Â鶹ӰÒô

Stronger than steel and lighter than aluminum, carbon fiber is a staple in aerospace and high-performance vehicles — and now, scientists at ORNL have found a way to make it even stronger.

Researchers at ORNL have developed an innovative new technique using carbon nanofibers to enhance binding in carbon fiber and other fiber-reinforced polymer composites – an advance likely to improve structural materials for automobiles, airplanes and other applications that require lightweight and strong materials. 

Recent advancements at ORNL show that 3D-printed metal molds offer a faster, more cost-effective and flexible approach to producing large composite components for mass-produced vehicles than traditional tooling methods.

The fifth annual Quantum Science Center, or QSC, Summer School at Purdue University, held Apr. 21 through Apr. 25, 2025, welcomed its largest group of students to date. Experts from industry, academia and national laboratories gathered at the Purdue Quantum Science and Engineering Institute to share their research in multiple areas of quantum science.

UT-Battelle has contributed up to $475,000 for the purchase and installation of advanced manufacturing equipment to support a program at Tennessee’s Oak Ridge High School that gives students direct experience with the AI- and robotics-assisted workplace of the future. 

Analyzing massive datasets from nuclear physics experiments can take hours or days to process, but researchers are working to radically reduce that time to mere seconds using special software being developed at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley and Oak Ridge national laboratories.  

Scientists at ORNL have developed a vacuum-assisted extrusion method that reduces Â鶹ӰÒô porosity by up to 75% in large-scale 3D-printed polymer parts. This new technique addresses the critical issue of porosity in large-scale prints but also paves the way for stronger composites. 

The University of Oklahoma and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Department of Energy’s largest multi-program science and energy laboratory, have entered a strategic collaboration to establish a cutting-edge additive manufacturing center. 

Working in collaboration with researchers from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, D-Wave Quantum Inc., a quantum computing systems, software and services provider, has shown its annealing quantum computing prototype has the potential to operate faster than the leading supercomputing systems. 

Mariam Kiran, a quantum research scientist at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was recently honored as a finalist at the British Council’s Study U.K. Alumni Awards 2025, which celebrate the achievements of U.K. alumni worldwide.