ORAU has a proud history of working with and supporting the first responders who play a critical role in the health and safety of citizens in every community across the United States. To improve our nation’s readiness, our emergency preparedness and response experts are helping our customers prepare for, respond to, and recover from pandemics, natural disasters, terrorism, and other unforeseen events.
On Thursday, May 14, 2026, industry leaders, educators, trade unions, government representatives, and community partners will meet on ORAU’s main campus and the Pollard Center in Oak Ridge for the Pathway to Trades Summit, a collaborative event focused on building and sustaining the nuclear trades pipeline. This is your chance to be part of a high-impact group of stakeholders dedicated to crafting solutions and driving meaningful change.
Ricardo Branco, Ph.D., is a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His research focuses on the development of detectors that can detect infrared or thermal radiation from very cold bodies throughout the solar system – think Uranus or the moon. Capturing the infrared radiation allows scientists to detect the chemical composition and other aspects of the body they are studying. Branco is a native of Brazil who has been interested in science since childhood. As a kid Branco wanted to be a doctor but fell in love with physics in high school. The rest, as they say, is history. While he never dreamed he’d be at NASA, he is excited about his research and the potential it holds to be part of future NASA flagship missions to orbit Uranus.
For more than 80 years, ORAU has served as a trusted partner to our government customers, our university consortium members, and our local community. In this video, you can meet some of the people behind the ORAU name.
