Oak Ridge Today

ORNL, Local Motors agree to pave way to world’s first 3-D printed vehicle

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Local Motors and ORNL on 3-D Printing

A new partnership between Local Motors and ORNL will explore vehicle design and construction using 3-D printing technologies. The project will make use of equipment at DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, such as the large-scale additive manufacturing machine operated here by ORNL’s Peter LLoyd.

Local Motors Inc. and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have signed a new partnership to develop and deliver technology to produce the world’s first production 3-D printed vehicle.

The cooperative research and development agreement, or CRADA, between Local Motors and ORNL will explore ways to make vehicle construction more efficient—including by lower production time, costs, and part count—and raise standards for control, safety, aesthetics, and mechanical flexibility.

“The primary tool in this drive for efficiency is a combination of material science and cutting-edge advanced manufacturing techniques that are both additive and subtractive,” an ORNL press release said. ORNL is part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s national laboratory system.

“By invoking the principle of open-source, this partnership—and future efforts like it—will drive a true paradigm shift in hardware product development and automotive manufacturing technologies,” said Jay Rogers, co-founder and chief executive officers of Local Motors. “Just as exciting as the vision of delivering the first direct digital manufactured car is that we will be engaging future consumers to contribute and evangelize its creation. We are living in a time when speed to market trumps slow-going protectionism. Local Motors’ open development platform is what delivers this very speed.” [Read more…]

Free Science Saturdays offered in Knoxville by ORAU, ORNL

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ORAU and ORNL Science Saturdays

Oak Ridge Associated Universities has partnered with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to bring students and scientists together through a weekly program called Science Saturdays that will feature engaging science topics taught through interactive presentations and hands-on activities. (Photo courtesy ORAU)

Oak Ridge Associated Universities has partnered with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to bring students and scientists together through a weekly program called Science Saturdays. Students in grades 8-12, along with their parents, are invited for three Saturday morning presentations in February, when they will learn about a variety of engaging science topics through interactive presentations and hands-on activities.

“Science Saturdays provide a unique opportunity for students to have direct interaction with scientists from ORNL,” said Marie Westfall, interim associate director for ORAU’s Center for Science Education. “Through this program, we hope to excite students about the subject of science by introducing subjects and activities not found in their daily education.” [Read more…]

ORNL study advances quest for better superconducting materials

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Superconductivity Pan Defects

Minghu Pan’s image of “clover-like” atomic defects—an example is circled—that result in strong superconductivity. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

Nearly 30 years after the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity, many questions remain, but an Oak Ridge National Laboratory team is providing insight that could lead to better superconductors.

Their work, published in Physical Review Letters, examines the role of chemical dopants, which are essential to creating high-temperature superconductors—materials that conduct electricity without resistance. The role of dopants in superconductors is particularly mysterious as they introduce non-uniformity and disorder into the crystal structure, which increases resistivity in non-superconducting materials.

By gaining a better understanding of how and why chemical dopants alter the behavior of the original (parent) material, scientists believe they can design superconductors that work at higher temperatures. This would make them more practical for real-world wire applications because it would lessen the extreme cooling required for conventional superconducting material. Existing “high-temperature superconductors” operate at temperatures in the range of negative 135 degrees Celsius and below. [Read more…]

Christen leads ORNL’s Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences

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Hans M. Christen

Hans M. Christen

Hans M. Christen of Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been named director of ORNL’s Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, one of the five DOE Nanoscale Science Research Centers.

Christen joined ORNL in 2000 and led the Thin Films and Nanostructures group from 2006 to 2013. In 2013, he became associate director within the Materials Science and Technology Division and has managed the DOE Materials Sciences and Engineering Program since 2011.

His research has focused on the effects of epitaxial strain, spatial confinement, and interfacial mechanisms on the properties of complex-oxide thin films, in particular ferromagnetic, ferroelectric, and multiferroic perovskites. He has authored more than 150 scientific publications and several patents, is a fellow of the American Physical Society, and has served on a number of National Science Foundation and DOE review panels. [Read more…]

ORNL-UT researchers invent ‘sideways’ approach to 2-D hybrid materials

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heterostructure-anping

ORNL and UT researchers have invented a method to merge different 2-dimensional materials into a seamless layer. This colorized scanning tunneling microscope image shows a single-atom sheet composed of graphene (seen in blue) combined with hexagonal boron nitride (seen in yellow).

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville have pioneered a new technique for forming a two-dimensional, single-atom sheet of two different materials with a seamless boundary.

The study, published in the journal Science, could enable the use of new types of 2-D hybrid materials in technological applications and fundamental research.

By rethinking a traditional method of growing materials, the researchers combined two compounds—graphene and boron nitride—into a single layer only one atom thick. Graphene, which consists of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal, honeycomb-like rings, has attracted waves of attention because of its high strength and electronic properties. [Read more…]

ORNL researchers, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair elected APS fellows

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ORNL APS Fellows

From left, Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers Michael S. Smith and Viatcheslav V. Danilov and University of Tennessee-ORNL Governor’s Chair Steven Zinkle have been elected fellows of the American Physical Society. (Submitted photo)

Two researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and a University of Tennessee-ORNL Governor’s Chair professor have been elected fellows of the American Physical Society.

The ORNL researchers are Viatcheslav V. Danilov of the Research Accelerator Division and Michael Scott Smith of the Physics Division. Steven J. Zinkle, formerly of ORNL and now a UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair, was recognized for his work during a 28-year career at the national laboratory.

