Oak Ridge Today

Commerce secretary to tour UT partner IACMI, ORNL manufacturing facility

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Penny Pritzker

Penny Pritzker

KNOXVILLE—On Thursday, August 27, Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and Department of Energy Assistant Secretary David Danielson will visit the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation in Knoxville.

The visit is part of a two-day tour of the institutes make up the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation. Governor Bill Haslam, U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann, Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero, and Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett will join Pritzker for portions of the day’s activities.

The group will tour the U.S. Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility and National Transportation Research Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The University of Tennessee in Knoxville is a key strategic partner of IACMI and led the proposal efforts with ORNL.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden announced the new institute in January during a visit to East Tennessee. The White House initiative aims to strengthen the global competitiveness of America’s manufacturing sector and the workforce. The NNMI now has six institutes, and three more are being formed. [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…]

More than 200 students participate in ORAU’s graduate student recruitment fair

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ORAU Graduate Student Recruitment Fair

ORNL summer research interns present research findings and explore additional academic opportunities with some of the nation’s top research graduate programs. (Submitted photo)

 

More than 200 student researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory recently had the opportunity to both showcase their research and market themselves to 26 universities attending the 16th annual ORAU Graduate Student Recruitment Fair.

Each year, the recruitment fair corresponds with the 2015 Summer Research Participant Poster Session to leverage the students’ excitement over their summer research achievements and to encourage enthusiasm for further expanding their education. Universities invited to the fair are members of ORAU’s consortium of 115 Ph.D.-granting universities from across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Puerto Rico.

With representatives of 26 universities from across the U.S. available in one room, the fair allowed students to explore possible future educational opportunities, as well as compare and contrast graduate programs. [Read more…]

Friends of ORNL meeting will feature discussion of data-driven health innovation

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The Tuesday lunch meeting of Friends of ORNL will feature Gina Tourassi, director of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She will discuss data-driven health innovations at ORNL.

The August 11 meeting starts with lunch at 11:30 a.m., and the presentation begins at 12 p.m. It’s in the University of Tennessee Resource Center, the white-colored building at 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike between Taco Bell and Applebee’s at the intersection of the Turnpike and Rutgers Avenue. Use the canopy entrance at the southwest (back) corner of the building.

This meeting is open to the public. [Read more…]

ORNL has United Way kickoff, hosts agency fair

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ORNL United Way Kickoff

Oak Ridge National Laboratory hosted its United Way kickoff on Monday, July 27, 2015. (Photo by ORNL/Jason Richards)

 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory hosted its United Way kickoff event on Monday by hosting an agency fair with representatives from about 20 United Way agencies. The kickoff emphasized the agencies that United Way supports.

The lab said the agency fair was well-attended and gave ORNL staff an opportunity to meet with representatives from approximately 20 United Way organizations.

The ORNL United Way Campaign supports 17 East Tennessee counties including Anderson, Roane, Knox, and Loudon.

Copyright 2015 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

ORNL United Way Agency Fair

The United Way kickoff at ORNL on Monday, July 27, included an agency fair with representatives from about 20 agencies. (Photo by ORNL/Jason Richards)

 

Copyright 2015 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

UT-ORNL nuclear expert Wirth honored in Washington, D.C.

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Brian Wirth, Ernest Moniz, and John Kotek

UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Computational Nuclear Engineering Brian Wirth, right, receives a plaque from U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, center, honoring him as an Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award recipient. John Kotek, acting Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy, is at left. (Photo courtesy University of Tennessee)

 

Nuclear energy expert Brian Wirth, a joint appointee at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, received the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award from U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz at a Washington, D.C., ceremony Thursday night.

Wirth serves as the Governor’s Chair for Computational Nuclear Engineering, studying aspects of nuclear environments and materials related to nuclear energy.

That expertise led to his honor, one of nine the DOE bestowed during the evening.

“The ceremony was really nice,” said Wirth. “I was thrilled that College of Engineering Dean Wayne Davis, department head Wes Hines, and Steve Zinkle attended, along with Alan Icenhour from ORNL.” [Read more…]

ORNL has 13 finalists for R&D 100 Award

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Sign

Thirteen technologies from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been selected as finalists for R&D 100 Awards, the annual technology prizes given by R&D Magazine. ORNL is lead developer in 10 of the technologies and a partner developer in another three technologies that made the finalist list.

R&D Magazine has changed the format of the annual awards substantially, with a list of finalists announced first. The competition also has new “Market Disruptor” and “Green Tech” categories, and finalists can be listed in those categories as well as the technical categories. ORNL has five Market Disruptor finalists and one Green Tech finalist.

