Oak Ridge Today

HED: Silica ‘spiky screws’ could enhance industrial coatings, additive manufacturing

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It took marine sponges millions of years to perfect their spike-like structures, but research mimicking these formations may soon alter how industrial coatings and 3-D printed objects are produced.

A molecular process developed by researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory paves the way for improved silica structure design by introducing microscopic, segmented screw-like spikes that can more effectively bond materials for commercial use.

The study, conducted by Jaswinder Sharma and his colleagues Panos Datskos and David Cullen, has been published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. Authors said other applications of the screw-like spikes could include coatings for eyeglasses, television screens, commercial transportation, and even self-cleaning windows and roofs in rural and urban environments.

Created by emulsion droplets applied to a silica particle’s surface, the new, segmented spikes offer an alternative tool for material scientists and engineers that can better maintain and fuse bonds within a variety of microstructures. [Read more…]

ORNL invites companies to connect with lab at ‘Explore ORNL’ 

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory will open its doors July 14-15 for its “Explore ORNL” conference designed to introduce the region’s business community to the lab’s world-class research and development facilities and expertise, a press release said.

“Explore ORNL is an outreach event that provides companies both large and small with a unique opportunity to learn about collaboration possibilities,” said Tom Rogers, ORNL’s director of Industrial Partnerships and Economic Development.

Representatives from companies such as Boeing, Cummins, Local Motors, Ten-Tec, Dresser-Rand, and Eagle Bend Manufacturing will speak about their experiences in working with ORNL experts to overcome technical challenges and develop new products. [Read more…]

ORNL: New tool on horizon for surgeons treating cancer patients

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Droplet-based Surface Sampling Probe

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s new droplet-based surface sampling probe speeds the process of analyzing a liver biopsy sample. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

 

Surgeons could know while their patients are still on the operating table if a tissue is cancerous, according to researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School.

In the journal Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, a team led by ORNL’s Vilmos Kertesz describes an automated droplet-based surface sampling probe that accomplishes in about 10 minutes what now routinely takes 20 to 30 minutes. Kertesz expects that time to be cut to four to five minutes soon. For this proof-of-concept demonstration, researchers rapidly profiled two hormones from human pituitary tissue.

“Instead of having to cut and mount tissue and wait for a trained pathologist to review the sample under a microscope, a technician might soon perform an equally conclusive test in the operating environment,” Kertesz said.

The new mass spectrometry-based technology provides an attractive alternative to the traditional method called immunohistochemistry, or IHC, which looks for specific protein biomarkers to make a diagnosis. Although the IHC approach provides a high degree of spatial recognition, it is time-consuming and limited by the quality and specificity of the antibody used to detect the protein. [Read more…]

Advanced composites expert named newest UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair

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Uday Vaidya

Uday Vaidya

KNOXVILLE—The position of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and Oak Ridge National Laboratory as leaders in the manufacturing revolution has taken another bold step forward with the hiring of Uday Vaidya as the Governor’s Chair in Advanced Composites Manufacturing.

Vaidya becomes the 14th UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair and the seventh devoted to some aspect of advanced manufacturing, underscoring the importance of this research and the role of the two institutes in it.

“We are pleased to welcome Uday and the leadership he brings in the growing area of advanced composites manufacturing,” said UT Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek. “His research will contribute to the vital building blocks we have with ORNL and our momentum as leaders in the field.” [Read more…]

Experts launch advanced composites institute announced by Obama, led by UT

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Craig Blue, David Danielson, and David Millhorn

Pictured above are Craig Blue, IACMI CEO; David Danielson assistant secretary, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy; and David Millhorn, executive vice president for the University of Tennessee System and president of the UT Research Foundation. (Photo courtesy UT)

 

ORNL a founding partner

Hundreds of composites experts from industry, government, and academia gathered at the Knoxville Convention Center on Wednesday for the launch of the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, or IACMI.

The University of Tennessee in Knoxville and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are among IACMI’s founding research partners.

A signing ceremony between the U.S. Department of Energy and IACMI representatives marked the official start of business for the newly established institute, which was announced in January by President Barack Obama.

IACMI will work with industry to reduce technical risk and develop a robust supply chain for advanced composite materials in automotive components, wind turbines, and compressed gas storage applications. Funded with $70 million in federal funds and more than $180 million in nonfederal funds, IACMI will focus on making advanced fiber-reinforced polymer composites less expensive and less energy-intensive, helping give America’s resurging manufacturing sector a more competitive edge in the global economy. [Read more…]

Friends of ORNL to hear discussion of materials, chemical sciences

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An official at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will discuss challenging scientific questions in materials and chemical sciences during a lunchtime meeting on Tuesday.

Michelle Buchanan, Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s associate laboratory director for physical sciences, will be the featured speaker at the Tuesday, June 9, meeting of Friends of ORNL. Her talk is titled “Grand Challenge Science Questions in Materials and Chemical Sciences.” The meeting is open to the public.

The meeting is at the University of Tennessee Resource Center (the white-colored building at 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike (State Highway 95) between Taco Bell and Applebee’s at the intersection of the Turnpike and Rutgers Avenue. Use the canopy entrance at the southwest (back) corner of the building. Lunch begins at 11:30 a.m., and the presentation is at 12 p.m.

