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A workshop led by scientists at ORNL sketched a road map toward a longtime goal: development of autonomous, or self-driving, next-generation research laboratories. 

Large group of over 30 students gather in conference room for a presentation, seated with their laptops

Not only did ORNL take home top honors at the 2024 International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis (SC24), but the lab’s computing staff also shared career advice and expertise with students eager to enter the world of supercomputing.

Hugh O'Neil, director or ORNL's Center for Structural Molecular Biology is sitting in the lab on a stool, hand on desk with glasses on. There are lab related items blurred in the foreground.

Hugh O’Neill’s lifelong fascination with the complexities of the natural world drives his research at ORNL, where he’s using powerful neutron beams to dive deep into the microscopic realm of biological materials and unlock secrets for better production of domestic biofuels and bioproducts.

Neus Domingo Marimon, ORNL scientist, poses for a photo in black with hair down

Neus Domingo Marimon, leader of the Functional Atomic Force Microscopy group at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences of ORNL, has been elevated to senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

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Scientists designing the world’s first controlled nuclear fusion power plant, ITER, needed to solve the problem of runaway electrons, negatively charged particles in the soup of matter in the plasma within the tokamak, the magnetic bottle intended to contain the massive energy produced. Simulations performed on Summit, the 200-petaflop supercomputer at ORNL, could offer the first step toward a solution.

ORNL researcher Phong Le poses for a photo outside on a walkway bridge over the pond. The photo is framed with brown and green plants

Phong Le is a computational hydrologist at ORNL who is putting his skills in hydrology, numerical modeling, machine learning and high-performance computing to work quantifying water-related risks for humans and the environment. 

ORNL’s Askin Guler Yigitoglu presents during the 2024 Molten Salt Reactor Workshop in Knoxville with a green and blue background

ORNL’s annual workshop has become the premier forum for molten salt reactor, or MSR, collaboration and innovation, convening industry, academia and government experts to further advance MSR research and development. This year’s event attracted a record-breaking 365 participants from across the country, highlighting the momentum to bring MSRs online.

A picture containing indoor, equipment, control panel

A research partnership between two Department of Energy national laboratories has accelerated inspection of additively manufactured nuclear components, and the effort is now expanding to inspect nuclear fuels. 

Man is flying drone in hurricane aftermath, holding the controller

During Hurricanes Helene and Milton, ORNL deployed drone teams and the Mapster platform to gather and share geospatial data, aiding recovery and damage assessments. ORNL's EAGLE-I platform tracked utility outages, helping prioritize recovery efforts. Drone data will train machine learning models for faster damage detection in future disasters. 

Summit Supercomputer

Scientists conducted a groundbreaking study on the genetic data of over half a million U.S. veterans, using tools from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to analyze 2,068 traits from the Million Veteran Program.