Oak Ridge Today

Khaleel to lead ORNL’s Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate

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Mohammad A. Khaleel

Mohammad A. Khaleel

 

Mohammad A. “Moe” Khaleel has been named associate laboratory director for energy and environmental sciences at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The work that Khaleel will oversee for the Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate, or EESD, includes biological and environmental research for DOE’s Office of Science and an extensive set of research and development programs supported by DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery, and Energy Reliability and Office of Fossil Energy.

EESD also engages with a broad external community that includes a growing list of industrial partners through the ORNL-managed BioEnergy Science Center, the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, and the National Transportation Research Center, a press release said.

“Moe brings a rich background as both a researcher and scientific leader,” ORNL Director Thom Mason said. “In his new position, he will oversee activities that translate basic science into applied research and development (R&D), with direct benefits for energy production, transmission, and conservation. ORNL will benefit from his experience and his vision.” [Read more…]

Scientists seek new physics using ORNL’s intense neutrino source

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Neutrino Experiment at High Flux Isotope Reactor

The High Flux Isotope Reactor, a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science User Facility that creates continuous neutron beams, is the site of a new neutrino experiment. Yale-led PROSPECT will probe neutrinos formed as a byproduct of radioactive decay processes. (Image credit: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, DOE/Photographer Genevieve Martin)

 

By Dawn Levy

Soon to be deployed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is an experiment to explore new physics associated with neutrinos. The Precision Oscillation and Spectrum Experiment, or PROSPECT, is led by Yale University and includes partners from 14 academic and governmental institutions. The DOE High Energy Physics program will support the experiment at the High Flux Isotope Reactor, or HFIR, a DOE Office of Science User Facility at ORNL. The neutrino, the subject of a 2015 Nobel Prize, remains a poorly understood fundamental particle of the Standard Model of particle physics.

These electrically neutral subatomic particles are made in stars and nuclear reactors as a byproduct of radioactive decay processes. They interact with other matter via the weak force, making their detection difficult. As a result of this elusiveness, neutrinos are the subject of many interesting and challenging detection experiments, including PROSPECT.

“Unique capabilities of ORNL will enable us to broaden the understanding of neutrino properties,” said David Dean, director of ORNL’s Physics Division. “The expansion of neutrino experiments at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a win for the lab because we have a new scientific focus area, and a win for the scientific community because ORNL has unique neutrino sources that physicists will utilize to explore neutrino science.” [Read more…]

Energy policy professor, former ORNL manager to discuss sustainable energy

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Marilyn Brown

Marilyn Brown

The 17th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series opens on Thursday, June 26, featuring Professor Marilyn Brown, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Lab in the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

The title of her June 26 lecture is “Technologies and Policies for a Sustainable Energy Future.” It’s sponsored by Friends of ORNL. The event is free of charge and will be held at the American Museum of Science and Energy at 300 S. Tulane Ave. in Oak Ridge.

Before moving to Georgia Tech in 2006, Brown managed the Efficiency, Renewables, and Electric Grid Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She is also a board member of the Tennessee Valley Authority. [Read more…]

UT names bioenergy expert as 14th UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair

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Art Ragauskas

Arthur Ragauskas

KNOXVILLE—Arthur Ragauskas, an authority in bioenergy, has been named the 14th University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair.

He will serve as Governor’s Chair for Biorefining, based in UT’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering with a complementary appointment in the UT Institute of Agriculture’s Department of Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries.

He will also serve in the Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate, Biosciences Division, at ORNL and as a member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center, or BESC.

Ragauskas begins at UT on June 1. [Read more…]

Two ORHS teams compete in Siemens Competition this week

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Two student teams from Oak Ridge High School will compete this week in the regional finals for the prestigious Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology.

The two teams include James Andress and A.J. Toth, and Kyoung-A Cho and Samantha Wang. The students worked with mentors at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to develop computer programs to help find protein mutations that suppress cancer and evaluate rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

“We were excited by the potential for machine learning to advance pharmaceutical development,” Andress said in a press release.

“My favorite part of working on this project was realizing that I could program, which I didn’t think I could do,” Wang said.

The two teams will compete in the regional finals at Georgia Institute of Technology on Friday and Saturday. A total of 93 students from 25 states are competing in six regional finals from California to Massachusetts this month.

The Siemens Competition is considered the nation’s premier research competition for high school students.

“These students have invested time, energy, and talent in tackling challenging scientific research at a young age,” Jeniffer Harper-Taylor, Siemens Foundation president, said in a recent press release. “The recognition they have won today demonstrates that engagement in STEM is an investment well worth making.”

The Siemens Competition awards one $3,000 prize to an individual and one $6,000 prize to a team at each regional competition. Winners of the regional events advance to the national finals at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C., from Dec. 1-4, when $500,000 in scholarships will be awarded, including two top prizes of $100,000.

The Siemens Foundation said there were also 322 semifinalists announced this year. Local regional semifinalists included John Caughman III, Megan Kelly, and Patrick Williams.

The Siemens Foundation said 2,255 students from across the country participated in this year’s competition with a total of 1,504 projects.

Cathy Toth, mother of A.J. Toth, said Oak Ridge has won at nationals twice since 2008.