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Mircea Podar has travelled around the world and to the bottom of the ocean in pursuit of scientific discoveries, but it is the uncharted territory he encounters when working with new microbes that inspires his research at ORNL.

Ryan Kerekes is leader of the RF, Communications, and Cyber-Physical Security Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Photos by Genevieve Martin, ORNL.

As leader of the RF, Communications, and Cyber-Physical Security Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Kerekes heads an accelerated lab-directed research program to build virtual models of critical infrastructure systems like the power grid that can be used to develop ways to detect and repel cyber-intrusion and to make the network resilient when disruption occurs.

Micael Starke

When Michael Starke leaves the lab each day, he continues his work, in a sense, at home. The power systems engineer is developing methods to precisely control building electrical loads—and in his off hours, he has automated his own home with upwards of 90 smart devices to manage everything from heat...

Christina Forrester

Christina Forrester’s meticulous nature is a plus for her work leading technical testing and analysis of radiological and nuclear detection devices, whether that work takes her to the Desert Southwest or to her own lab outfitted with specialized 

Vincent Paquit

Leveraging his expertise in image processing, sensors, and machine learning, Vincent Paquit is devising a control system for additive manufacturing to produce 3D-printed parts that function as well as conventionally produced objects. Paquit’s research sits at the junction of manufacturing technol...

Yarom Polsky

Yarom Polsky’s diverse background in private and public-sector research has given him a knack for recognizing opportunities to advance the state-of-the-art, and he parlays that knowledge into successful innovation as an engineer, group leader, and 

Mallory Ladd gathers field samples on the coastal plain of northern Alaska. Photo courtesy, Mallory Ladd.
Mallory Ladd began trekking to the Arctic, even before her time at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in search of a better understanding of what’s going on belowground and how it links to changes in the larger landscape. The University of Tennessee, Knoxv...
Robert Wagner is director of the National Transportation Research Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Photo credit: Jason Richards, ORNL.

Some engineers are attracted to fuels and engine research out of a love of cars. For Robert Wagner, however, enthusiasm for combustion science and chaos theory drew him to this area of research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. After years of delivering breakthroughs for cleane...

Rose Ruther

In the quest for better batteries, Rose Ruther has found that the positives nearly always outweigh the negatives, and that’s what keeps her coming back to the lab. Ruther works on novel materials to create batteries with higher energy density at a lower cost as part of the Roll to Roll Manufactur...

Adam Witt
Adam Witt’s career path has followed some twists and turns, much like the rivers he studies. But the diversity of his professional experience is a boon to his work as he looks for new ways to harness an ancient energy source: water. Witt, a hydropower systems research engineer,...