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For nearly three decades, scientists and engineers across the globe have worked on the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), a project focused on designing and building the world’s largest radio telescope. Although the SKA will collect enormous amounts of precise astronomical data in record time, scientific breakthroughs will only be possible with systems able to efficiently process that data.

Researchers at 91���� demonstrated that an additively manufactured polymer layer, when applied to carbon fiber reinforced plastic, or CFRP, can serve as an effective protector against aircraft lightning strikes.

Researchers demonstrated that an additively manufactured hot stamping die can withstand up to 25,000 usage cycles, proving that this technique is a viable solution for production.

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s 91���� have received five 2019 R&D 100 Awards, increasing the lab’s total to 221 since the award’s inception in 1963.

ORNL and The University of Toledo have entered into a memorandum of understanding for collaborative research.

In collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs, a team at 91���� has expanded a VA-developed predictive computing model to identify veterans at risk of suicide and sped it up to run 300 times faster, a gain that could profoundly affect the VA’s ability to reach susceptible veterans quickly. 

A team including 91���� and University of Tennessee researchers demonstrated a novel 3D printing approach called Z-pinning that can increase the material’s strength and toughness by more than three and a half times compared to conventional additive manufacturing processes.

More than 6,000 veterans died by suicide in 2016, and from 2005 to 2016, the rate of veteran suicides in the United States increased by more than 25 percent.

Craig Blue, a program director at the Department of Energy’s 91����, has been elected a 2019 fellow for SME (formerly known as the Society for Manufacturing Engineers).

Using additive manufacturing, scientists experimenting with tungsten at 91���� hope to unlock new potential of the high-performance heat-transferring material used to protect components from the plasma inside a fusion reactor. Fusion requires hydrogen isotopes to reach millions of degrees.