Oak Ridge Today

FORNL talk Tuesday about manufacturing innovation

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Craig Blue

 

A Tuesday talk will focus on manufacturing innovation in the Oak Ridge area.

The featured speaker will be Craig Blue, manager of the Advanced Manufacturing Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He will present information about the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility model, science and technology breakthroughs, and quantitative impacts, a press release said. His talk is titled “ORNL’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility: Driving a Manufacturing Innovation Ecosystem.

Tuesday’s monthly meeting of Friends of Oak Ridge National Laboratory will be virtual, or online. It is open to the public, and it is scheduled to start at noon Tuesday, June 8. [Read more…]

ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia to present community lecture Thursday

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Thomas Zacharia

Thomas Zacharia

Thomas Zacharia, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will give a community lecture on Thursday. It’s the 21st season of the Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series.

Besides being ORNL director, Zacharia is also president and chief executive officer of UT-Battelle LLC, which operates ORNL for the U. S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

On Thursday, Zacharia will talk about the scientific agenda at ORNL in a presentation titled “Science and the State of the Lab,” a press release said. The event is co-sponsored by Friends of ORNL (FORNL) and the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation (ORPSEF). It is free of charge, and it will be held at the Pollard Technology Conference Center at 210 Badger Avenue in Oak Ridge. A reception will be held in the auditorium lobby starting at 5:30 p.m. (snacks will be served), and the lecture starts at 6 p.m. in the auditorium, the press release said.

“The talk will be of interest to students and the general public,” the press release said. [Read more…]

Dick Smyser Lecture on Thursday features science educator discussing total solar eclipse

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Chap Percival (Submitted photo)

Chap Percival (Submitted photo)

The 20th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series opens on Thursday, May 18, and it will feature Chap Percival, a science educator from Sarasota, Florida.

Percival will talk about the total solar eclipse that will occur on August 21. The title of his presentation is “Go See the Eclipse.”

This event is co-sponsored by the Oak Ridge Isochronous Observation Network (ORION), the National Park Sevice (NPS), and Friends of ORNL (FORNL), a press release said.

It’s free of charge, and it will be held at the American Museum of Science and Energy, which is at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge. A reception will be held in the museum lobby starting at 5:30 p.m. (snacks will be served), and the lecture will start at 6 p.m. in the museum auditorium.

“This talk should be of interest to students and the general public,” the press release said.

Percival is a lifelong educator. He lives in Sarasota, Florida. He has a BA in mathematics and physics from Taylor University, an MAT in planetarium education from Michigan State University, and an MEd in instructional technology from the University of Virginia, the press release said. [Read more…]

Learn about the construction of Oak Ridge through Westcott photos

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Ed Westcott and Ray Smith

Ed Westcott, right, was the only official photographer in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project in World War II, a top-secret project to build the world’s first atomic bomb. Westcott is pictured above with D. Ray Smith, Y-12 National Security Complex historian and newspaper history columnist. (Photo courtesy D. Ray Smith)

 

A Tuesday program will focus on the construction of the city that is now Oak Ridge through Ed Westcott photographs.

The program is titled “The Building of the Atomic City—the Ed Wescott Photographs.” It will be presented by Emily Hunnicutt, Ed Westcott’s daughter, and Don Hunnicutt, Westcott’s son-in-law.

Westcott was the official photographer for the federal government in the city, which was once known as Clinton Engineer Works, during World War II. Oak Ridge was built as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a program to build the world’s first atomic bombs, before Germany could.

The Tuesday program is at noon at the University of Tennessee Resource Center at 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike. It includes a lunch, and it’s sponsored by Friends of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, or FORNL. This meeting is open to the public. [Read more…]

Dick Smyser Community Lecture on Thursday to feature advanced composites manufacturing executive

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Craig Blue

Craig Blue

The 19th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series on Thursday will feature Craig Blue, chief executive officer of the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation.

Blue will give an overview of the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation and Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility. The lecture is sponsored by Friends of ORNL, or FORNL. It’s free and will be at the American Museum of Science and Energy at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge.

A reception will be held in the museum lobby starting at 5:30 p.m. (snacks will be served), and the lecture starts at 6 p.m. in the museum auditorium, a press release said. This talk should be of interest to the general public, the release said. [Read more…]

Smyser Lecture: Author to discuss ‘Atomic Accidents: A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters’

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James Mahaffey

James Mahaffey

A nuclear power author will discuss one of his books, “Atomic Accidents: A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters from the Ozark Mountains to Fukushima,” during a May 26 lecture in Oak Ridge.