Danilov was recognized by his APS peers “for fundamental and creative solutions to a wide range of accelerator physics issues, including laser stripping ring injection, integrable beam dynamics, space charge and instabilities.” [Read more…]

ORNL devises recipe to fine-tune silica rod diameters

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By controlling the temperature of silica rods as they grow, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could be setting the stage for advances in anti-reflective solar cells, computer monitors, TV screens, eye glasses, and more.

The goal of fabricating fixed-size one-dimensional silica structures and being able to precisely control the diameter during growth has long eluded scientists. Now, Panos Datskos and Jaswinder Sharma have demonstrated what they describe as the addressable local control of diameter of each segment of the silica rod.

“In nature, many intricate structures develop and grow in response to their environments,” said Sharma, a Wigner Fellow and corresponding author of the Angewandte Chemie International Edition paper that outlines the process. “For example, in addition to genotype, shell shape is also controlled by the local environment in many oysters and scallops.” [Read more…]

Supercomputers help ORNL researchers identify molecular switch that controls cell behavior

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E. coli Chemoreceptor Switch

Red and blue molecules represent a conformational switch essential to the signaling mechanism of an E. coli chemoreceptor that researchers discovered using computational molecular dynamics simulations. (Image credit: Davi Ortega)

If scientists can control cellular functions such as movement and development, they can cripple cells and pathogens that are causing disease in the body.

Supported by National Institutes of Health grants, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee, and the UT-ORNL Joint Institute for Computational Sciences discovered a molecular “switch” in a receptor that controls cell behavior using detailed molecular dynamics simulations on a computer called Anton built by D.E. Shaw Research in New York City. To study an even larger signaling complex surrounding the switch, the team is expanding these simulations on Titan—the nation’s most powerful supercomputer, managed by the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility at ORNL.

Researchers identified the molecular switch on Anton (which was designed to perform speedy molecular dynamics simulations) by simulating 140,000 atoms that make up the signaling part of the Tsr chemoreceptor that controls motility in E. coli. Like other receptors, Tsr spans the cell membrane, communicating to proteins inside the cell in order to respond to threats or opportunities in the environment. [Read more…]

ORNL’s Bruce Pint elected 2014 NACE fellow

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Bruce Pint

Bruce Pint

Bruce Pint, a research staff member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected a 2014 National Association of Corrosion Engineers fellow.

Pint is a principal investigator for many research and development projects, including corrosion issues in fossil energy, nuclear energy, fusion energy, and combined heat and power systems. His research during the past 25 years covers compatibility, lifetime predictions, environmental effects, and coatings for metals and ceramics in all types of power generation.

He received his doctorate in ceramic science and engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1992. [Read more…]

Bioluminescence technology from UT a top innovation, researchers have ORNL connection

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University of Tennessee Bioluminescence and Microtiter Plate

Pictured above is a micro titer plate showing light signals in cells, illustrating bioluminescence technology. (Photo courtesy University of Tennessee)

KNOXVILLE—Technology that lights up cells to enable study of the effects of drugs and monitor disease is among The Scientist magazine’s Top 10 innovations of 2013. It’s also a University of Tennessee technology and licensed by a Knoxville-based startup company.

Technology using humanized bacterial luciferase developed by UT researchers and licensed by 490 BioTech, founded by two UT Knoxville faculty members and two then-graduate assistants, is ranked sixth on the magazine’s list. For more about the innovation list, visit here.

“The development of this technology originated more than 10 years ago, and with hard work by past graduate students and key financial support from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and University of Tennessee Research Foundation, it evolved into a marketable product that can be used to make pharmaceutical drugs safer, better, and cheaper,” said Steven Ripp, co-founder and chief operating officer of 490 BioTech and research associate professor at UT Knoxville. “Being recognized as a Top 10 technology is a significant milestone for our company, and it will greatly assist in mainstreaming our product toward better disease management and improved health care.” [Read more…]

ORNL establishes Liane B. Russell Distinguished Early Career Fellowship

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Liane B. Russell

Liane B. Russell

With the goal of expanding opportunities for early career researchers, Oak Ridge National Laboratory has established a research award in the name of its most acclaimed woman scientist.

The Liane B. Russell Distinguished Early Career Fellowship is intended to attract a diverse work force of scientists and engineers who have demonstrated outstanding scientific ability and research interests that align with the U.S. Department of Energy and ORNL research missions.

The competitive, three-year fellowship is aimed toward establishing long-term research careers at ORNL, a press release said. In the spirit of ORNL’s groundbreaking female geneticist, Russell, these fellowships will be available to outstanding scientists and engineers who have received their doctorate degrees within the past seven years, with emphasis given to attracting women and minority candidates. [Read more…]

ORNL’s Keller, Babu, Hazen elected AAAS fellows

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ORNL Martin Keller, Sudarsanam Suresh Babu, and Terry Clyde Hazen

Martin Keller, associate director for energy and environmental sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and UT-ORNL Governor’s Chairs Suresh Babu and Terry Hazen have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. (Photos courtesy ORNL)

The associate laboratory director for Energy and Environmental Sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and two University of Tennessee-ORNL Governor’s Chair researchers are among the newly elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

EES Associate Laboratory Director Martin Keller and Governor’s Chairs Sudarsanam Suresh Babu and Terry Clyde Hazen will receive the highest honor bestowed by members of the AAAS on their peers. AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.

Keller came to ORNL in 2006 from Diversa Corporation, where he held a series of research management positions. He was cited by his AAAS peers for “distinguished contributions to bioenergy science, and for dynamic and inspiring leadership of innovative partnerships to advance the development and deployment of clean energy technologies.” [Read more…]