Bio
Zach Burns is a System Engineering Lead in the Operations Support Group working under the IPMD umbrella to lend assistance in procurement, design, servicing, and coordination of production equipment in the division.
Zach has worked at ORNL since 2008, beginning in the ORAU Technician Intern Program before becoming an ORNL Staff Technician. For 8 years he worked within the Material Science and Technologies Division in the Mechanical Properties and Corrosion Science Groups. Zach gained experience by being involved with ceramics, ferrous and non-ferrous alloy mechanical testing, corrosion specimen preparation for super hydrophobic military coatings, stainless alloys tested in depleted uranium solutions for gamma irradiation test and fabrication/installation of corrosion probe specimens at commercial steam boiler power plants in efforts to convert to biomass. He then transitioned to the Nuclear Energy and Fuel Cycling Division to work in the Irradiated Fuel Examination Laboratory hot cell as the lead technician for the group. In this position he interacted closely with Nonreactor Nuclear Facilities Division personnel to design, fabricate, and run in cell testing equipment and tooling. With in-depth hot cell experience including metallography, mechanical measurements, acid dissolutions and manipulator limitations enabling him to be a liaison for facility technicians, production members and design groups.