The R&D 100 winners will be announced in November at an event in Las Vegas. Here are the finalists: [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Robotics Academy teaches robotics engineering in week-long camp

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Josie Fellers and Olivia Jones

Josie Fellers and teammate Olivia Jones assemble their robot’s arm at the ORAU Oak Ridge Robotics Academy. (Photo courtesy ORAU)

 

More than two dozen students from across East Tennessee recently spent a week designing, building, and programming robots during the Oak Ridge Robotics Academy.

Held at ORAU’s Center for Science Education, the week-long, free camp was led by Instructors Tad Douce and Ed Goodwin, both co-directors of the National Robotics Challenge, with help from Kayla Canario, the 2011 Extreme Classroom Makeover contest runner-up and the technology coordinator for Bearden Middle School.

The 6th annual ORAU Oak Ridge Robotics Academy included 26 students in seventh, eighth, and ninth grades.

Students were randomly placed into teams and faced daily engineering challenges such as programming their robots to solve a maze without being controlled or designing an arm to pick up a tennis ball.

“We call it a robotics academy, but it’s really an engineering academy,” Douce said. “Our main goal is to get the students to work with others, think logically and solve problems.” [Read more…]

Supercomputers: China’s Tianhe-2 still No. 1, ORNL’s Titan stays No. 2

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Jeff Nichols and Titan at ORNL

Jeff Nichols, associate director for computing and computational sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in front of Titan, which was the world’s fastest supercomputer in November 2012 but is now ranked No. 2. (Photos courtesy of ORNL/File photo October 2013)

 

For the fifth consecutive time, Tianhe-2, a supercomputer developed by China’s National University of Defense Technology, has retained its position as the world’s number one system, according to the 45th edition of the twice-yearly TOP500 list of the world’s most powerful supercomputers. Tianhe-2, which means Milky Way-2, led the list with a performance of 33.86 petaflop/s (or quadrillions of calculations per second) on the Linpack benchmark.

At number two was Titan, a Cray XK7 system installed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Titan, the top system in the United States and one of the most energy-efficient systems on the list, achieved 17.59 petaflop/s on the Linpack benchmark.

The only new entry in the Top 10 supercomputers on the latest list is at number seven—Shaheen II is a Cray XC40 system installed at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, or KAUST, in Saudi Arabia. Shaheen II achieved 5.536 petaflop/s on the Linpack benchmark, making it the highest-ranked Middle East system in the 22-year history of the list and the first to crack the Top 10. [Read more…]

ORNL, DOE sites help power New Horizons’ journey to Pluto

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Pluto

This image of Pluto, taken by New Horizons after a 9.5-year journey, is our highest-resolution photo of the dwarf planet since its discovery by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. (Photo courtesy of NASA via DOE)

 

By Matt Dozier

​NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft just accomplished one of the most exciting feats in the history of space exploration. After a 9.5-year, 3-billion-mile journey, the mission’s historic flyby of Pluto has provided us with our first-ever closeup views of the frozen world at the edge of the solar system. It’s a remarkable achievement, one that wouldn’t have been possible without careful planning, ingenuity—and a little help from the U.S. Department of Energy.

In 2006, when NASA engineers were designing New Horizons, they knew that it would need a long-lasting, compact and incredibly reliable power source to survive the cold, dark reaches of outer space.

Solar power was out of the question. The spacecraft’s itinerary would take it billions of miles from the center of the solar system into the realm of Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. That far out, the Sun shines with just a tiny fraction of the intensity we see here on Earth—scarcely brighter than the stars in the night sky. Other options like batteries or fuel cells wouldn’t last long enough. [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…]

ORNL: Neutrons find ‘missing’ magnetism of plutonium

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Doug Abernathy and Marc Janoschek

Doug Abernathy, left, ARCS instrument scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Marc Janoschek, Los Alamos National Laboratory, prepare their sample for experiments at the Spallation Neutron Source. (Photo by ORNL)

 

Groundbreaking work at two U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories has confirmed plutonium’s magnetism, which scientists have long theorized but have never been able to experimentally observe. The advances that enabled the discovery hold great promise for materials, energy, and computing applications.

Plutonium was first produced in 1940, and its unstable nucleus allows it to undergo fission, making it useful for nuclear fuels as well as for nuclear weapons. Much less known, however, is that the electronic cloud surrounding the plutonium nucleus is equally unstable and makes plutonium the most electronically complex element in the periodic table, with intriguingly intricate properties for a simple elemental metal.

While conventional theories have successfully explained plutonium’s complex structural properties, they also predict that plutonium should order magnetically. This is in stark contrast with experiments, which had found no evidence for magnetic order in plutonium. [Read more…]