Oak Ridge Today

Roane State will have manufacturing job fair

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Roane State Community College will host a manufacturing industry job fair this week at its Campbell County Campus. The job fair will include employers from Anderson County, Campbell County, and Clinton.

The job fair is scheduled from 3 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, November 29.

“The manufacturing companies attending this job fair represent hundreds of job and career opportunities,” said Tracy Powers, Roane State’s Campbell County Campus director. “These employers are offering positions with great wages and benefits, including top-tier healthcare and paid vacations. What a way to start a new year with a fantastic new job.”

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See latest high-tech automation technology at Roane State’s Clinton facility on May 23

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May 15, 2018

By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer

Learning and technology will be at the forefront of presentations and tours on Wednesday, May 23, at Roane State Community College’s Clinton Higher Education and Workforce Training Facility.

That’s when a tractor-trailer named the Siemens Mobile Showcase will roll onto the campus, located off Charles Seivers Boulevard at 214 Nave St.

That 38-foot-long “demonstration-on-wheels” is “packed full of the latest and greatest high-tech automation, communications and instrumentation technology,” said Gordon Williams, mechatronics program director.

High school students from Anderson, Morgan, Roane and Loudon counties have been invited to tour the trailer displays between 9:30 and 11 a.m., and Williams said members of the public are also welcome then.

The displays will highlight how “Siemens technology can benefit a customer in the areas of designing, commissioning, monitoring and maintaining their automation equipment,” according to a news release.

Then, from 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., there’ll be an invitation-only, on-campus lunch for employees of local industries who are experts in engineering and technology.

Those 30 to 40 representatives will also be given a tour of Roane State’s Clinton campus as well as the mobile showcase. Those employees are invited to two technology-based presentations from 1 to 3:30 p.m.

Siemens is a German industrial conglomerate and Europe’s largest industrial manufacturer. Brozelco of Rockford, Tenn., a supplier of Siemens products, is also helping facilitate the event.

For more information, contact Williams at (865) 354-3000 ext. 4899 or [email protected].

Roane State, AC Chamber, CNS Y-12 to host Manufacturing Day celebration, Dream It/Do It kickoff

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Area middle school students will learn about creative, high-tech careers in manufacturing as part of a Manufacturing Day celebration on Friday, October 21, at Roane State Community College’s training facility in Clinton.

The college is teaming up with the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce and CNS Y-12 to host the event, titled the Dream It/Do It Manufacturing Showcase: Think, Create, Build. The event begins at 9:30 a.m., and it will include tours and equipment demonstrations. The public is invited.

Roane State’s Clinton Higher Education and Workforce Training Facility is located at 214 Nave Street. [Read more…]

Roane State awarded grant to develop specialized welding courses

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Roane-State-Coffey-McNally-Building

The Roane State Community College campus in Oak Ridge is pictured above. (Photo by Roane State)

 

Roane State Community College received a $25,000 grant to develop classes in lightweight metal welding, a skill set needed by automotive manufacturers.

The grant from the Center for Advanced Automotive Technology will be used to develop four courses: aluminum welding, robotic welding, non-destructive testing, and metallurgy. Grant funds will pay for costs related to course development, supplies, and outreach materials.

Markus Pomper, dean of Roane State’s Mathematics and Sciences Division, said the course material will have applications in the automotive industry and for work at the Uranium Processing Facility under development in Oak Ridge.

“Automotive manufacturers are using light metals, such as aluminum, in their designs in order to increase their vehicles’ fuel efficiency,” Pomper said. “The lightweight metal welding courses will train the workforce for the lightweight auto manufacturing. In addition, we anticipate that the planned Uranium Processing Facility will require welders who can weld exotic metals and also test their work.” [Read more…]

Clinton Middle wins CNS-sponsored Dream It, Do It competition

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Clinton Middle School wins the inaugural Dream It. Do It. Competition May 2016. Front row (left to right): Janet Hawkins, Paige Cooper, Sierra Patrick, Anthony Burkett Hundley, and Kristin Waldschlager of CNS. Back row (left to right): Anderson County Chamber President Rick Meredith, Jack Spangler, Jonathan Lewis, Kelly Myers, and Jason Bohne and Jim Zonar of CNS. (Submitted photo)

Clinton Middle School wins the inaugural Dream It. Do It. Competition May 2016. Front row (left to right): Janet Hawkins, Paige Cooper, Sierra Patrick, Anthony Burkett Hundley, and Kristin Waldschlager of CNS. Back row (left to right): Anderson County Chamber President Rick Meredith, Jack Spangler, Jonathan Lewis, Kelly Myers, and Jason Bohne and Jim Zonar of CNS. (Submitted photo)

 

Clinton Middle School won the Anderson County Chamber of Commerce’s first “Dream It. Do It.” competition.

Clinton Middle School partnered with Eagle Bend Manufacturing in the competition. For their effort, the school received four Go Pro cameras, provided by Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, through corporate funds. CNS is the managing contractor at the Y‑12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and at the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas.

The awards ceremony was at Roane State Community College’s Oak Ridge campus.

The program involved putting eighth-grade students in adult settings, a press release said. Equipped with Go Pro cameras, the students got a firsthand look at a manufacturing world that they might not have considered as a future career. CNS provided the students at Clinton, Lake City, Norris, and Norwood middle schools with the cameras and the mission to capture the diversity of careers and technical innovations in manufacturing by producing a short video. [Read more…]

Roane State invites public to Manufacturing Day in Clinton on Friday

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Roane State Manufacturing Day Open House Oct. 2, 2015

Roane State Community College will host an open house at its Clinton Higher Education and Workforce Training Facility as part of Manufacturing Day on Friday, October  2.

