Member University News

ORAU awards 30 research grants for 2012-2013 academic year to junior faculty at its consortium member universities\

ORAU has awarded competitive research grants totaling $150,000 to 30 junior faculty from ORAU member institutions. The annual grants are made through the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards program that provides funds to enrich the research and professional growth of young faculty.

Collaboration with ORAU Brings Award for Faculty Member

Dr. John Benitez, a faculty member at Vanderbilt Medical School, has been chosen to receive the Society of Toxicology 2012 Translational Impact Award, given to a scientist whose research improved human or public health in an area of toxicological concern. Dr. Benitez is being recognized for his work on health risk assessment associated with the TVA fly-ash spill in 2008 in Kingston, Tennessee. TVA asked ORAU’s Occupational Exposure and Worker Health program to manage the assessment; OEWH in turn secured Dr. Benitez to conduct the study, and supported his efforts throughout the process. ORAU also conducted the peer review and research process regarding the environmental impact of the spill, and continues to manage its implementation by five universities, three of which are also ORAU members.

JCSU Receives $35 Million from The Duke Endowment

Johnson C. Smith University has received a $35 million grant to support science programs, scholarships and capital improvements on campus. Awarded by the Duke Endowment, the grant is one of the largest gifts ever given to a Historically Black College and University. JCU plans to use the majority of the grant to build a new science Center.

University of Delaware Powe Award Winner Featured on Nature.com

Joel Rosenthal, an assistant professor in chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Delaware, was interviewed in August by Nature.com about his career and fast-growing lab group, which is working to generate synthetic fuels. In April, Rosenthal was one of the 2011 recipients of ORAU’s Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards.

WVU expands alliance with ORAU

West Virginia University has signed two new agreements with ORAU that could lead to more opportunities in research funding. ORAU Vice President Arlene Garrison and Robert Zinn, a forensics team group manager, met with WVU’s health, science, and engineering faculty and administrators to learn more about WVU’s comprehensive research and educational capabilities. A tour of the campus featured research related to climate, energy from fuel cells and biomass, biometrics, and forensics.

Berea College Physics Professor Wins Pegram Award

Dr. Amer Lahamer, physics professor and department chairperson at Berea College, won the 2010 George B. Pegram Award for “Excellence in the Teaching of Physics in the Southeast.”

The award recognizes Lahamer’s efforts in mentoring and creating experimental physics research opportunities for undergraduate students. The George B. Pegram Award is awarded annually by the Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society.

ORAU Travel Grant Enriches University of Alabama Radiochemistry Course

Students studying radiochemistry at the University of Alabama traveled to Oak Ridge, Tenn., to visit ORAU’s radiochemistry laboratory and tour several ORNL facilities including the High Flux Isotope Reactor and the Radiochemical Engineering Development Center.

The trip, funded by ORAU’s Travel Grant Program, provided students with an opportunity to see the radiochemistry techniques they are learning about in the classroom applied to practical applications, such as the environmental characterization performed at ORAU. In addition, the University of Alabama group met with colleagues at ORNL in hopes of identifying opportunities for future collaboration.

First two events sponsored under new member program

ORAU’s new event sponsorship program is off to a strong start with members submitting many worthy applications by the first deadline. Two great events have already been selected for sponsorship.

The following events are the first to receive $4,000 sponsorships as part of ORAU’s new program to support events that involve participants from member institutions. Members can still submit applications through March 30, 2011 for events that will take place by Sept. 30, 2011.

• University of Georgia, Third Annual Conference on Nanotechnology in Infectious Diseases, April 1, 2011, co-sponsored by UGA, Emory, Georgia Tech and Mercer.
• North Carolina State University, Neutron Scattering Applications in Structural Biology, May 23-27, 2011.

UCF clean energy technology program selected by DOE for federal funding

University of Central Florida in Orlando will receive $1.05 million to launch the “MegaWatt Ventures” program to speed the development of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies from university laboratories to commercial applications. Each year 10 teams will be awarded $10,000 each and will be given six months to complete a prototype to compete for $100,000. MegaWatt Ventures will later expand to include all universities in the southeastern United States.

University of Delaware professor emeritus wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Richard F. Heck of the University of Delaware has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Heck was honored Oct. 6 alongside two fellow researchers “for palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis.” This is the second Nobel Prize winner with ties to the University of Delaware’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

ORAU sponsors Alabama A&M annual Nobel Laureate lecture

On Oct. 1, students, faculty and area residents packed a lecture hall at Alabama Texas A&M to hear Nobel Laureate John Mather give his talk titled “From the Big Bang to Life and the End of the Universe.” ORAU joined Raytheon and NASA to provide financial support for the event, Alabama A&M’s thirteenth Putcha Venkateswarlu Annual Memorial Lecture. Dr. Mather shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006 with George Smoot “for their discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation.”

ORAU executives visit members in Virginia, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Kentucky

Consortium members can expect to see ORAU more often. In September, ORAU executives visited Virginia Tech, University of South Carolina, Oklahoma State University, University of Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, University of Tulsa and Eastern Kentucky University as part of ORAU’s ongoing effort to help consortium members take full advantage of opportunities with ORAU and Oak Ridge National Lab.