ORNL, Hyundai Motor collaborating through new R&D agreement

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ORNL and Hyundai Agreement

Martin Keller, left, associate laboratory director for the Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Tae Won Lim, vice president of Hyundai Motor Company, made a memorandum of understanding official on Monday, June 8. (Submitted photo)

 

Hyundai Motor Company and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have signed an agreement intended to strengthen the automaker’s U.S. research and development, or R&D, portfolio.

Hyundai Motor Company and its affiliate Kia Motors Corporation will be identifying and providing R&D needs of the automotive industry, providing feedback and evaluation technology concepts, consulting with ORNL on R&D topics related to the industry, and developing potential Hyundai-sponsored projects to be carried out under separate, legally binding agreements, a press release said.

As the world’s fifth largest automaker, Hyundai Motor Company employs more than 30,000 workers in the United States, and more than 700,000 Hyundai and Kia vehicles are made in the U.S.

Through this agreement, Hyundai Motor and UT-Battelle, which manages ORNL for the U.S. Department of Energy, will also work to identify R&D funding opportunities of mutual interest and coordinate meetings to exchange information, the press release said. Hyundai sees ORNL as providing significant expertise in diverse areas. [Read more…]

U.S. joins world in new era of research at Large Hadron Collider

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Alice

At the Large Hadron Collider, scientists have begun to collect new data from experiments such as ALICE, which aims to reproduce conditions similar to those that existed immediately after the Big Bang. (Image credit: CERN)

 

New LHC data gives researchers from around the world their best chance yet to study the Higgs boson and search for dark matter and new particles.

On Wednesday, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the European research facility, started recording data from the highest-energy particle collisions ever achieved on Earth. This new proton collision data, the first recorded since 2012, will enable an international collaboration of researchers that includes more than 1,700 U.S. physicists to study the Higgs boson, search for dark matter, and develop a more complete understanding of the laws of nature.

“Together with collaborators from around the world, scientists from roughly a hundred U.S. universities and laboratories are exploring a previously unreachable realm of nature,” said James Siegrist, the U.S. Department of Energy’s associate director of science for high-energy physics. “We are very excited to be part of the international community that is pushing the boundaries of our knowledge of the universe.”

The Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, reproduces conditions similar to those that existed immediately after the Big Bang. Oak Ridge National Laboratory led an equipment upgrade for LHCs experiment called ALICE (for A Large Ion Collider Experiment), which aims to learn more about the conditions of the early universe. [Read more…]

BESC, Mascoma develop revolutionary microbe for biofuel production

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Yeast

A yeast engineered by Mascoma and BESC could hold the key to accelerating the production of ethanol in the U.S. (Submitted photo)

 

Biofuels pioneer Mascoma LLC and the U.S. Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center have developed a revolutionary strain of yeast that could help significantly accelerate the development of biofuels from nonfood plant matter.

BESC is led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The approach could provide a pathway to eventual expansion of biofuels production beyond the current output limited to ethanol derived from corn.

C5 FUEL, engineered by researchers at Mascoma and BESC, features fermentation and ethanol yields that set a new standard for conversion of biomass sugars from pretreated corn stover—the non-edible portion of corn crops such as the stalk—converting up to 97 percent of the plant sugars into fuel. [Read more…]

AMSE opens three new science-themed interactive exhibits

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AMSE Logo

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Space exploration, supercomputing, and neutron science are featured in three new hands-on exhibits at the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge.

The exhibits showcase national science topics with local ties to research at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“Bringing more of the modern lab into AMSE enhances our mission,” said AMSE director David Moore. “In addition to learning about our past, we hope visitors enjoy learning about the fascinating scope of research ongoing at ORNL.” [Read more…]

STEM-focused Boy Scouts program goes national; UT-Battelle helped pilot program

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An after-school STEM education program, piloted in East Tennessee by the Great Smoky Mountain Council of the Boy Scouts of America, will now be offered in other parts of the country. STEM Scouts—which encourages interest in science, technology, engineering, and math through fun hands-on learning and interaction with STEM professionals—will be expanding to 12 other Boy Scouts of America councils starting this fall.

“We’ve been thrilled to be able to offer STEM Scouts in the Great Smoky Mountain Council this last year,” said Great Smoky Mountain Council Scout Executive David Williams. “It’s been great for the youth, the parents, the volunteers, and our staff. We’ve had a lot of fun and introduced a lot of new families to the world of Scouting.”

By increasing STEM learning opportunities and establishing partnerships with businesses and universities, STEM Scouts gives young people real experience in these fields and the opportunity to work one-on-one with STEM educators and experts. The program is open to boys and girls in grades 3 through 12. [Read more…]

Curran at ORNL receives SAE Foundation industry leadership award

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Scott Curran and SAE Leadership Award

Stefan Pischinger Young Industry Leadership Award winner Scott Curran, center, is congratulated by SAE Foundation Board Chairman Mazen Hammoud of Ford Motor Company and Patrick Hupperich, FEV North America Inc. president and CEO. (Photo: SAE Foundation)

 

Scott Curran, a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has received the Society for Automotive Engineers Foundation’s 2015 Stefan Pischinger Young Industry Leadership Award.

The award, given this week at this year’s SAE Foundation Annual Celebration in Detroit, highlights early career individuals who demonstrate leadership potential and promote STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)-based researched in their respective fields. The SAE Foundation is the charitable branch of the SAE International professional society.

A recipient of three engineering degrees from the University of Tennessee, Curran has been an active member of the SAE since his college days and has been involved in DOE’s Advanced Vehicle Technical Competition as both a student and an advisor. [Read more…]