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Co-Optima all-hands meeting gathers transportation experts
More than 100 fuels and engines experts representing national labs, academia and industry attended the 4th annual all-hands meeting of the DOE Co-Optimizaton of Fuels & Engines (Co-Optima) initiative at ORNL in March. Co-Optima, led by Robert Wagner at ORNL, brings together experts from 9 national labs and 20-plus university and industry partners to develop simultaneous breakthroughs in transportation fuels and vehicles. Meeting topics included emissions controls, combustion modes, and analysis of complex fuel mixtures.
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Director's Message
April 10, 2019 | As we enter a new quarter, our organization is as busy as ever. We are preparing to host the DOE InnovationXLab Advanced Manufacturing Summit, conferring with sponsors and collaborators on current work and future projects, and working diligently to ensure our science remains impactful for the nation's success and security. We continue to welcome terrific new staff as our research portfolio expands, and will soon engage with students who bring fresh energy each summer.
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Several important budget indicators were released during March, and like last year the ORNL leadership team is already busy at work to ensure our priorities are well recognized. The President’s Budget Request for FY 2020 totals $31.7 billion for the Department of Energy, a $1.1 billion increase from the FY 2019 request. While the details are in the initial stages and will be significantly shaped by Congress over the next several weeks and months, I encourage you to remain focused on delivering scientific excellence and organizational performance for DOE as we pursue our goal of being the world’s premier research institution.
I am pleased by the progress made to ensure renewals of the Science Focus Areas (SFAs) for NGEE-Arctic and SPRUCE in the Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program. In addition, we recently received guidance from DOE to proceed with the conceptual design phase for the development of four instruments and associated infrastructure development to advance the study of complex biological systems and synthetic biology using the planned second target station at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS).
We just completed the red team review of the Energy-Water Desalination Hub proposal, a $100 million funding opportunity within EERE's Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) that focuses on research and development, modeling, and analysis of desalination solutions for treatment of non-traditional water sources for multiple end-use applications. Special thanks to Yarom Polsky and Renae Speck for their leadership in working with our partners and commitment to delivering a winning proposal.
Further, the EERE-AMO recently announced a $70 million funding opportunity for a Clean Energy Manufacturing Innovation Institute to develop technologies that will advance U.S. manufacturing competitiveness, energy efficiency, and innovation. This Institute will focus on early-stage research for advancing cybersecurity in energy efficient manufacturing.
These are just a few of the new and exciting opportunities for our staff to shape future research direction and priorities across the lab. As such, recruiting, retention, and succession planning remain our greatest challenge in the year ahead and I encourage you to engage your division director or group leader and share your thoughts on these important topics.
I also traveled to DC in March to meet with several of our key sponsors, including Sharlene Weatherwax (BER), Daniel Simmons (EERE), Bruce Walker (OE), and had the occasion to connect with Karen Evans (CESER) to provide each with important updates on our science and strategic initiatives.
The March EESD Energy Talk featured engaging presentations by Marissa Morales Rodriquez on advanced sensors for the grid, and Hector Santos Villalobos discussing innovations in biometrics and identity science. The next seminar will take place on Thursday, April 11, at 3 p.m. in the Weinberg Auditorium in Building 4500-North, featuring Wellington Muchero presenting on the surprising link between diseases in plants and humans, and Amy Elliott discussing her additive manufacturing research. The presentations are a great opportunity to hear about your colleagues' work, and have fostered some interesting discussions and potential collaboration among staff.
Congratulations to Erin Webb, who has been named to the board of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, and to Joshua New, who has been certified as a Scrum Master.
The lab recently awarded 10 grants to local schools and non-profit organizations as part of the 2018 10,000 Days of Giving Back program, as noted in a recent article on ORNL Today. Please take a moment to record your volunteer hours so far for the current year on the 2019 10,000 Days portal. I am very proud of the time our staff selflessly gives to make a positive difference in our local communities.
