Nanofibers yield stronger, tougher carbon fiber composites
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are using a new bioderived material to 3D print custom roosting structures for endangered bats.
ORNL researchers were honored with a prestigious ACE Award for Composites Excellence by the American Composites Manufacturers Association. The team won the “鶹Ӱ in green composites design” prize for creating a fully recyclable, lightweight wind turbine blade tip that incorporates low-cost carbon fiber and conductive coating for enhanced protection against lightning strikes.
A study led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory details how artificial intelligence researchers created an AI model to help identify new alloys used as shielding for housing fusion applications components in a nuclear reactor. The findings mark a major step towards improving nuclear fusion facilities.
A team led by scientists at ORNL identified and demonstrated a method to process a plant-based material called nanocellulose that reduced energy needs by a whopping 21%, using simulations on the lab’s supercomputers and follow-on analysis.
ORNL is the lead partner on five research collaborations with private fusion companies in the 2024 cohort of the Innovation Network for FUSion Energy, or INFUSE, program. These collaborative projects are intended to resolve technical hurdles and develop enabling technologies to accelerate fusion energy research in the private sector.
John joined the MPEX project in 2019 and has served as project manager for several organizations within ORNL.
The award was given in “recognition of his lifelong leadership in fusion technology for plasma fueling systems in magnetically confined fusion systems.”
Seven entrepreneurs comprise the next cohort of Innovation Crossroads, a DOE Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program node based at ORNL. The program provides energy-related startup founders from across the nation with access to ORNL’s unique scientific resources and capabilities, as well as connect them with experts, mentors and networks to accelerate their efforts to take their world-changing ideas to the marketplace.
Two ORNL teams recently completed Cohort 18 of Energy I-Corps, an immersive two-month training program where the scientists define their technology’s value propositions, conduct stakeholder discovery interviews and develop viable market pathways.
Brittany Rodriguez never imagined she would pursue a science career at a Department of Energy national laboratory. However, after some encouraging words from her mother, input from key mentors at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, or UTRGV, and a lot of hard work, Rodriguez landed at DOE’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, or MDF, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.