will also be a $2,500 viewers’ choice award selected by the general public from among all entries received.

Teachers interested in an ORAU Extreme Classroom Makeover need to complete a video application by Friday, January 14, the press release said. Winners will be notified before Spring Break, and the technology will be purchased and installed in their classrooms for the start of the 2022-23 school year.

“The pandemic has taught us that technology is vital for every teacher in every classroom in every school,” said Pam Bonee, director of communications and marketing for ORAU. “Still, some schools do not have the budgets to keep pace with changing technology. Having $25,000 worth of interactive technology would give a boost to any student trying to learn STEM in today’s world!”

[Read more…]

Jamie Stalker joins ORAU as physician and co-lead for NSSP

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Jamie Stalker, M.D., has joined ORAU as physician and co-principal investigator for the National Supplemental Screening Program. She will be located in ORAU’s Arvada, Colorado, office and work with John McInerney, M.D., who currently leads the program and is beginning his transition to retirement, a press release said.

“Dr. Stalker brings extensive experience in the Department of Energy occupational medicine arena, including a deep familiarity with the DOE Former Worker Programs as a former NSSP Advisory Committee member,” said Andy Page, ORAU President and chief executive officer. “We are excited to welcome her to our team and have her lead this outstanding group.”

ORAU has managed the program since its inception in 2005, and McInerney has led this program since 2006. It provides free medical screening, nationwide, for former energy workers who may have been exposed to hazardous substances at work. The screenings are designed to identify occupational diseases such as chronic respiratory illnesses, hearing loss, kidney or liver disease, and some forms of cancer. More than 22,000 enrollees have signed up for free health screening. [Read more…]

ORAU awards five Pollard Scholarships

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Part of the ORAU campus in central Oak Ridge is pictured above on May 29, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

ORAU has awarded five William G. Pollard Scholarships of $2,500 each toward undergraduate studies for the 2021-2022 academic year. The recipients of this year’s scholarships include Semilore (Semmy) Abiodun-Adeniyi, Olivia Campbell, Olivia Hudson, Sara Malicoat, and Trisha Prater.

Each year, ORAU awards these scholarships to employees’ children or stepchildren who display exceptional achievements in their high school or undergraduate studies. Applicants must submit official transcripts from all high schools and colleges attended, three references (at least two of which must be from teachers), and a 500-word essay describing professional and personal interests, a press release said.

The William G. Pollard Scholarship Awards are presented in honor of ORAU’s founder in recognition of his dedication to science and education. A University of Tennessee physics professor, Pollard founded the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies—which later became ORAU—to link the valuable scientific resources developed in Oak Ridge as part of the Manhattan Project with regional universities.

Here is more information about this year’s winners: [Read more…]

NASA selects ORAU for postdoc program

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Part of the ORAU campus in central Oak Ridge is pictured above on May 29, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

NASA has selected Oak Ridge Associated Universities to provide the agency with administrative support and coordination of research opportunities between NASA’s mission directorates and centers across the agency.

The NASA Postdoctoral Program 2 (NPP-2) contract is a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract with a maximum potential value of approximately $129.7 million. The one-year base performance period begins September 9, 2021, and it is followed by four one-year options, which would end September 8, 2026, NASA said in a press release.

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ORAU awards 35 research grants, $175K to junior faculty

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Part of the ORAU campus in central Oak Ridge is pictured above on May 29, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

ORAU has awarded competitive research grants totaling $175,000 to 35 junior faculty from its member institutions. The annual grants are made through the company’s Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards program that provides funds to enrich the research and professional growth of young faculty, a press release said.

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 2021-2022 academic year to enhance their research during the early stages of their careers. Each recipient’s institution matches the ORAU award with an additional $5,000, making the total prize worth $10,000 for each winner, the press release said. Winners may use the grants to purchase equipment, continue research, or travel to professional meetings and conferences.

Since the program’s inception, ORAU has awarded 804 grants totaling about $4 million, the press release said. Including the matching funds from member institutions, ORAU has facilitated grants worth more than $8 million, the release said.

[Read more…]

ORAU will support COVID-19 communications for CDC Office of Minority Health & Health Equity

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Part of the ORAU campus in central Oak Ridge is pictured above on May 29, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

ORAU was recently awarded a contract by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Office of Minority Health and Health Equity (OMHHE) to provide technical communications support to the office and three COVID-19 award recipients.

ORAU will advise the development of awardee health communication plans and materials targeting limited English proficiency audiences, such as Hispanic or Asian/Pacific Islander populations, as well as help increase the communications capacity of OMHHE to respond to COVID-19 in these and other high-risk communities, a press release said. [Read more…]

ORISE report shows overall number of nuclear engineering degrees increases to highest level since 2016

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Part of the ORAU campus in central Oak Ridge is pictured above on May 29, 2017. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The number of nuclear engineering degrees awarded in 2019 were at the highest level since 2016, driven primarily by a significant increase in the number of master’s degrees awarded, a press release said.

In addition, the number of doctorate degrees awarded in 2019 were the second highest level recorded since 1966.

This is according to a study conducted by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education that surveyed 34 U.S. universities with nuclear engineering programs. The report, “Nuclear Engineering Enrollments and Degrees Survey, 2019 Data,” included degrees granted between September 1, 2018, and August 31, 2019, and enrollments for fall 2019.

The number of bachelor’s degrees remained about the same, while the number of master’s degrees increased after a two-year slump, the press release said.

[Read more…]

ORAU receives National Science Foundation grant to study greenhouse gases in Arctic

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Praveena Krishnan

The National Science Foundation Office of Polar Programs has awarded ORAU a collaborative research grant to study greenhouse gas emissions in the Arctic. The award is valued at $581,829.

The grant will be used to study local and regional emissions of isotopes of methane and carbon dioxide. Methane and carbon dioxide are two greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases can help raise the Earth’s temperature, changing the climate and causing other significant changes. (Isotopes are different forms of an element that have equal numbers of protons but different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei.)

In a press release, ORAU said carbon stored in permafrost is increasingly vulnerable to thaw and decomposition by microbes as northern latitudes such as the Arctic continue to warm.

“This decomposition has the potential to lead to large increases in methane and carbon dioxide emissions, both important greenhouse gases,” ORAU said. “Accurate and reliable forecasts of greenhouse gas emissions are critical for the improvement of global models that predict changes to temperature and sea level.”

[Read more…]