Diana E Hun

Bio

Diana Hun leads the Building Envelope Materials Research Group, which increases affordability, productivity, durability, resilience and safety in building construction. To this end, the team collaborates with multidisciplinary researchers to perform cutting edge research on high-performance materials, robotics, automation, diagnostic tools, and process optimization.

Hun's most recent accomplishment is co-leading the Affordable Manufacturing of Energy-Efficient, Resilient Buildings Convergent Research Initiative (CRI) under The University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute. The mission of the Buildings CRI is for the U.S. to meet its demand for new building construction and retrofits of existing buildings with U.S.-manufactured technologies that are affordable, energy-efficient, and resilient. The Buildings CRI will use the $20M award to establish East Tennessee as the first tech hub for building construction.

Before joining ORNL, Hun was a Senior Associate at Walter P. Moore, which is an international consulting firm that specializes on the design of complex structures. Hun received a PhD in Civil Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin with a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Awards

2025 Excellence in Technology Transfer Award, Federal Laboratory Consortium—Transforming Sustainable Construction with Self-Healing Barrier Film for Vacuum Insulation

2024 R&D 100 Award; Real-Time Evaluator for Fast and Accurate Installation of Prefabricated Components

2024 R&D 100 Award Finalist; Heat Exchanger for Low-Conductivity Phase Change Materials

2023 Distinguished Researcher Award, ORNL - Buildings and Transportation Science Division

2023 R&D 100 Award Finalist; On-Demand, Pressure-Triggered Sealant for Prefab Building Construction

2023 R&D 100 Award Finalist; A novel approach for salt hydrate PCM encapsulation

2023 Finalist for Advancing Prefabrication Team of the Year Award

2022 Finalist at CAMXACED22 Awards for Composites Excellence

2022 Air Barrier Association of America Industry Partner Award

2021 R&D 100 Award; Autonomous Self-Healing Sealant

2020 Federal Energy and Water Management Award; Empower Wall

2020 ORNL Innovation Award

2020 ORNL Significant Event Award; Empower Wall

2008 – 2009 Air and Waste Management Association (A&WMA) Scholarship  

2006 – 2009 National Science Foundation (NSF) IGERT Fellowship

Education

PhD in civil engineering, The University of Texas at Austin

MS in architectural engineering, The University of Texas at Austin

BS in electrical engineering, The University of Texas at Austin

Trademarks and Patents

B Maldonado, N Hayes, D Hun. Automatic Point Cloud Building Envelope Segmentation (Auto-CuBES) using Machine Learning. US Patent 2025/0054267 A1.

D Hun, PF Cao, T Saito, X Zhao, Z Demchuk, J Luo. Preinstalled sealant for prefab components. US Patent 12,180,391.

D Hun, T Saito, PF Cao, Z Demchuk, N Ghezawi, Z Zhang. Self-healing adhesive composition. US Patent 12,157,845. 

T Aytug, K Li, ME Lamm, D Hun, K Biswas. Fluid storage media and method of delivering a fluid. US Patent 12,090,461.

T Aytug, K Li, ME Lamm, D Hun, K Biswas. Coated hollow and evacuated insulation spheres (CEIS). US Patent 12,005,414.

Shrestha S, Biswas K, Hun DE, Atchley JA. Thermally Anisotropic Composites for Thermal Management in Building Environments. US Patent 12,013,149. 

Aytug T, Li K, Lamm ME, Hun DE, Biswas K. Coated Hollow and Evacuated Insulation Spheres (CEIS). US Patent 12,005,414 B2.

Aldykiewicz A, Demchuk Z, Hun DE, Saito T, Tang M. Biobased flame retardants. Invention Disclosure 202405623.

Shrestha S, Wanasinghe Shiwanka, Saito T, Desjarlais A, Hun DE, Howard D, Park B. Design and fabrication of high-performance laminated polyisocyanurate (PIR) foams. Invention Disclosure 202305444.