It’s the 19th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series. It will feature James Mahaffey, formerly of the Georgia Institute of Technology and later head of advanced research at Nanoventions Inc. in Roswell, Georgia.

The talk is sponsored by Friends of ORNL, or FORNL. It is free of charge and will be held at the American Museum of Science and Energy, which is at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge.

A reception will be held in the museum lobby starting at 5:30 p.m. (snacks will be served), and the lecture starts at 6 p.m. in the museum auditorium. This talk should be of interest to the general public, a press release said.

It said Mahaffey has written two popular books about nuclear power. The first one, “Atomic Awakening,” is a history of nuclear power, and it includes the Clinton Works at Oak Ridge as part of the story. [Read more…]

Today: Harlem Ambassadors for Habitat, former NASA chief astronomer, Smith on Three Bend

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A reminder—There are three events happening this evening: the Harlem Ambassadors Basketball Show in a benefit for Habitat for Humanity of Anderson County, a former chief astronomer at NASA who is referred to as the “mother of the Hubble Telescope” discussing the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to black holes, and local historian and writer Ray Smith discussing the Three Bend Scenic and Wildlife Management Refuge Area of the Oak Ridge Reservation.

The Harlem Ambassadors Basketball Show starts at 6 p.m. today (Thursday, March 24) at Wildcat Arena at Oak Ridge High School. This show is not only entertaining, organizers said, it also brings an important message to kids: “Stay off drugs, stay in school, don’t be a bully!”

Individuals have sponsored tickets so that student-athletes in Anderson County can come to the game for free.

The “opposing” team, the Habi-bats, is made up of local coaches and other local basketball standouts.

“We hope to fill the arena and sell lots of hotdogs, all in an effort to raise money to build and repair homes in Anderson County,” a press release said. [Read more…]

Former NASA astronomy, relativity chief to discuss evolution of universe, from Big Bang to black holes

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Nancy Grace Roman

Nancy Grace Roman

A former chief astronomer at NASA will discuss the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to black holes during a lecture on Thursday, March 24.

It’s the opening of the 19th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series.

It will feature Nancy Grace Roman, former chief of the NASA Astronomy and Relativity Programs in the Office of Space Science.

The free lecture is jointly sponsored by Friends of ORNL, or FORNL, and the American Association of University Women, or AAUW. It will be held at the American Museum of Science and Energy, which is at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge. A reception will be held in the museum lobby starting at 5:30 p.m. (snacks will be served), and the lecture starts at 6 p.m. in the museum auditorium. [Read more…]

FORNL lecture features presentation on finding unmarked graves

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Katie Corcoran

Katie Corcoran

A lecture in Oak Ridge today will feature a presentation on finding unmarked graves.

Katie Corcoran is pursuing a doctorate in anthropology at the University of Tennessee, and she is also a graduate intern in the Geographic Information Science and Technology Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Her lecture at a Friends of ORNL meeting is titled “The Remote Detection of Unmarked Graves.” The meeting starts at 11 a.m., and the lecture begins at noon at the University of Tennessee Resource Center at 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike. It’s open to the public. [Read more…]

Forensic tooth doctor featured at community lecture Thursday

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Mike Tabor

Mike Tabor

The 16th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series continues on Thursday, July 18, and it will feature Dr. Mike Tabor, chief forensic odontologist for the Tennessee State Medical Examiner’s Office. He will discuss “Forensic Identification at Ground Zero and Other High Profile Cases.”

The event is sponsored by Friends of ORNL. It’s free of charge and will be held at the American Museum of Science and Energy at 300 S. Tulane Ave. in Oak Ridge.

The lecture by Tabor starts at 6 p.m., and a reception and a book signing starts at 7 p.m. (snacks will be served). This talk should be of interest to the general public. [Read more…]

Lecture to focus on translating ORNL technology from lab bench to clinic

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Submitted

The Friends of ORNL will hold its monthly luncheon lecture meeting on Tuesday, July 9.

This month, Cymbeline Culiat will discuss “Translating an ORNL Technology from Lab Bench to the Clinic: The NELL1 Story.” This meeting is open to the public. [Read more…]

FORNL monthly luncheon lecture Tuesday

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Liyuan Liang

Liyuan Liang

The Friends of ORNL will hold its monthly luncheon lecture meeting on Tuesday, June 11.

This month, Liyuan Liang and members of her team will discuss “ORNL Mercury Research Program and the Story of Methylation Gene Discovery.” This meeting is open to the public.

Liang, who heads the U.S. Department of Energy-funded mercury research program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Northeastern University at Boston, and a master’s and doctorate from California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in environmental engineering sciences. [Read more…]