Oak Ridge Today

ORAU exceeds $100,000 in annual giving for seventh year in a row

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2014 ORAU Annual Giving Campaign

The 2014 ORAU Annual Giving Campaign Chair Michael Ickowitz, left; Co-Chair Arlene Garrison, right; and ORAU President and CEO Andy Page reveal ORAU’s combined giving total of $125,207.92. (Submitted photo)

 

For the seventh year in a row, Oak Ridge Associated Universities has broken the $100,000 mark in donations as part of the annual giving campaign for the United Way and Community Shares.

During a concluding ceremony on November 20 in the ORAU Pollard Technology Conference Center, ORAU President and Chief Executive Officer Andy Page announced the 2014 ORAU Annual Giving Campaign total donation amount—$125,207.92. As part of the total donation, ORAU and its employees pledged $95,009.92 to the United Way and $30,198.00 to Community Shares.

ORAU wins $1.4 million contract from Florida Department of Health

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Oak Ridge Associated Universities Building MC-100

The Oak Ridge Associated Universities Building MC-100 is pictured above.

Oak Ridge Associated Universities recently won a three-year, $1.4 million contract from the Florida Department of Health to provide scientific peer review of grant applications submitted for biomedical research involving tobacco-related diseases and cancer.

Through this work, ORAU will assist the state’s Department of Health in funding Florida research organizations to address the health care problems of Floridians in the areas of tobacco-related cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and pulmonary disease using peer review as part of the grant selection process.

“ORAU taps experts from across the country including our network of more than 100 major research institutions to participate in peer and performance reviews,” said ORAU President and Chief Executive Officer Andy Page. “We utilize a proven process that provides independent reviews with the highest levels of integrity and efficiency, eliminating conflicts of interest. This provides Florida’s Department of Health with confidence in their funding decisions for this important research.”

For more information on working with ORAU, visit http://www.orau.org/working-with-orau/.

Iddins promoted to associate director of REAC/TS

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Carol Iddins

Carol Iddins

Dr. Carol J. Iddins has been named associate director of the Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site, or REAC/TS. In this position, Iddins will provide management and medical leadership, participate in all aspects of emergency response planning, and manage all professional and technical activities of radiation emergency management and REAC/TS.

Iddins has more than 20 years of experience in civilian and military medicine, with extensive knowledge of nuclear accident response.

Iddins has worked for five years as a staff physician at REAC/TS, serving as a subject matter expert for patients with radiological injuries and illnesses and for disaster medicine readiness, preparedness, and education. [Read more…]

ORISE receives DOE Legacy of Stars safety, health award

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US DOE VPP Legacy of Stars Award

The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education has been given a 2014 Legacy of Stars award.

This is the third consecutive time ORISE has received the prestigious designation and only one of 10 such awards granted nationwide in 2014, a press release said. ORISE first achieved this designation in 2008.

The award is presented by the U.S. Department of Energy, and it recognize outstanding safety and health performance.

ORISE is managed for DOE by Oak Ridge Associated Universities. [Read more…]

ORAU seeks applicants for 2015 Extreme Classroom Makeover

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ORAU Extreme Classroom Makeover

Oak Ridge Associated Universities will have its Extreme Classroom Makeover for the seventh year. Teachers within 50 miles of Oak Ridge can file an intent to apply by October 15. (Image courtesy ORAU)

 

Local teachers within 50-mile radius encouraged to file intent to apply by Oct. 15

Oak Ridge Associated Universities is now accepting applications for its $25,000 Extreme Classroom Makeover competition. Now in its seventh year, the competition provides the latest educational technologies to update one teacher’s classroom. Interested teachers must file their intent to apply no later than October 15.

The contest is open to public school math and science teachers who teach grades third through 10th and are located within a 50-mile radius of Oak Ridge. Entrants must have the written consent of their principals and, if chosen, be willing to have their 2015-2016 classroom experience highlighted on the Internet and in various media outlets. Teachers, students, and even parents whose children are benefiting from this initiative will be invited to blog about this year-long experience on the Extreme Classroom website. [Read more…]

ORAU donates to new foundation for fallen, injured officers

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ORAU Donates to Scott Foundation

ORAU Executive Vice President Eric Abelquist, left, and ORAU Senior Associate Director for Scientific Assessment and Workforce Development Tony Lester, right, present ORAU employee Jody Crisp with a $1,000 check to help her new nonprofit organization that supports local police officers and their families, the SCOTT Foundation, named in honor of her late husband. (Photo courtesy ORAU)

 

SCOTT Foundation provides support to area police officers and their families

Oak Ridge Associated Universities donated $1,000 to help jumpstart a new nonprofit organization, the SCOTT Foundation, founded by one of its employees in honor of her late husband.

After Jody Crisp’s husband, Scott, died in 2013 following a swimming pool accident, she said she wanted to make something good come of it. She founded the Sharing Compassion for Officers Through Tributes, or SCOTT, Foundation, named in honor of her late husband. Established in 2013, the SCOTT Foundation provides financial assistance for various expenses of fallen, seriously injured, or ill police officers and their families throughout East Tennessee.

Allen “Scott” Crisp spent his career in law enforcement. He served with the Clinton Police Department, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, U.S. Air Marshal, and B&W Y-12 as a special response team security police officer. [Read more…]

UT engineering students help ORNL, Local Motors print drivable 3D car

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3D Car

John Rogers, co-founder and CEO of Local Motors, left, and Douglas Woods, president of the Association for Manufacturing Technology, drive away from the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago over the weekend in a car printed with the help of UT students. (Photo courtesy UT)

 

KNOXVILLE—The only “car” that most people associate with printers is a “car-tridge” of ink, but that may soon change thanks in part to several students at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

UT, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Local Motors, Cincinnati Incorporated, and Oak Ridge Associated Universities teamed up to print a working, drivable car over the weekend at the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago.

