Oak Ridge Today

ORNL’s Gibson named SME outstanding young engineer

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Brian T. Gibson (Photo courtesy ORNL)

Brian T. Gibson (Photo courtesy ORNL)

Brian T. Gibson, a postdoctoral research associate at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been named one of the SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineers for 2017.

Gibson has doctorate and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the West Virginia University Institute of Technology, a press release said. He works in the Materials Processing and Joining group in the Materials Science and Technology Division at ORNL.

Before joining ORNL, Gibson studied as a Tennessee Space Grant fellow in the Vanderbilt University Welding Automation Laboratory. His research focuses on technical challenges at the intersection of robotics and materials processing, with specific research interests that include solid-state joining, additive manufacturing, in-process quality monitoring, robotic force control, and signal processing, the press release said.

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE’s Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time, the press release said. For more information, visit http://science.energy.gov/.

George joins elite group as ORNL-UT Governor’s Chair

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easo-george

Easo George becomes the 15th Governor’s Chair. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

 

Easo George, one of the world’s foremost authorities on advanced alloy development and theory, has been named the 15th Governor’s Chair at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee.

George comes from the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany, where he has been professor of materials design and director of the Center for Interface Dominated High Performance Materials since November 2014. Prior to that, he had a career of nearly three decades at ORNL, where he was a distinguished research staff member and head of the Alloy Behavior and Design Group. He was also a professor of materials science and engineering at UT since 2002, a press release said.

“I am honored to have been chosen for this position,” George said in the press release. “There is already tremendous synergy between ORNL and UT in advancing materials research, and I cannot wait to help build even more momentum.” [Read more…]

Four ORNL scientists selected for early career research funding

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ORNL Scientists Early Career Research

Projects by, from left, ORNL researchers Christian Engelmann, Cory Hauck, Katharine Page, and Chad Parish have been selected for DOE Early Career funding. (Photo by ORNL)

 

Four researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are among 44 scientists selected by DOE’s Office of Science to receive funding under the department’s Early Career Research Program.

The grants, which are intended to support researchers during their crucial early career years, are at least $500,000 per year for national lab researchers to cover year-round salary plus research expenses over a planned five years.

ORNL’s winners fall within three major Office of Science program offices: Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) and Fusion Energy Sciences (FES). Following are ORNL’s selectees and brief descriptions of their projects. [Read more…]

ORNL’s Goyal elected fellow of National Academy of Inventors

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Amit Goyal

Amit Goyal

The National Academy of Inventors has elected Amit Goyal as a fellow. Goyal is a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The organization recognized Goyal for “having demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.”

The National Academy of Inventors was founded in 2010 with goals that include celebrating and encouraging inventors, enhancing awareness of technology and innovation, and communicating the work of its members to benefit society.

Goyal, a member of ORNL’s Materials Science and Technology Division, is an international leader in the field of energy and electronic materials, particularly high-temperature superconducting materials. He has more than 80 issued patents. [Read more…]

Honors: ORNL’s Varela receives Microscopy Society’s Burton Medal

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Maria Varela

Maria Varela

Maria Varela, a researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has received the Microscopy Society of America’s Burton Medal for early career scientists.

Varela’s research experience includes thin-film growth, transport properties, and structural characterization by x-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. She specializes in aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy and atomic resolution energy loss spectroscopy.

After receiving her doctorate in physics from Complutense University in Madrid, Spain, Varela came to ORNL as a Eugene P. Wigner Fellow. She has approximately 180 publications in refereed journals and has presented more than 100 invited talks and seminars. She has collaborated with scientists from more than 50 universities in the United States and abroad. [Read more…]

ASM International elects ORNL researchers Paranthaman, Pint fellows

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Parans Paranthaman and Bruce Pint

From left are Parans Paranthaman and Bruce Pint. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

The professional society ASM International has elected two researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory to the rank of fellow. A former ORNL researcher was also elected.

The materials engineering professional society cited Mariappan Parans Paranthaman “for the development of novel epitaxial buffer layers on textured templates, enabling high critical current density superconductor films, and for developing mesoporous architectures destined for high performance energy storage applications.”

Paranthaman, a distinguished researcher in the lab’s Chemical Sciences Division, has a joint faculty appointment with the University of Tennessee’s Bredesen Center in Knoxville as a professor. He is also a distinguished UT-Battelle inventor who has authored or co-authored more than 350 publications and has been awarded 28 U.S. patents. His awards include four R&D 100 Awards and three national and two regional Federal Laboratory Consortium awards for developing high performance second-generation superconducting wires for electric-power applications.

