News Releases

Gerald A. Tuskan, a Corporate Fellow and director of the Center for Bioenergy Innovation, or CBI, at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been selected as a DOE Distinguished Scientist Fellow, one of the highest honors bestowed by the agency’s Office of Science for outstanding scientific leadership and research community engagement. 

Whisper Aero, a start-up in Crossville, Tennessee, is revolutionizing aviation with its ultra-quiet electric ducted fan technology. Using the Summit supercomputer, the company is designing the Whisper Jet, a nine-passenger electric plane featuring 20 to 30 small, silent EDFs to drastically reduce noise and emissions compared to traditional engines. Summit’s advanced simulations have accelerated their design process by over 20%, enabling rapid development and optimization of their aircraft. The technology is also being adapted for quieter commercial products like leaf blowers.

Seven entrepreneurs comprise the next cohort of Innovation Crossroads, a Department of Energy Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program node based at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 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.

The Department of Energy released a request for proposals today to advance its leadership in high-performance computing, inviting vendors to submit their plans for a successor to Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s exascale (a quintillion or more calculations per second) supercomputer, Frontier.

Researcher Rocio Uria-Martinez is the lead author of an influential study published by the Department of Energy's Water Power Technology Office detailing hydropower industry trends. 

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have opened a new virtual library where visitors can check out waveforms instead of books.

The Grid Event Signature Library is an open-access online collection of datasets containing waveforms, which are visual representations of behaviors of the electric grid.

Yiyu (Jason) Wang, an R&D associate staff member in the Materials Science and Technology Division at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will receive the Professor Koichi Masubuchi Award from the American Welding Society, or AWS. He will be presented with the honor at the 2024 AWS Annual Meeting in October in Orlando, Florida.

Participants in the SM2ART Research Experience for Undergraduates program got the chance to see what life is like in a research setting. REU participant Brianna Greer studied banana fibers as a reinforcing material in making lightweight parts for cars and bicycles.

A research team led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has bridged a knowledge gap in atomic-scale heat motion. This new understanding holds promise for enhancing materials to advance an emerging technology called solid-state cooling.

Bill Partridge, a recently retired distinguished researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was recognized by DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office, or VTO, for leading world-class research in transportation throughout his 25-year career. His expertise has guided the development of advanced diagnostic tools that enabled next-generation engines and emissions control systems.