Oak Ridge Today

Former ORNL employee in inaugural engineering Hall of Fame at UT

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UT Mabe Hall of Fame

Clockwise from upper left are William Snyder, Richard Rosenberg, Rinehart Bright, and Henry Hartsfield. (Photo courtesy UT)

 

Former chancellor, astronaut also honored

KNOXVILLE—In 1847, a course offering studies in mechanical philosophies and mechanics appeared in what was then East Tennessee University.

Now, almost 170 years later, the school is the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and the course has grown into the College of Engineering’s Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering, or MABE, two-thirds of which would have been considered science fiction to those many years ago.

Now, the department is calling upon that legacy as it prepares to open its Hall of Fame.

The honor of being in the inaugural class belongs to a chancellor, an astronaut, an automotive pioneer, and a person who had a longtime presence in various Oak Ridge facilities. [Read more…]

UT-Battelle donates $100,000 to Children’s Hospital expansion

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Sign

UT-Battelle has donated $100,000 to the capital campaign for the proposed expansion of East Tennessee Children’s Hospital in Knoxville.

The announcement was made during groundbreaking ceremonies for the expanded facility, a press release said. The planned expansion includes:

  • 250,000 square feet of new space;
  • a new neonatal intensive care unit with private rooms;
  • a new inpatient/outpatient-surgery center;
  • a family lounge and resource center overlooking a rooftop garden;
  • 60,000 square feet of renovated space to include a chapel, laboratory, and a neonatal abstinence syndrome care unit and resource center; and
  • a specialty clinic for diabetes, cleft palate, cystic fibrosis, and healthy ways weight management program.

[Read more…]

Man killed in Haw Ridge accident was skilled biker, valuable ORNL researcher

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Michael Biegalski

Michael Biegalski (Photo courtesy ORNL)

Note: This story was last updated at 12:45 p.m. Dec. 23.

The 38-year-old Oak Ridge man who died in what appears to be an accident while mountain biking on Haw Ridge on Saturday is being remembered as a skilled biker and valuable researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Michael David Biegalski, who was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, had been a research and development staff member at the Center for Nanophase Materials Science at Oak Ridge National Laboratory since 2008 and had worked there from 2006 to 2008 as a postdoctoral research associate.

“He was an incredibly valuable person to the center,” CNMS Director Hans Christen said Monday. “A friend of everybody, extremely helpful.”

Other mountain bikers described Biegalski, who was married with two young daughters, as very skilled, and Christen said he was very competitive and raced. [Read more…]

Paul Langan to lead ORNL’s Neutron Sciences Directorate

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Paul Langan

Paul Langan

Paul Langan, a senior scientist and distinguished research staff member at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been named ORNL’s associate laboratory director for neutron sciences.

Langan will lead the laboratory’s neutron science activities, which include two leading DOE Office of Science user facilities for neutron scattering analysis: the Spallation Neutron Source, or SNS, and the High Flux Isotope Reactor, or HFIR.

“As associate laboratory director, Paul will further broaden our role in neutron sciences globally, expand our instrument capabilities, and prepare for a second target station at the SNS,” ORNL Director Thom Mason said in a press release. [Read more…]

ORNL’s Goyal elected fellow of National Academy of Inventors

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Amit Goyal

Amit Goyal

The National Academy of Inventors has elected Amit Goyal as a fellow. Goyal is a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The organization recognized Goyal for “having demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.”

The National Academy of Inventors was founded in 2010 with goals that include celebrating and encouraging inventors, enhancing awareness of technology and innovation, and communicating the work of its members to benefit society.

Goyal, a member of ORNL’s Materials Science and Technology Division, is an international leader in the field of energy and electronic materials, particularly high-temperature superconducting materials. He has more than 80 issued patents. [Read more…]

ORNL’s James Hack elected fellow of American Meteorological Society

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James Hack

James Hack

The American Meteorological Society has elected James Hack as a 2015 fellow.

Hack, who is the director of the National Center for Computational Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was cited for his “outstanding contributions to advancing the atmospheric and related sciences, technologies, applications, and services for the benefit of society.”

Hack came to ORNL in 2007 after positions at IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. He also held adjunct faculty appointments at the University of Colorado at Boulder. [Read more…]

Remembered as a model community volunteer, Myrick died Sunday

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Tim and Teresa Myrick with ADFAC Bow Tie Award

Tim Myrick, left, received the 2014 Bill Wilcox Bow Tie Award from ADFAC on Oct. 30. Pictured with Myrick at Y-12’s New Hope Center is his wife Teresa. (Photo courtesy ADFAC)

Note: This story was last updated at 3:30 p.m.

Tim Myrick, one of the area’s most active community volunteers, died Sunday morning. He was at home with his wife Teresa by his side.

