Oak Ridge Today

Tourassi named top scientist at ORNL’s annual Awards Night

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Georgia Tourassi, Director’s Award winner for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Science and Technology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy)

Georgia Tourassi, Director’s Award winner for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Science and Technology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy)

 

Georgia Tourassi of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate has received the ORNL Director’s Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Science and Technology.

The top scientist award was presented to Tourassi by ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia during Saturday night’s annual Awards Night event hosted by UT-Battelle, the management and operating contractor of ORNL for the U.S. Department of Energy, a press release said.

Tourassi was recognized for advancing the research, development, and deployment of artificial intelligence in data-driven biomedical discovery and medical imaging, including applications for cancer diagnosis and management, the press release said. She was also cited for her support of the missions of biomedical scientific societies and federal agencies and for mentoring students in biomedical science and technology.

Tourassi, who works in the Computational Sciences and Engineering Division and directs the laboratory’s Health Data Sciences Institute, also received the Distinguished Researcher award. [Read more…]

DOE, NNSA computing project names new director, to be based at ORNL

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Doug Kothe

Doug Kothe

A collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration has named a new director of the project to build computing systems that are at least 50 times faster than the nation’s most powerful supercomputers in use today—and the new director will be based at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The collaborative project is the Exascale Computing Project. It’s a collaboration between DOE’s Office of Science and the NNSA, which is a semi-autonomous agency within DOE.

The new director is Doug Kothe, a 32-year veteran of DOE’s national laboratory system who most recently served in ORNL’s Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate and as the applications development lead for the Exascale Computing Project, or ECP. For the preceding five years, he led the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors, DOE’s first Energy Innovation Hub, which uses supercomputers to improve nuclear reactor performance.

Kothe will be ECP director effective October 1. He will replace Paul Messina, who is stepping down after two years to return to Argonne National Laboratory, a press release said. [Read more…]

Van Berkel receives top Science, Technology honor at UT-Battelle Awards Night

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Gary J. Van Berkel

Gary J. Van Berkel

Gary J. Van Berkel of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Chemical Sciences Division has earned the ORNL Director’s Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Science and Technology.

Van Berkel was honored Friday night during the annual Awards Night event hosted by UT-Battelle, the management and operating contractor of ORNL. The award recognizes Van Berkel’s sustained leadership and innovation in the development of disruptive sampling systems for mass spectrometry, resulting in multiple commercial licenses and new product offerings. He was earlier named ORNL’s Inventor of the Year.

David Fowler

David Fowler

David Fowler of ORNL’s Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate earned the Director’s Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Laboratory Operations. Fowler was honored for recent accomplishments that exceeded normal performance expectations and positively advanced ORNL’s mission. He also won the Excellence in Operations category.

Donald Cross of ORNL’s Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate earned the Director’s Award for Outstanding Individual Accomplishment in Community Engagement. Cross provided outstanding leadership and selfless dedication in community service through the mentoring of special needs children and adults in a wide variety of organizations. He also won the award for Exceptional Community Engagement by an Individual. [Read more…]

New director named at Climate Change Science Institute at ORNL

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Jack Fellows

Jack Fellows

Jack D. Fellows, who oversaw a $110 billion federal science portfolio under two U.S. presidents and co-founded the U.S. Global Change Research Program integrating all federal Earth system science research programs, has been appointed director of the Climate Change Science Institute at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Martin Keller and Jeff Nichols, leaders of the Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate and the Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate respectively, announced Fellows’ appointment.

“Jack Fellows is a welcome addition to our climate change science program,” said ORNL Director Thom Mason. “His extensive experience in directing research and education programs, most recently as vice-president for the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, will be particularly valuable as CCSI moves forward in its work of advancing the understanding of the Earth system, describing the consequences of climate change, and evaluating and informing policy on the potential outcomes of responses to climate change.” [Read more…]

Tuesday lecture features leader in high-performance computing at ORNL

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Jeff Nichols

Jeff Nichols

A leader in high-performance computing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will be the featured speaker at the monthly meeting of Friends of ORNL.

Jeff Nichols is associate laboratory director for ORNL’s Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate. Nichols leads the laboratory’s advanced high-performance computing in priority areas such as climate change, nuclear energy, fusion energy, nanotechnology, and biotechnology, a press release said. [Read more…]

Picture: DOE director of economic impact, diversity visits ORNL

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Dot Harris at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

From left, Dot Harris, director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Economic Impact and Diversity, and Michael Colbert, deputy director of DOE’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, listen as Research Alliance in Math and Science student Darius Degraffenried presents his research. (Photo by ORNL’s Jason Richards)

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Dot Harris, director of the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity, visited Oak Ridge National Laboratory Thursday and Friday.

Harris spoke at the Research Alliance in Math and Science banquet Thursday evening, and she attended a RAMS poster session that preceded the dinner.

Her agenda also included visits to ORNL’s supercomputing facilities, Spallation Neutron Source, the Carbon Fiber Technology Facility, and the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, as well as discussions on the lab’s education, outreach, partnerships, and small business programs. [Read more…]