Shrestha S, Demchuk Z, Wanasinghe Shiwanka, Saito T, Catalin G, Tamraparni A, Hun DE. Facers to increase initial thermal resistivity and reduce aging of foam insulations

Shrestha S, Feng T, Hun DE. Fast Solid-State Thermal Switch with Large ON/OFF Ratio. Invention Disclosure 202004771.

Shrestha S, Saito S, Demchuk Z, Park B, Hun DE et al. Facers to increase initial thermal resistivity and reduce aging of foam insulations. Invention Disclosure 202305444.

Boudreaux P, Partridge W, Jatana G, Zhang R, Iffa E, Hun DE, et al. Building Air Leak Detector Using Reference-Free Background Oriented Schlieren Photography. US Non-provisional patent application 18/377,580.

Boudreaux P, Partridge W, Jatana G, Hun DE, et al. Projected Patterns for Enhancing Background Oriented Schlieren Photography. US Non-provisional patent application 18/377,608.

Maldonado B, Hayes N, Hun DE. Automatic segmentation of point cloud data for building envelopes using machine learning. US Provisional patent application 63/531406.

Hayes N, Maldonado B, Hun DE. Flat and Level Analysis Tool (FLAT). Invention Disclosure 202305305.

Rendall J, Shrestha S, Shen Z, Hun DE, et al. Thermal energy storage fin and tube heat exchanger for low conductivity PCMs. Invention Disclosure 202305369.

Salonvaara M, Wang P, Vaughan J, Atkins C, Maldonado B, Hun DE, et al. Robotically and Autonomously Installed Wall Interior Spray Foam. Invention Disclosure 202205217.

Demchuk Z, Saito T, Park B, Shrestha S, Hun DE et al. Low-carbon, Recyclable, Biobased Foam Insulation. US Provisional patent application 63/461,646.

Rendall J, Shrestha S, Shen Z, Hun DE, et al. Modification of a heat flux meter apparatus to determine the thermal contact resistance of PCM materials that undergo large density change as a method to create models to determine the state of charge of PCM in the field. Invention Disclosure 202205102.

Boudreaux PR, Killough S, Hun DE. Non-intrusive microwave reflection-based moisture detector for durable building envelope retrofits. Invention Disclosure 202004758.

Hun DE, Boudreaux PR, Killough S, Post BK, Wang P, Vaughan J. Real-Time Evaluator to Optimize Prefab Retrofit Panel Installation. US Provisional patent application 63/425823.

Feng T, Shrestha S, Howard D, Hun DE. Calculation Tool for Porous Thermal Insulation Materials. Invention Disclosure 202104780.

Hun DE, Cao P, Saito T. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA. Preinstalled Sealant for Prefab Components. Invention Disclosure 201904420.

Aytug T, Li K, Lamm M, Hun DE, Biswas K. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA. Coated and Evacuated Insulation Spheres. US Provisional patent application 63/056,252.

Hun DE, Vaidya U., Sheriff S, Hiremath N, Hayes N, Ma Z. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA. Non-corroding stripping lifting inserts. US Patent 11,661,741 B2.

Hun DE, Vaidya U., Sheriff S, Talley D. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA. Non-corroding erection lifting inserts. US Non-provisional patent application 17/187,209.

Hun DE, Cao P, Saito T, Li B, Ghezawi N, Zhang Z. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA. Primer-less self-healing sealant. US Non-provisional patent application 17/117,827.

Shrestha S, Hun DE, Atchley A, Biswas K. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA. Thermally Anisotropic Composites for Thermal Management in Building Envelopes. US Non-provisional patent application 16/849,070.

Hun DE, Mattus C, Owino J, Onyango M. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA. High Performance Concrete Mix for 1.5”-Thick Wythes. US Patent 10,836,678.

Hun DE, Smith BA, Lewis LA. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA. Fluorescent Air Leakage Detection System for Building Enclosures. US Patent 10,571,356 B2.

Publications