Friends are remembering him as a model community leader and volunteer. Myrick, who had been battling prostate cancer, had provided decades of service to the church and to Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, or ADFAC, as well as to Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County. He played a key role in the renovation of Oak Ridge High School and modernization work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In 2012, he and Teresa pledged $25,000 to the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation’s “Making the Critical Difference” campaign for grants and scholarships.

“We sure lost a strong advocate for our community,” said friend D. Ray Smith, who serves on both the ADFAC and Habitat for Humanity boards. [Read more…]

Alexander: Spending bill includes $440 million for ORNL supercomputer, UPF at Y-12

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U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

The $1 trillion spending bill passed by the Senate on Saturday night includes more than $400 million in funding to support two Oak Ridge projects—building the world’s fastest supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander said.

The appropriations legislation avoids a government shutdown and funds most of the government through September. The Senate approved it in a bipartisan 56-40 vote, and it now goes to President Barack Obama, who is expected to sign it into law.

The spending bill cleared the House on Thursday. Liberals sought to strip out a policy provision that eases a Wall Street regulation, and conservatives tried to slow action on immigration. [Read more…]

Orr confirmed as DOE under secretary for science, energy

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Franklin M. "Lynn" Orr Jr.

Franklin M. “Lynn” Orr Jr. (Photo courtesy Stanford University/Franklin Orr)

WASHINGTON, D.C.—More than a year after his nomination was announced, Franklin “Lynn” Orr has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be the under secretary for science and energy at the U.S. Department of Energy. Orr was confirmed Thursday.

As under secretary for science and energy, Orr will oversee all of DOE’s science research programs, including a majority of the national laboratories.

This position is part of the department’s s recent reorganization, which expanded the under secretary for science role to encompass both science and energy, a DOE press release said. Orr’s role will include oversight of research in the Offices of Science, Fossil Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Nuclear Energy, Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Indian Energy, and the Technology Transfer Coordinator.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is an Office of Science lab. [Read more…]

EPA: Oak Ridge is a Green Power Community of the Year

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ORNL Bethel Valley Solar Array

Construction was completed in 2008 on a 288-foot-long, 51.25 kilowatt solar system (second-largest in Tennessee) that will supply power to the office building that houses researchers associated with Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s buildings technology programs. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

 

Oak Ridge has been recognized as a Green Power Community of the Year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Oak Ridge is one of only two cities to receive the award. The other is Medford, Oregon.

Oak Ridge is one of 19 Green Power Partners and four suppliers from across the country receiving Green Leadership Awards given each year by the EPA. Awardees are recognized for their achievements in advancing the nation’s renewable energy market and reducing greenhouse gas emissions fueling climate change, a press release said.

The 2014 Green Power Leadership Awards will be presented on Wednesday, December 3, at the annual Renewable Energy Markets Conference in Sacramento, California. [Read more…]

ORNL researchers Buchanan, Liang, Mayes named AAAS fellows

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ORNL AAAS Fellows 2014

New fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science from Oak Ridge National Laboratory are, from left, Michelle Buchanan, Liyuan Liang, and Melanie Mayes. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

 

Three staff members at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for scientific contributions that range from administrative leadership to discoveries in the environmental sciences.

Michelle Buchanan, Liyuan Liang, and Melanie Mayes and are among those to receive this year’s recognition to AAAS members by their peers. AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and elects fellows based on their distinguished contributions to the advancement of science or its applications, a press release said.

Buchanan is ORNL’s associate laboratory director for physical sciences, where she guides the Chemical Sciences, Materials Science, and Technology and Physics divisions, as well as the Center for Nanophase Materials Science.

She was elected “for exceptional technical leadership and service in the chemical and physical sciences, and for contributions to setting the nation’s research priorities.” [Read more…]

Y-12 employee-led Help to the Smokies team still going strong

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Y-12 Employees Help the Smokies

Y-12’s Help to the Smokies employee-led team volunteered at a Great Smoky Mountains National Park cleanup event on Nov. 8. The team contributed 154 hours in restoration and enhancement activities during the event. (Submitted photo)

 

Note: This story was updated at 10:40 a.m. Nov. 26.

Y-12’s employee-led Help to the Smokies team tacked another 154 hours onto their already massive volunteer service record at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park during their annual volunteer work day on November 8. Since its start, the volunteer team has contributed about 14,000 hours in the Park.

Some 22 volunteers assisted park staff in maintenance and refurbishment of Loop B campsites at the Cosby Campground. The volunteer team performed general restoration activities for 31 individual campsites. These activities included elevating, leveling, and resetting 31 picnic tables, distributing and applying 85 tons of gravel covering to 26 campsites, and leveling selected camp fire rings. [Read more…]