Stuart Daw
C. Stuart Daw of Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been elected fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
He was selected by AIChE for his numerous outstanding contributions to the chemical engineering profession.
Daw, a UT-Battelle Corporate Fellow, works in the U.S. Department of Energy lab’s Energy and Transportation Science Division. He lives in Knoxville.
Microbes that live in rice paddies, northern peat bogs, and other previously unexpected environments are among the bacteria that can generate highly toxic methylmercury, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center have learned.
This finding, published in Environmental Science and Technology, explains why deadly methylated mercury is produced in areas where the neurotoxin’s presence has puzzled researchers for decades. Methylmercury—the most dangerous form of mercury—damages the brain and immune system and is especially harmful to developing embryos. Certain bacteria transform inorganic mercury into toxic methylmercury. [Read more…]
A greenway area at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site, has been designated as a certified wildlife habitat site by the National Wildlife Federation.
The 26-acre area is part of the Heritage Center Greenway, which includes trails, ponds, and close-by rivers, a press release said. The greenway provides public access to meadow and wildlife habitat areas that allow viewing of more than 200 species of birds and water fowl, including nesting pairs of bald eagles and osprey. [Read more…]
NNSA Production Office employees deliver food to the Second Harvest facility in Maryville that serves a multi-county area of East Tennessee. Shown from left to right are Jim Goss, Julieanne Rendon, Donna Riggs, Rebekah Nwangwa, Ken Rhyne, James Piatek, Mark Sundie, and Steven Wyatt. (Photo courtesy NPO)
Employees of the National Nuclear Security Administration Production Office, or NPO, have donated 17,348 pounds of food as part of the annual U.S. Department of Energy’s “Feds Feed Families” campaign. The campaign, which ended on Sept. 6, surpassed the goal of 17,000 pounds.
“I am extremely proud and moved by the generosity of NPO employees,” said Steve Erhart, NNSA Production Office manager. “Each year, the Feds Feed Families food drive reminds us there are people in our own communities who go to bed hungry. Serving our country starts at home, and that is what this effort is all about.” [Read more…]
An airport with a 5,000-foot runway could serve small business jets and pressurized turbine aircraft at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site, in west Oak Ridge. An image of the proposed runway is in yellow at right. (Photo courtesy Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority)
The airport proposed at Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge could feature a 5,000-foot runway, accommodate all but the largest business jets, and cost between $35 million and $45 million, an official said Monday.
Construction at the site is possible around 2017 to 2018, said Bill Marrison, president of the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority.
The airport would be built at the front of Heritage Center, the former K-25 site, and the runway would parallel Highway 58. [Read more…]
Oak Ridge Associated Universities awards 27 teachers from 17 East Tennessee schools more than $39,000 during a recent grants ceremony. (Submitted photo)
Oak Ridge Associated Universities awarded more than $39,000 to more than two dozen teachers in 17 schools in Oak Ridge, Clinton, Norris, and Anderson County in a recent grants ceremony.
It was the 12th annual ORAU Education Grants ceremony, and 27 teachers received awards, a press release said.
The grant money can be used to buy educational materials and equipment such as microscopes, iPads, robotics kits, and computers that will help teachers “continue to meet rigorous, state-wide curriculum standards and enhance the learning experience of their students,” the release said. [Read more…]
Michael Voce
National Strategic Protective Services LLC, the security contractor for U.S. Department of Energy facilities in Oak Ridge, has a new general manager who will start Oct. 1.
Michael Voce will replace general manager Greg McDowell, whose resignation was announced in July.
NSPS, a joint venture of Triple Canopy Inc. and Securiguard Inc., provides protective force services to the East Tennessee Technology Park, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Joe L. Evins Federal Building. [Read more…]
Now mostly demolished, the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building is pictured above. Bill Wilcox, a former technical director at K-25 and the Y-12 National Security Complex, led the fight to preserve K-25’s history. Wilcox died Monday, Sept. 2, and his funeral was Saturday. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)
The fight to preserve the history of the K-25 site in west Oak Ridge was long and arduous. Among the challenges were federal funding battles and deteriorated building conditions.
Other people might have considered the dilapidated K-25 Building, once the world’s largest building under one roof, a “useless hulk,” one friend and colleague said. But historic preservationist Bill Wilcox, who died Monday evening, never gave up on his dream of honoring the site’s history.
Now mostly demolished, the mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building was erected as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. That was a federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II. But the four-story building has been shut down since 1964 and fallen into disrepair, and the U.S. Department of Energy is converting the site into a massive industrial park and demolishing many of the original buildings. [Read more…]
Deputy General Manager of Operations Dave Richardson, left, meets Bearden High School graduate Sheri Cunningham, center, at Y-12’s New Hope Center to congratulate her on her receipt of a Babcock and Wilcox scholarship. Cunningham is the daughter of B&W Y-12 engineer Penny Cunningham, right. (Photo courtesy B&W Y-12)
Babcock and Wilcox recently announced the winners of the 2013 B&W Scholarship, and one recipient is the daughter of an engineer at the Y-12 National Security Complex.
Sheri Cunningham is a Bearden High School graduate and the daughter of B&W Y-12 engineer Penny Cunningham. She will receive $1,500 per year for up to four years of college-level study. [Read more…]
The Y-12 National Security Complex received awards for its public relations, technical communications, and films during three events earlier this year.
The Volunteer Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America held their annual “V” Awards for public relations programs and products, and Y-12 received six awards, including a first-place honor for The Y-12 Times, the employee newsletter. Other award winners included the Human Performance Improvement/Safety Culture campaign, Innovation poster series, UPFront newsletter, The Y-12 Report, and Y-12 Sustainability communications. All entries were evaluated by judges from a PRSA chapter in California. [Read more…]
Y-12 National Security Complex employees Stacy DeMonbrun, Judy Allen, Stacy Cotton, Dana Davis, Becky Hook (ADFAC), Janie Hoard, Susan Beckham, Telesa Kaye Weaver, and John Fellers deliver school supplies to ADFAC. (Photo courtesy B&W Y-12/Scott Fraker)
Kids around the country are heading back to school, and with help from employees at the Y-12 National Security Complex, many in East Tennessee will head back with all the supplies they’ll need for a successful school year, a press release said.
The release said Y-12 recently collected thousands of individual items for Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties’ annual school supply drive as part of the United Way Days of Caring drive. That total included more than 230 boxes of crayons and markers, 320 notebooks, 300 glue sticks, and 220 packs of pens and pencils. Employees also donated more than $2,500. [Read more…]
These half-dozen photos are from a collection by D. Ray Smith showing city historian Bill Wilcox, who died Monday, celebrating recent milestones, including his 90th birthday earlier this year and the unveiling of the Birth of a City monuments in front of the Oak Ridge Municipal Building a few years ago.
Smith is Y-12 National Security Complex historian and newspaper columnist, and Wilcox, a passionate advocate for preserving Oak Ridge’s history, was his friend.
The funeral for Wilcox and a community reception are Saturday. [Read more…]