Finally, I would like to reiterate the messaging from Thomas Zacharia at the recent Director's Forum regarding the importance of safety. While the lab marked its best-ever safety record in FY2018, we need to be vigilant at all times, adhering to the lab's Safe Conduct of Research Safety Principles with the bottom line: "Stop when you're unsure, protect yourself, and be your brother's keeper." —Moe
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3D printing shapes building industry, creates construction potential Read more
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ORNL, Rolls Royce project creates virtual sandbox for gas turbine developers Read more
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Vacuum insulation panels open the door to self-healing buildings Read more
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Power to the people: Solutions for an improved Puerto Rico grid Read more
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Journal of Sustainable Development
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Sustainability indicators for biobased product manufacturing: A systematic review | Komal Kooduvalli, Bhavna Sharma, Erin Webb, Uday Vaidya, Soydan Ozcan. 31 January 2019. Read more
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Correlation of microstructure and mechanical properties of Metal Big Area Additive Manufacturing | Benjamin Shassere, Andrzej Nycz, Mark W. Noakes, Christopher Masuo, Niyanth Sridharan. 23 February 2019. Read more
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Introduction to the design rules for Metal Big Area Additive Manufacturing | Clayton Greer, Andrzej Nycz, Mark Noakes, Brad Richardson, Brian Post, Thomas Kurfess, Lonnie Love. 25 February 2019. Read more
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American Society for Microbiology
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Large circular plasmids from groundwater plasmidomes span multiple incompatibility groups and are enriched in multimetal resistance genes | Ankita Kothari, Yu-Wei Wu, John-Marc Chandonia, Marimikel Charrier, Lara Rajeev, Andrea M. Rocha, Dominique C. Joyner, Terry C. Hazen, Steven W. Singer, Aindrila Mukhopadhyay. 26 February 2019. Read more
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Ion transport and association study of glyme-based electrolytes with lithium and sodium salts | Daniel Morales, Rose E. Ruther, Jagjit Nanda, Steven Greenbaum. 01 March 2019. Read more
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Phytobiome and transcriptoinal adaptation of Populus deltoides to acute progressive drought and cyclical drought | Benjamin J. Garcia, Jessy L. Labbé, Piet Jones, Paul E. Abraham, Ian Hodge, Sharlee Climer, Sara Jawdy, Lee Gunter, Gerald A. Tuskan, Xiaohan Yang, Timothy J. Tschaplinski, Daniel A. Jacobson. 01 March 2019. Read more
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Performance of laser-based electronic devices for structure analysis of Amazonian terra-firme forests | Richard Norby, et al. 02 March 2019. Read more
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Z-Pinning approach for 3D printing mechanically isotropic materials | Chad Duty, Jordan Failla, Seokpum Kim, Tyler Smith, John Lindahl, Vlastimil Kunc. 07 March 2019. Read more
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Scaling mercury biodynamics from individuals to populations: Implications of an herbivorous fish on mercury cycles in streams | Ryan A. McManamay, Franklin Linam, Teresa J. Mathews, Scott C. Brooks, Mark J. Peterson. 07 March 2019. Read more
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A novel occupancy detection solution using low-power IR-FPA based wireless occupancy sensor | Aravind Mikkilineni, Jin Dong, Teja Kuruganti, David Fugate. 15 March 2019. Read more
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Frontiers in Microbiology
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Identification of Populus small RNAs responsive to mutualistic interactions with mycorrhizal fungi, Laccaria bicolor and Rhizophagus irregularis | Ritesh Mewalal, Hengfu Yin, Rongbin Hu, Sara Jawdy, Patrice Vion, Gerald A. Tuskan, Francois Le Tacon, Jessy L. Labbe, Xiaohan Yang. 18 March 2019. Read more
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Aerosol and Air Quality Research
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Differential probability functions for investigating long-term changes in local and regional air pollution sources | Mauro Masiol, Stefanio Squizzato, Meng-Dawn Cheng, David Q. Rich, Philip K Hopke. 25 March 2019. Read more
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Geoscientific Model Development
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Realized ecological forecast through an interactive ecological platform for assimilating data (EcoPAD v1.0) into models | Paul Hanson, Daniel Ricciuto, et al. 25 March 2019. Read more
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ECOLOGY:
When air becomes wood
Higher carbon dioxide levels caused 30 percent more wood growth in young forest stands across the temperate United States over a decade, according to an analysis led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Read more
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NUCLEAR:
Follow your senses
ORNL is using ultrasonic additive manufacturing to embed highly accurate fiber optic sensors in heat- and radiation-resistant materials, allowing for real-time monitoring that could lead to greater insights and safer reactors. Read more
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TRANSPORTATION:
Logging the miles
Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s latest Transportation Energy Data Book: Edition 37 reports that the number of vehicles nationwide is growing faster than the population, with sales more than 17 million since 2015. Read more
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Colleen Iversen:
Scientists as storytellers
Colleen Iversen participated in a "Scientists as Storytellers" project as part of the National Academy of Sciences' New Voices in Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine emerging leaders program.
Read more
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Ben Ollis:
Microgrids for system resilience
Ben Ollis is using his industry experience to develop technology that will help utilities adapt to a changing grid environment. Read more
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Alex Roschli:
Keeping additive manufacturing machines humming
Alex Roschli is a part of the Big Area Additive Manufacturing team at ORNL, guiding machine operations and software development for large builds. Read more
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Stan Wullschleger:
Investigating Arctic ecosystems
Stan Wullschleger discusses the challenges and discoveries as lead for the Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments Arctic project. Read more
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Erin Webb has been elected to the board of trustees of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
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Joshua New has been certified as a Scrum Master, completing the required training and exam.
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Student Sarah Cooper (left) and postdoc Jin Zhang (right) were presented with Distinguished Achievement awards by Biosciences Division Director Julie Mitchell (center) at the BSD March all-hands meeting. |
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Ethan Coffey has been named to the Knoxville Track Club Hall of Fame for his volunteer efforts in support of the club and his outstanding performance as a runner. Coffey is a regular top-three finisher in races of all distances, has won more than 50 KTC road races, and holds 8 Tennessee distance records, including
1 mile, 8K, 10 miles, 30K and marathon.
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APRIL
11 • EESD Energy Talks
ORNL - Weinberg Auditorium, 3-4 p.m.
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"Tree of life: Poplar studies yield insights on genetic predisposition to human diseases" by Wellington Muchero
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"From dust to dreams: Shaping powder into parts with additive manufacturing" by Amy Elliott
Baltimore, MD
MAY
16 • EESD Energy Talks
ORNL - Weinberg Auditorium, 3-4 p.m.
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"The hidden world beneath our feet: Belowground dynamics from squishy bogs to frozen tundra (and everywhere in between)," by Colleen Iversen
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"Genes to Ecosystems: Using metagenomic data to model biogeochemical cycles," by Melanie Mayes
Detroit, MI
Charlotte, NC
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