ORAU in the News

Leaders from industry, government, education, labor unions, economic development organizations and community support partners gathered at ORAU recently for the Pathway to Trades Summit to address one of the region’s most pressing challenges and greatest opportunities: developing the skilled trades workforce needed to support the rapid expansion of nuclear energy, and related industries.

Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) hosted the Pathways to Trade Summit on Thursday, May 14, at the organization’s Pollard Center in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The focus of the gathering was the building of a skilled nuclear workforce capable of meeting the current and future challenges of unprecedented industry growth. Along with ORAU, the event was cosponsored by North America’s Building Trades Unions and the Tennessee Nuclear Network.

More than 170 people representing skilled trade unions, the nuclear energy industry, education, economic development and government came together for the Pathway to Trades Summit at ORAU.

A Dolly Parton-inspired classroom performance, complete with blonde wigs, won a Sevierville teacher and his school $27,500 for new technology for students.

Sevierville Intermediate's Logan Woods won his school $27,500 for new technology for students through ORAU's Extreme Classroom Makeover.

Sixth-grade math and science teacher Logan Woods submitted a Dolly Parton-inspired video to an extreme classroom makeover competition and won.

“Surprise!” the students yelled as Logan Woods entered the auditorium in Sevierville Intermediate School.

The sixth-grade math and science teacher walked triumphantly across the room, hands raised in victory, to where officials from Oak Ridge Associated Universities waited with two massive checks.

Tuesday was an exciting day for Sevierville Intermediate School math and science teacher Logan Woods.

The Extreme Trades Makeover: Future Welders competition will award three Alabama public high school vocational teachers with $30,000 in welding equipment or other upgrades to support student education.

Applications for Oak Ridge Associated Universities’ Extreme Trades Makeover: Future Welders competition are open and due by January 30.

The competition will award three Alabama public high school vocational teachers with $30,000 in welding equipment or other upgrades to support student education.

ORAU's Ashley Stowe and Children's Museum of Oak Ridge's Brian Arrington signed a memorandum of understanding at an event held at the museum in Oak Ridge on July 9, 2025.

Representatives of ORAU and the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge (CMOR) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) extending their joint commitment to offer innovative STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) learning experiences for early childhood and K-12 students on Wednesday, July 9, 2025.

Oak Ridge Associated Universities has awarded competitive research grants totaling $180,000 to 36 junior faculty from its member institutions. Oakland University, a member university, partnered with ORAU to fund one award, according to a news release. The annual grants are made through the company’s Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards program, which provides seed grants to enrich the research and professional growth of young faculty.

The science lab at Halls High School is getting a major upgrade thanks to Oak Ridge Associated Universities. ORAU announced that Abby Rase, Halls High’s science department chair and biology, anatomy/physiology teacher, as the winner of its 2025 Extreme Classroom Makeover competition.

An Oak Ridge nonprofit said a Halls High School teacher would get a $25,000 donation so she could purchase digital microscopes, water distillers, digital pH meters and more for her school's science lab. She was surprised with the donation after her principal asked her to help a fellow teacher in the science lab. Rase went to the lab to help, where she was met with balloons, cameras, around 80 of her students and the $25,000 check.

Abby Rase, Halls High School's science department chair and biology and anatomy/physiology teacher, is the winner of the 2025 ORAU Extreme Classroom Makeover. She'll receive $25,000 in upgraded technology for the lab. Rase learned the news when she walked into a surprise gathering with balloons, a cookie cake and her cheering students.

Athea Steiger of Salamanca, N.Y., was one of 52 middle school students chosen to participate in the recent Appalachian STEM Academy. This one-week summer program allows students to interact and work with scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and other science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) experts. The program is sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission.

Dr. Agnieszka Truszkowska, an assistant professor in the College of Engineering at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of the University of Alabama System, has won a 2024 Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Award. The national honor is a one-year $5,000 commitment aimed at enriching the research skills and professional growth of young faculty members at ORAU member institutions. Truszkowska’s research focuses on multiscale modeling in microtechnology-based devices and porous materials to develop new models that advance these systems with applications in chemical, petroleum and biomedical engineering, as well as biotechnology.

Jenni Hoff, Ph.D., assumed the duties of acting project director for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) on the Energy Employee’s Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). Hoff replaced Kate Kimpan, who retired after 18 years as project director, effective June 8.