Oak Ridge Today

Y-12 honors its inventors with Technology Transfer awards

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The Y-12 National Security Complex recently recognized 33 inventors at its annual Tech Transfer award ceremony. The group was awarded 10 patents in the past year. (Photo by CNS)

The Y-12 National Security Complex recently recognized 33 inventors at its annual Tech Transfer award ceremony. The group was awarded 10 patents in the past year. (Photo by CNS)

 

Inventors at the Y-12 National Security Complex were awarded honors for their innovative technology accomplishments during the recent 13th annual Technology Transfer Awards Ceremony. The site has a long history of producing technologies that are transferred to the private sector, Y-12 said in a story posted on its website in June.

Ten patents were awarded in fiscal year 2016 in areas ranging from an apparatus for characterizing aerosols to several unique material processes, Y-12 said.

Thirty-three inventors also were recognized for bringing forward new ideas in the form of invention disclosures that could one day lead to future patents.

“These employees were acknowledged for both their creativity and innovative ideas in support of the technology development and transfer mission,” the story said. “The new inventions developed by the honorees will be used to further Y-12’s mission work and will be made available through license to benefit the public through Y-12’s Technology Transfer program.” [Read more…]

ORNL researcher receives Innovator of Year award for energy efficiency work

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ORNL Roderick Jackson on Sept. 23, 2015

Roderick Jackson is principal investigator on the Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy (AMIE) Demonstration Project, a model for energy-efficient systems that link buildings, vehicles, and the electrical grid. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Researcher Roderick Jackson of Oak Ridge National Laboratory was awarded an Innovator of the Year award in 2017 at the Young, Gifted, and Empowered Awards, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Jackson was recognized for his groundbreaking work in building energy efficiency innovation, DOE said in a story published Tuesday by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Jackson is the lead at ORNL’s Building Envelope Systems Research Group, and he leads the partnership between the Building Technologies Office, or BTO, and ORNL on building envelope projects, DOE said. Jackson works with both BTO’s Emerging Technologies and Residential Buildings Integration programs.

Jackson also serves as the technical lead for the Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy (AMIE) demonstration project. As part of that project, ORNL and others unveiled a vehicle and house in September 2015 that had been built using large-scale 3D printers at the lab’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility in Hardin Valley. The 210-square-foot solar-powered house and printed utility vehicle, or PUV, can provide power to each other. The house is one of the world’s first 3D printed homes.

The home and vehicle are part of a project designed to answer “what if” questions that could lead to innovations in building and car construction and energy use, storage, and consumption.

DOE said the Young, Gifted, and Empowered awards are in their third year, and they recognize exceptional young African-American professionals from Mississippi who are champions in the arts, business, philanthropy, education, innovation, and leadership. The honorees are between the ages of 25-45 and have demonstrated a noteworthy commitment to excellence and community service and a high level of character, leadership, and innovation, DOE said. [Read more…]

Curious about 3D printed vehicles, including excavator? ORNL has posted photos

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory has helped produce the first fully functional excavator that uses parts made through additive manufacturing, or 3D printing. The excavator is pictured above on Feb. 27, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has helped produce the first fully functional excavator that uses parts made through additive manufacturing, or 3D printing. The excavator is pictured above on Feb. 27, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy)

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has helped produce the first fully functional excavator that uses parts made through additive manufacturing, or 3D printing.

The excavator, part of a working demonstration known as Project AME, was made in collaboration with ORNL partners in industry, government, and academia. The project helps showcase a range of industrial applications for 3D printing, ORNL said.

Additive manufacturing is the process used to build something one layer at a time. Rather than ink, 3D printers use polymers.

One of the most well-known examples is the Shelby Cobra car 3-D printed on a large-scale polymer printer at ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility in Hardin Valley. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden admired that vehicle—and joked about taking it for a spin—during a trip to East Tennessee in January 2015.

ORNL has been involved in other projects using 3D printing that have attracted attention, and the lab has posted photos of its 3D printed vehicles. You can see them here. [Read more…]

ORNL: Car, building are 3D-printed, can power each other

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ORNL 3D-Printed House and Vehicle on Sept. 24, 2015

A 3D-printed vehicle and building that were part of a nine-month research demonstration project were unveiled on Industry Day at ORNL on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015. The natural gas-powered car and solar-powered building can provide electricity to each other. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A car and house built using large-scale 3D printers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory can provide power to each other, and they’re part of a project designed to answer “what if” questions that could lead to innovations in building and car construction and energy use, storage, and consumption, researchers and officials said Wednesday.

The 210-square-foot house—it’s a solar-powered building—and the printed utility vehicle—officials affectionately call it a PUV—were printed at ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility on Hardin Valley Road.

They were unveiled at ORNL on Wednesday during the lab’s first-ever Industry Day. The building and PUV are part of a project called the Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy, or AMIE, demonstration.

Additive manufacturing is the process used to build something one layer at a time. One of the most well-known examples is the Shelby Cobra car 3-D printed on a large-scale polymer printer at the MDF. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden admired that vehicle—and joked about taking it for a spin—during a trip to East Tennessee in January. [Read more…]

ORNL research demo combines clean energy, 3-D printed building, vehicle

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ORNL AMIE

Oak Ridge National Laboratory will unveil a research demonstration next week that combines clean energy technologies into a 3-D printed building and vehicle to showcase a new approach to energy use, storage, and consumption.

The unveiling of the Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy, or AMIE, demonstration is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. Wednesday, September 23, at ORNL.

The demonstration will be exhibited at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Industry Day event as a model for energy efficient systems that link buildings, vehicles, and the grid.

A rendering of the demo is included above.

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