The event will last from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the facility, which is at 214 Nave Street in Clinton. The public is invited to visit the facility and learn more about Roane State courses in mechatronics and injection molding.

Representatives from area manufacturers will be at the facility to discuss job opportunities in manufacturing, and Roane State staff will demonstrate equipment used in its mechatronics and injection molding programs. [Read more…]

ORNL manufacturing facility part of national effort to make innovations

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Penny Pritzker Tours ORNL Manufacturing Demonstration Facility

U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker, second from left, tours Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility in Hardin Valley on Thursday. Also pictured from left are IACMI CEO Craig Blue; Mark Johnson, director of DOE’s office of advanced manufacturing; Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero; and ORNL Director Thom Mason. They are standing next to a Shelby Cobra sports car that was 3D-printed at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

HARDIN VALLEY—The Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is part of a national effort to keep the United States on the cutting edge of research and manufacturing, a federal official said Thursday.

One-third of economic growth comes from innovations, and the United States must continue making new developments, said Penny Pritzker, U.S. commerce secretary.

“Research and manufacturing is not nice to have,” Pritzker said. “It’s a need to have.”

Pritzker toured the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility on Cherahala Boulevard in Hardin Valley on Thursday. It’s part of the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation in Knoxville, which was announced by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden during a trip to East Tennessee in January. [Read more…]

U.S. commerce secretary to tour ORNL Manufacturing Demonstration Facility

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Penny Pritzker

Penny Pritzker

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker will tour the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Knoxville on Thursday. It’s a trip to tour the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, part of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation.

President Barack Obama created the NNMI to strengthen the global competitiveness of America’s manufacturing sector and our workforce. The NNMI currently has six institutes, and three additional institutions under competition, each of which is focused on the development of a different 21st century technology.

The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation works to develop lower-cost, higher-speed, and more efficient manufacturing and recycling processes for next-generation materials, including advanced polymer composites for vehicles, wind turbines, and compressed gas storage, a press release said. In addition, IACMI’s research, development, and demonstration programs are focused on reducing technical risk and developing a robust supply chain to support a growing advanced composites industry. [Read more…]

New pilot helps small businesses tap ORNL expertise

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ORNL Manufacturing Demonstration Facility

Small businesses can gain access to ORNL resources such as the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility through a new U.S. Department of Energy voucher pilot. (Photo by ORNL)

 

Small companies in the advanced manufacturing, transportation, and building sectors have a new opportunity to partner with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

ORNL was among five national laboratories selected to participate in a new DOE small business voucher pilot that aims to connect small clean energy businesses with technical experts and world-class facilities at the national labs.

DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is funding the $20 million pilot as part of its National Laboratory Impact Initiative. ORNL will receive $5.6 million to conduct outreach, merit review, and matchmaking efforts for small business projects.

“We’re pleased to be given the opportunity to partner with smaller businesses who can take advantage of the world-class facilities at ORNL and other national laboratories across the country,” said ORNL’s Johney Green. “Through this pilot, we will help industry achieve their goals of developing innovative, energy-efficient products and being more competitive in the marketplace, particularly in manufacturing, building, and vehicle technologies.” [Read more…]

Advanced composites expert named newest UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair

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Uday Vaidya

Uday Vaidya

KNOXVILLE—The position of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and Oak Ridge National Laboratory as leaders in the manufacturing revolution has taken another bold step forward with the hiring of Uday Vaidya as the Governor’s Chair in Advanced Composites Manufacturing.

Vaidya becomes the 14th UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair and the seventh devoted to some aspect of advanced manufacturing, underscoring the importance of this research and the role of the two institutes in it.

“We are pleased to welcome Uday and the leadership he brings in the growing area of advanced composites manufacturing,” said UT Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek. “His research will contribute to the vital building blocks we have with ORNL and our momentum as leaders in the field.” [Read more…]

Experts launch advanced composites institute announced by Obama, led by UT

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Craig Blue, David Danielson, and David Millhorn

Pictured above are Craig Blue, IACMI CEO; David Danielson assistant secretary, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy; and David Millhorn, executive vice president for the University of Tennessee System and president of the UT Research Foundation. (Photo courtesy UT)

 

ORNL a founding partner

Hundreds of composites experts from industry, government, and academia gathered at the Knoxville Convention Center on Wednesday for the launch of the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation, or IACMI.

The University of Tennessee in Knoxville and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are among IACMI’s founding research partners.

A signing ceremony between the U.S. Department of Energy and IACMI representatives marked the official start of business for the newly established institute, which was announced in January by President Barack Obama.

IACMI will work with industry to reduce technical risk and develop a robust supply chain for advanced composite materials in automotive components, wind turbines, and compressed gas storage applications. Funded with $70 million in federal funds and more than $180 million in nonfederal funds, IACMI will focus on making advanced fiber-reinforced polymer composites less expensive and less energy-intensive, helping give America’s resurging manufacturing sector a more competitive edge in the global economy. [Read more…]

Materials science duo advances next wave of alloys; work conducted at ORNL, UT

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Louis Santodonato

Louis Santodonato

Peter Liaw

Peter Liaw

KNOXVILLE—High-entropy alloys—substances constructed with equivalent quantities of five or more metals—might hold the key to future manufacturing and construction, and two researchers from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville could help pave the way.

Doctoral candidate Louis Santodonato, along with his adviser Professor Peter Liaw, both in materials science, did an extensive study into this class of materials, which are considerably lighter and less prone to fracture, corrosion, and oxidation than conventional alloys.

The pair used various methods to observe and model the atomic mixing behavior of high-entropy alloys, work that was picked up by the prestigious journal Nature Communications. [Read more…]