The Strati 3D, officially produced by Local Motors, which has an office on Market Square in Knoxville, highlighted the show and placed what sounds like a product of science fiction firmly in the realm of reality.

“This brand-new process disrupts the manufacturing status quo,” said John B. Rogers Jr., chief executive officer of Local Motors. “It changes the consumer experience and proves that a car can be born in an entirely different way.” [Read more…]

Safety Fest TN: ORAU, CNS experts to discuss effective safety communications

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Free seminar draws upon lessons learned at Uranium Processing Facility Project

Health and safety experts from Oak Ridge Associated Universities and a communications specialist from Consolidated Nuclear Security, the new contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex, will discuss effective safety communications during Safety Fest TN in Oak Ridge this week.

The ORAU experts are David Duncan and Jeffrey Miller, and the CNS communications specialist is Kathryn King.

Their seminar, scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 9, informs organizations on how to improve the effectiveness of safety communications by first examining how communication breakdowns contributed to well-known safety catastrophes, like the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, an ORAU press release said. They will also present detailed instructions on how to develop an effective safety communications plan, methods for implementing and monitoring the plan, and techniques for measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of safety communications.

“Successful case studies will be presented including experiences from the Y-12 National Security Complex’s Uranium Processing Facility Project, where the effectiveness of safety communications has dramatically improved over a three-year period after implementing these methods,” the press release said. [Read more…]

Gehl named manager of ORAU-managed beryllium lab

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Ann Gehl

Ann Gehl

Oak Ridge Associated Universities has announced that Ann Gehl, who has nearly 30 years of medical technology and laboratory experience, has become the manager of the Beryllium Lymphocyte Proliferation Laboratory. ORAU manages the lab for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Gehl is replacing Linda Nichols, who has decided to step down from her role as lab manager after 12 years but will continue working in the lab as senior technologist and quality control specialist. Gehl joined ORAU in January 2014 and has been working with Nichols since then to transition work responsibilities.

“We are pleased to bring someone with the Ann’s caliber of experience to lead our staff and continue building upon our outstanding reputation as a high-quality DOE laboratory,” said Donna Cragle, vice president at ORAU. “At the same time, we also wish to thank Linda for her exceptional leadership over these many years and are excited that she will continue as a valued member of our lab team.”

Prior to joining ORAU, Gehl worked at the University of Tennessee Medical Center for more than 20 years, first as a medical technologist in the Transplant Laboratory and then as senior flow cytometry technologist in the Immunology Laboratory. In that role, she maintained and developed procedures used in processing blood samples to help identify biomarkers for lymphoma and leukemia. She also served as an instructor, teaching flow cytometry to students in UT’s Clinical Laboratory Scientist program. [Read more…]

ORAU hosts Graduate Student Recruitment Fair

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Neil Brown at ORAU Graduate School Recruitment Fair

Neil Brown, right,, a senior majoring in chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, discusses his research during the 15th annual ORAU Graduate School Recruitment Fair. (Photo courtesy ORAU)

 

Following a full day of poster sessions where they presented the outcome of summer research projects completed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, more than 200 students from across the United States gathered at ORNL Thursday for the 15th annual ORAU Graduate Student Recruitment Fair.

Each year, the event is timed to correspond with the ORNL poster session to leverage the students’ excitement over their summer research achievements and to encourage enthusiasm for further expanding their education.

With representatives from the nation’s premier research graduate programs available in one room, the fair provided students the ability to explore possible future educational opportunities, as well as compare and contrast graduate programs. [Read more…]

Wounded veteran finds new way to serve by training for career in 3D printing

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Joseph Grabianowski

Joseph Grabianowski

New training program prepares veterans, others to enter advanced manufacturing workforce

While 26-year-old wounded veteran Joseph Grabianowski has inspired Americans with his harrowing war story, someday he may be nationally known for building highly efficient exhaust systems for cars and trucks using 3D printing technology.

Grabianowski—pictured at left at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in front of a 3D printer holding a 3D-printed DOE seal and the plastic material from which it was made—is part of the Energy Department’s inaugural Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Advanced Manufacturing Internship. The pilot program is designed to provide accelerated, hands-on career training for veterans and next-generation engineers to prepare them to immediately enter the workforce of the growing advanced manufacturing industry.

Grabianowski stepped on an IED while deployed with his Army unit in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, in May 2012. Damage from the blast required a rare, radical amputation of his lower body. He had long dreamed of being a U.S. Marshal but knew his path would now lead in a new direction. In a December 2013 interview with USA Today, Grabianowski said, “I still love my country…even though I can’t go be a marshal now, I can still go do something that would be a good service to my country.”

Barely two years later, his successful recovery is a testament to his personal will and determination. This self-proclaimed techie now envisions a career for himself in what he calls the “future of manufacturing,” which is additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing. Through this pioneering program offered by the Energy Department’s Advanced Manufacturing Office, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Pellissippi State Community College, and ORNL, Grabianowski is receiving the training needed to make his career goals a reality and prepare him to succeed in the additive manufacturing world.

“Where this industry is going to boom is right here in Oak Ridge,” Grabianowski said, “and the best engineers in the field are available through this program to teach me.” [Read more…]

Anderson Chamber elects new board member

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Arlene Garrison

Arlene Garrison

Arlene A. Garrison, vice president of university partnerships at Oak Ridge Associated Universities, has been elected to serve on the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

Garrison, with more than 35 years of experience in science and education, works with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to enhance and expand research participation programs that provide opportunities for faculty and students from ORAU member institutions to work alongside renowned ORNL scientists, a press release said.

Prior to ORAU, she served as a program director for the National Science Foundation and in a number of senior leadership positions with the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. [Read more…]