UT Helps Develop Y-12 Optimization Tool
Y-12 maintains the safety, security, and effectiveness of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, and uses extremely specialized, highly regulated equipment in many aspects of its work. Restocking spare parts to maintain this equipment must be carefully calculated to remain within timeliness, cost, and storage requirements. Hugh Medal, an assistant professor in ISE, is leading an inventory optimization project to create a digital model that helps Y-12 determine a more accurate, data-based forecast for stocking critical spare parts and general inventory. The model considers the fact that some parts may become obsolete and are no longer made by a supplier. It also factors in the uncertainty of how much Y-12 will need the spare part. This consideration and proactive planning for obsolescence can mitigate long-term risk over the life of a project.
Kairos Power Training Simulator
The college unveiled a new Operator Training Simulator Laboratory in partnership with Kairos Power during a ribbon-cutting ceremony in February. The facility will train reactor operators for Kairos Power’s Hermes low-power demonstration reactor in nearby Oak Ridge and serve as a training hub for UT students entering the advanced nuclear industry. The simulator will enhance the department’s programming by providing a shared asset for students and Kairos Power employees to gain hands-on experience with fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (KP-FHR) operations. Lab workstations feature Kairos Power’s state-of-the-art human-machine interfaces, providing a realistic control room experience. The simulator models KP-FHR dynamics, coupled with real hardware test systems, to provide a rich learning experience using simulated and actual system data. When it’s not being used to train operators, the simulator will be made available to graduate students and postdocs to conduct their own research and model development using Kairos Power’s modeling and simulation code.
Parker Returns to White House
Associate Vice Chancellor Emerita Lynne Parker will be returning to the White House to serve as the executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), and as counselor to the director of the Office of Science and Technology (OSTP). PCAST is a body of advisors from outside the federal government charged with making science, technology, and innovation policy recommendations to the President and the White House. The independent Federal Advisory Committee is comprised of distinguished individuals from industry, academia, and non-profit organizations with a range of perspectives and expertise. The OSTP is tasked with providing advice to the President, and the Executive Office of the President, on matters related to science and technology, as well as coordinating the administration’s science and tech policy among the assorted federal departments and agencies.
NSF Grants He $760K
Cleaning and processing wastewater is vitally important to keeping a community safe, but it is also energetically expensive. Every year, wastewater treatment plants across the United States use over 30 terawatt-hours of electricity—enough to power the state of California for more than 10 months. For the past 15 years, CEE professor Qiang He’s research group has been studying methanogenic microbial communities, which convert organic waste into methane—the main component of natural gas. He’s team recently made a breakthrough that will make the methanogenic community more robust and easier than ever to create. After successfully piloting their new method during a UT Global Energy Ecosystems (GE2) grant, He’s team secured a $760,000 award from the National Science Foundation’s Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET) program to perfect the protocol. The funding will be evenly split between He’s group at UT, and the laboratory of his co-principal investigator, Professor Heyang Yuan of Temple University.
Ragauskas Receives Prestigious Lithuanian Award
Art Ragauskas, the acting department head of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair of Biorefining, was selected as a Laureate of the Global Lithuanian Awards 2024 in the category for International Scientific Achievements by the Diaspora Professional Network Global Lithuanian Leaders. The Global Lithuanian Awards is a platform for Lithuanians from all over the world to enhance the country’s international presence and expand its influence across global economic, scientific and cultural dimensions. Throughout his academic career, Ragauskas has made several professional friends and connections in Lithuania. He’s worked on projects involving biofuels, bioengineering, biomaterials, and biorefineries that involved Lithuanian colleagues. The award has great personal significance to Ragauskas. His father came from Lithuania to Canada after World War II to raise his family.
GRIT Safety Training
The safety of students and faculty is a top priority at the University of Tennessee. Whether it’s operating a jointer in a woodshop, handling a band saw in a metal shop, or using a laser cutter in a maker space, protecting the well-being of everyone involved is essential. The college has implemented a new system that greatly enhances safety while also providing valuable tracking data. GRIT Automation is a wireless platform for workshops that helps ensure tools don’t fall into the wrong hands or machines aren’t operated by individuals without the proper level of training. GRIT provides an access control system that can be installed in shops across campus. The Min H. & Yu Fan Kao Innovation & Collaboration Studio is the first location at UT to have the system implemented.