ORAU’s Garrison presents top honors at Global Student Business Concept Challenge

Students from around the globe gathered in Roanoke, Va., on Aug. 29, 2010, to compete for a $25,000 grand prize at the first annual VT KnowledgeWorks Global Student Business Concept Challenge. ORAU sponsored the event, and ORAU University Partnerships Vice President Dr. Arlene Garrison attended to present the grand prize and trophy to the winning team. VT KnowledgeWorks is a business acceleration center and division of the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center.

Maryville College student conducts research at ORNL that could aid homeland security

Maryville College student Katherine Nadler spent the summer of 2010 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) conducting research that could aid the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in detecting vaporized explosives.

ORAU/ORNL present 2010 HBCU/MEI Summer Faculty Research Program research awards

Drs. Ju Wang and Dafeng Hui were recognized as award recipients of the 2010 ORAU/ORNL HBCU/MEI Summer Faculty Research Program. Each year, ORAU and ORNL co-sponsor summer research appointments for faculty of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority Educational Institutions (MEIs). The objective is to increase the number of collaborations and to foster long-term relationships between ORNL research staff and HBCU/MEI faculty members.

Clemson honors former ORAU Councilor Przirembel with endowment, honorary alumnus status

Clemson University is honoring Chris Przirembel, the retiring vice president for research and economic development, by establishing an endowment in his name. The Dr. C.E.G. Przirembel Graduate Fellowship Endowment will support graduate students pursuing master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Clemson. Przirembel previously represented Clemson on ORAU’s Council of Sponsoring Institutions.

Fisk University earns third R&D 100 award for radiation detection research

For a third time, Fisk University has received one of the most highly regarded science and technology awards for its groundbreaking development of hypersensitive crystals used in the detection of radiation. Fisk is the only minority serving institution to ever win the coveted recognition.

Some of the Nation’s brightest graduate students are chosen to meet with Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany

Seventy-five extraordinary graduate student researchers from the United States will attend the 60th Annual Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates and Students in Lindau, Germany, from June 27–July 2. During the meeting, students will attend lectures by the Laureates and will be able to participate in discussions with them on the topics of chemistry, physics and physiology/medicine.

ORAU and ORNL announce winners of High-Performance Computing Grant competition

ORAU and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have partnered again to award two new grants in the ORAU/ORNL High-Performance Computing Grant Program for 2010. ORAU provides up to $75,000 over three years to two researchers and their teams.  In addition to the monetary award, ORNL provides faculty and student teams with valuable access to the laboratory’s computing resources and staff.

ORAU awards 32 research grants to junior faculty from the sponsoring institutions of its consortium

For the 20th consecutive year, ORAU is continuing its investment in the future of science and education by awarding competitive research grants totaling $160,000 to 32 junior faculty from sponsoring institutions of the ORAU consortium. The annual grants are made through ORAU’s Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards program.

ORAU member university professor takes home top IBM Faculty Award

Dr. Wei Chen, a computer science professor at Tennessee State University, has been awarded the 2010 IBM Faculty Award. The IBM Faculty Award is a worldwide competitive program to foster collaboration and promote courseware and curriculum innovation. Chen’s personal story, from a lathe factory worker to a nationally recognized professor at one of ORAU’s member universities, will inspire.

Teams from 10 ORAU consortium sponsoring and associate member institutions selected to compete in 2011 Solar Decathalon

Twenty collegiate teams have been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to compete in the 2011 Solar Decathalon competition to design, build and operate energy-efficient, solar-powered houses. Of these teams, ten represent ORAU consortium-affiliated institutions including Appalachian State University, Florida International University, Florida State University, Rutgers University, The Ohio State University, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of Maryland, University of South Florida and the University of Tennessee.

ORAU welcomes Southern University and A&M College as sponsoring institution; Appalachian State University and Norfolk State University join as associate members

ORAU recently welcomed Southern University and A&M College as one of its newest sponsoring institutions during the 65th annual meeting of the ORAU Council of Sponsoring Institutions held in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Appalachian State University and Norfolk State University were also accepted as associate members.

New graduate course utilizes neutron scattering techniques to study structural biology at ORNL

With state-of-the-art instrumentation at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s (ORNL) Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) and High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), application of neutron scattering techniques in structural biology is now possible for university researchers.

MBA graduate assistants Help Y-12 extend its reach “Beyond the Fence” for business and collaboration opportunities

Bill Nalls and Will Chappell are part of a second wave of students who are participating in the Y-12/Oak Ridge Associated Universities Graduate Assistantship program with the University of Tennessee’s (UT) College of Business. The partnership was launched during the summer of 2008 as a means to help the Y-12 National Security Complex extend its reach to the outside world and find commercial applications for its technologies.

ORAU member university wins $400,000 grant from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico (PUPR) has won a $400,000 grant from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The grant will support 10 PUPR students to conduct research at the university and participate in summer research programs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory from August 2009-August 2013, said Dr. Houssain Kettani, PUPR professor and director of the university's Partnership Development Office.