Bruce Pint, a researcher in the Materials Science and Technology Division, was cited for “groundbreaking contributions to the fundamental knowledge of high temperature oxidation mechanisms in alloys and coatings, and for contributions to heat resistant alloy design and development through the incorporation of minor elements to control and improve high temperature stability and overall oxidation resistance.” [Read more…]

Honors: Hemrick of ORNL receives ASM International Silver Medal Award

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James Hemrick

James Hemrick

James Hemrick of Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the co-recipient of the 2014 ASM International Silver Medal Award. The award recognizes two mid-career researchers each year—one from academia and one from industry—who have filled leadership roles in the society and made significant contributions in materials science and engineering.

Hemrick’s research focuses on advanced refractory ceramic and insulation materials, mechanical properties of ceramics. and other high temperature materials and mechanical evaluation of nuclear fuel clad materials.

Hemrick, who works in the Materials Science and Technology Division, received his doctorate in ceramic engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla. He lives in Knoxville.

ORNL researchers Simpson, Snead, Tuskan named corporate fellows

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ORNL Corporate Fellows Michael Simpson, Lance Snead, and Gerald Tuskan

Michael L. Simpson, Lance L. Snead, and Gerald A. Tuskan have been named corporate fellows of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

Michael L. Simpson, Lance L. Snead, and Gerald A. Tuskan have been named corporate fellows of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Among the lab’s highest honors, the corporate fellow designation recognizes the researchers’ significant accomplishments and continuing leadership in their scientific, engineering, and technological fields. With their addition, the number of active corporate fellows at ORNL is now 29 researchers, a press release said.

“Our new corporate fellows—Mike, Lance, and Jerry—are recognized leaders in the fields of nanotechnology, materials research, and bioscience, respectively,” ORNL Director Thom Mason said. “Their careers represent the span of ORNL research from fundamental science to real-world technologies for the nation’s critical needs in energy and the environment.” [Read more…]

Student at UT’s Bredesen Center wins $50,000 ORNL prize

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Andrew Lepore Big Idea ORNL Check

Bredesen Center student Andrew Lepore stands with the $50,000 check he won as part of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Next Big Idea competition. (Photo courtesy University of Tennessee)

KNOXVILLE—With the first set of Bredesen Center graduates at the University of Tennessee set to receive their doctorates next week, students who will be in the next wave of graduates are already finding success.

Andrew Lepore, working out of the Materials Science and Technology Division through the center, recently won a prestigious Oak Ridge National Laboratory-related prize at the Next Big Idea competition. Lepore is on track to receive his doctorate in 2016.

“For him to go in there against some more seasoned researchers, against students who are further along, and come out with one of the three awards speaks highly of him and of the quality of students we have here,” said Bredesen Center Director Lee Riedinger. [Read more…]

ORNL study advances quest for better superconducting materials

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Superconductivity Pan Defects

Minghu Pan’s image of “clover-like” atomic defects—an example is circled—that result in strong superconductivity. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

Nearly 30 years after the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity, many questions remain, but an Oak Ridge National Laboratory team is providing insight that could lead to better superconductors.

Their work, published in Physical Review Letters, examines the role of chemical dopants, which are essential to creating high-temperature superconductors—materials that conduct electricity without resistance. The role of dopants in superconductors is particularly mysterious as they introduce non-uniformity and disorder into the crystal structure, which increases resistivity in non-superconducting materials.

By gaining a better understanding of how and why chemical dopants alter the behavior of the original (parent) material, scientists believe they can design superconductors that work at higher temperatures. This would make them more practical for real-world wire applications because it would lessen the extreme cooling required for conventional superconducting material. Existing “high-temperature superconductors” operate at temperatures in the range of negative 135 degrees Celsius and below. [Read more…]

Neutrons, electrons, and theory reveal secrets of natural gas reserves

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Scanning Electronic Microscope Image of Unconventional Gas Reservoir

A scanning electron microscope image illustrating mineralogy and texture of an unconventional gas reservoir. Note that nanoporosity is not resolvable with this image. SANS and USANS analysis is required to quantify pore size distribution and interconnectivity. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge National Laboratory)

Gas and oil deposits in shale have no place to hide from an Oak Ridge National Laboratory technique that provides an inside look at pores and reveals structural information potentially vital to the nation’s energy needs.

The research by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy laboratory could clear the path to the more efficient extraction of gas and oil from shale, environmentally benign and efficient energy production from coal, and perhaps viable carbon dioxide sequestration technologies, according to Yuri Melnichenko, an instrument scientist at ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor. [Read more…]

UT names nuclear materials expert as 13th UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair

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Steve Zinkle

Steve Zinkle

KNOXVILLE—Steve Zinkle, an authority on the effect of radiation on materials in fission and fusion nuclear reactors, has been named the thirteenth University of Tennessee–Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair.

Zinkle will serve as Governor’s Chair for Nuclear Materials, based in the department of nuclear engineering at UT with a complementary appointment in materials science and engineering. He begins at UT on Oct. 1. [Read more…]