Thomas Zacharia Archives - Oak Ridge Today

ORNL: New research facility will serve expanding missions in computing, materials R&D

Posted at 12:04 pm May 8, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A conceptual drawing is shown above for the new Translational Research Capability at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Image courtesy ORNL)

Energy Secretary Rick Perry, Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, and lab officials broke ground Tuesday morning on a multipurpose research facility that will provide laboratory space for expanding scientific activities at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The new Translational Research Capability, or TRC, will be built for world-leading research in computing and materials science, and it will serve to advance the science and engineering of quantum information, a press release said.

“Through today’s groundbreaking, we’re writing a new chapter in research at the Translational Research Capability Facility,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said in the press release. “This building will be the home for advances in quantum information science, battery and energy storage, materials science, and many more. It will also be a place for our scientists, researchers, engineers, and innovators to take on big challenges and deliver transformative solutions.”

[Read more…]

DOE: New $600 million supercomputer at ORNL will be world’s most powerful

Posted at 8:57 am May 7, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Pictured above from left during an announcement for the Frontier supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory on Tuesday, May 7, 2019, are Energy Secretary Rick Perry; ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia; Peter Ungaro, Cray president and chief executive officer; and Lisa Su, AMD president and CEO. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 3 p.m. May 21.

The U.S. Department of Energy on Tuesday announced a contract with Cray Inc. to build the Frontier supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It is expected to be the world’s most powerful supercomputer when it debuts in 2021.

The contract with Cray is valued at more than $600 million for the system and technology development, a press release said.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry was at ORNL on Tuesday morning to make the announcement.

“This is a big deal,” Perry said. “Frontier’s record-breaking performance will ensure our country’s ability to lead the world in science that improves the lives and economic prosperity of all Americans and the entire world. Frontier will accelerate innovation in AI (artificial intelligence) by giving American researchers world-class data and computing resources to ensure the next great inventions are made in the United States.”

Besides the supercomputing announcement on Tuesday, Perry also delivered the keynote speech at InnovationXLab: Advanced Manufacturing Summit at ORNL.

Frontier is expected to perform at greater than 1.5 exaflops. It will be able to solve calculations up to 50 times faster than today’s top supercomputers, exceeding a quintillion, or 10¹⁸, calculations per second, the press release said. That’s a billion billion calculations per second.

Oak Ridge Today has previously reported that Frontier would be built at ORNL. But the contract with Cray and its value and the specific performance estimate of more than 1.5 exaflops are all new announcements. The contract award includes technology development funding, a center of excellence, several early-delivery systems, the main Frontier system, and multi-year systems support. The Frontier system is expected to be delivered in 2021, and acceptance is expected in 2022.

[Read more…]

Suresh Babu to lead UT-ORNL Bredesen Center

Posted at 4:49 pm December 30, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Suresh Babu

Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville have selected Suresh Babu as the next director of their jointly operated Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education.

Babu will retain his position as UT-ORNL governor’s chair for advanced manufacturing when he assumes his new role on January 3, a press release said. He will be replacing Lee Riedinger, who is retiring at the end of January.

“Dr. Babu has worked extensively with both UT and ORNL through his governor’s chair position, and we’re excited about him taking on this new role,” UT Knoxville Interim Chancellor Wayne T. Davis said in the press release. “He is a nationally recognized expert in the development of advanced materials and advanced manufacturing and has helped us emerge as a leader in those critical research areas.” [Read more…]

Neutron production at ORNL’s SNS reaches design power level

Posted at 2:05 pm December 3, 2018
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The Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has reached its operational power design level by running a neutron production cycle at 1.4 megawatts, the lab said Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

The Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has broken a new record by ending its first neutron production cycle in fiscal year 2019 at its design power level of 1.4 megawatts.

Higher power provides more neutrons for researchers who use the facility to study a wide range of materials, an ORNL press release said. The achievement marks a new operational milestone for neutron scattering in the United States and opens the door to studying significantly smaller materials with greater complexity, the press release said.

“The operation of SNS at 1.4 megawatts this cycle has been an outstanding achievement,” said Paul Langan, associate laboratory director for neutron sciences. “It reflects on the maturity of our facility and the high level of technical excellence of our engineering, operational, and scientific staff.”

The power increase was enabled by the combination of extensive improvements to the linear accelerator, including the recent replacement of the radio frequency quadrupole—the first accelerating structure of the accelerator’s frontend assembly, as well as improvements to the liquid mercury target. [Read more…]

ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia to present community lecture Thursday

Posted at 8:51 pm July 25, 2018
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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…]

ORNL’s Bland receives DOE Secretary’s Appreciation Award for computing leadership

Posted at 9:24 pm June 26, 2018
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Buddy Bland (Photo courtesy ORNL)

Arthur “Buddy” Bland, program director of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has received the Secretary’s Appreciation Award for his nearly four decades of achievements in providing high-performance computing resources for science, a press release said.

Bland was cited by U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry for his work “in recognition of nearly 40 years of leadership in delivering high-performance computing resources to address the nation’s science and engineering challenges across a wide array of disciplines and for critical contributions to the success of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility and sustained U.S. leadership in high-performance computing and computational science.”

Bland led the project to deliver the Summit supercomputer, launched June 8 at ORNL as “the world’s most powerful and smartest supercomputer” with a peak performance capability of 200 petaflops, or 200,000 trillion calculations per second. Summit was listed number one in the TOP500 list released on Monday. [Read more…]

For first time since 2012, US has top supercomputer in world

Posted at 1:37 pm June 25, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Summit supercomputer was named number one on the TOP500 List, a semiannual ranking of the world’s fastest computing systems on Monday, June 25, 2018. (Photo credit: Carlos Jones/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy)

For the first time since 2012, the United States has the most powerful supercomputer in the world, and it’s again located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The new supercomputer, called Summit, is capable of 200 petaflops, or 200,000 trillion calculations per second. Equipment delivery for Summit was completed in March, and officials celebrated the launch of the supercomputer in a ceremony attended by U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry on June 8.

The last time the United States had the top supercomputer was in November 2012. That machine, which is still in use, is named Titan, and it’s also at ORNL. It’s now number seven on the semiannual TOP500 list, which was released Monday.

China had held the top spot since June 2013, and the country had held the top two spots since June 2016. That ended with Monday’s TOP500 announcement. Previously at number one and number two, the top two Chinese supercomputers have fallen to number two and number four.

ORNL, a U.S. Department of Energy laboratory, now has two of the top seven systems on the list. They are Summit at number one and Titan at number seven. The United States now has six of the top 10 machines, according to the TOP500 list. [Read more…]

Registration for Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit extended through today

Posted at 9:07 am May 18, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Registration for the Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit in Oak Ridge this month has been extended through today (Friday, May 18).

The TVC Summit is scheduled from Tuesday, May 29, to Thursday, May 31, at the New Hope Center at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Organizers said the Summit will include five main sessions focused on clean energy, cyber and national security, advanced manufacturing, and education. The Summit will also celebrate the 75th anniversary of the City of Oak Ridge, the 85th anniversary of Tennessee Valley Authority, and 50th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 8 Mission.

There will be more than 50 speakers, panelists, and presenters, ranging from university and community college presidents to entrepreneurs to top leaders of the region’s federal contractors. More than 400 community, academic, and government leaders from the five-state region are expected to participate, organizers said. [Read more…]

James Peery to lead ORNL’s Global Security Directorate

Posted at 2:49 pm March 30, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

James Peery

James Peery, who led critical national security programs at Sandia National Laboratories and held multiple leadership positions at Los Alamos National Laboratory before arriving at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory last year, has been named associate laboratory director of global security at ORNL, a press release said.

Peery succeeds Brent Park, who was recently confirmed as deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation at DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration. Park has led the Global Security Directorate since July 2010.

“James will be responsible for ensuring that ORNL is applying its research strengths to the highest priorities for our nation’s security, and his more than two decades of experience in creating successful initiatives makes him well qualified to lead the Global Security Directorate staff in its compelling mission,” said ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia. [Read more…]

ORNL’s Dean named associate laboratory director for physical sciences

Posted at 2:40 pm March 30, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

David J. Dean

David J. Dean has been named associate laboratory director for physical sciences at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, effective May 1.

The Physical Sciences Directorate encompasses the laboratory’s materials science and technology, chemical sciences, nanoscience, physics, and isotope production research programs and activities, a press release said.

“In his new position, David will pursue excellence across our broad physical sciences portfolio, with particular emphases on quantum materials, structural materials and alloys, soft materials, nanoscience, and applications of materials and chemistry in energy and security,” said ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia. [Read more…]

Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit has presentations on energy, manufacturing, security

Posted at 5:46 pm March 18, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

The Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit in Oak Ridge in May will feature presentations on advanced manufacturing, clean energy and a nuclear renaissance, and national security and cyber security.

The 2018 TVC National Summit is scheduled from May 29-31 at the New Hope Center at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. It will be hosted by Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch in cooperation with U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann.

Agenda topics include: [Read more…]

ORNL, NETL sign research agreement on new ways to use coal

Posted at 8:04 pm March 11, 2018
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U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steve Winberg looks on as Acting National Energy Technology Laboratory Director Sean Plasynski, left, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thomas Zacharia shake hands after signing a research agreement on new ways to use coal on Friday, March 2, 2018. (Photo courtesy NETL)

Two U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories with energy research expertise, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have agreed to pursue research that could find new ways to use coal, a press release said.

ORNL and the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, signed the agreement, a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, on Friday, March 2.

The two labs are joining forces to pursue research on new ways to use coal to create innovative high-value products, the press release said.

U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steve Winberg attended the signing event.

“The MOU signed today signals the Department’s continued commitment to enhancing the use of our coal resources,” Winberg said. “The depth and breadth of scientific knowledge across the DOE enterprise, especially at our national labs, is what allows for this kind of innovative partnership.” [Read more…]