NEWS
Recent News
- UT-ORII SELECTS TWO NEW $20M UT-ORNL CONVERGENT RESEARCH INITIATIVESFebruary 15, 2024 – The University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute (UT-ORII) has selected circular bioeconomy systems and radiopharmaceutical therapies as its two newest Convergent… Read more: UT-ORII SELECTS TWO NEW $20M UT-ORNL CONVERGENT RESEARCH INITIATIVES
- UT-ORII’s Bredesen Center Selects Zhili Zhang to lead UT-ORNL Energy Science and Engineering Ph.D. programJanuary 23, 2024 – The University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute’s Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education has named Zhili Zhang as program… Read more: UT-ORII’s Bredesen Center Selects Zhili Zhang to lead UT-ORNL Energy Science and Engineering Ph.D. program
- Sudarsanam “Suresh” Babu, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Advanced ManufacturingWhen Sudarsanam “Suresh” Babu was growing up in India, his family’s resources were meager. His mother―widowed when Babu was only 5—encouraged him and his siblings… Read more: Sudarsanam “Suresh” Babu, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Advanced Manufacturing
- Robert Davis, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Biomedical InformaticsWhen Robert Davis was a youngster, he was captivated by a Life magazine story about mercury contamination causing horrific health issues in Japan. It sparked… Read more: Robert Davis, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Biomedical Informatics
- Rigoberto “Gobet” Advincula, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair of Advanced and Nanostructured MaterialsSince he was young, Rigoberto “Gobet” Advincula has been intrigued with understanding how things work. “I was fortunate to go to a special science high… Read more: Rigoberto “Gobet” Advincula, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair of Advanced and Nanostructured Materials
- Terry Hazen, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Environmental BiotechnologyFrom studying the cause of alligator illnesses to providing expertise in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to monitoring campus wastewater for the… Read more: Terry Hazen, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Environmental Biotechnology
- Yilu Liu, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Power GridsYilu Liu has dedicated her career to keeping America’s power on. Hired in 2009 as the UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Power Grids, Liu is an… Read more: Yilu Liu, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Power Grids
- Jeremy Smith, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Molecular BiophysicsJeremy Smith’s research group was among the first to use high-performance computing (HPC) to search for drugs to fight the Covid virus—work that won a… Read more: Jeremy Smith, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Molecular Biophysics
- Art Ragauskas, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for BiorefiningArt Ragauskas grew up in Sudbury, Ontario, when the city was void of vegetation, filled with blackened rocks and fishless lakes. It was a place… Read more: Art Ragauskas, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Biorefining
- Alexei P. Sokolov, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Polymer ScienceGrowing up fascinated by science, Alexei Sokolov said he has “always wanted to do something that nobody knew how to do.” That desire eventually led… Read more: Alexei P. Sokolov, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Polymer Science
- Uday Vaidya, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair in Advanced Composites ManufacturingUday Vaidya, the University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair in Advanced Composites Manufacturing, is getting students excited about STEM and is a driving… Read more: Uday Vaidya, UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair in Advanced Composites Manufacturing
- Robert W. Williams, UTHSC-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Computational GenomicsImagine if health care providers were to study your DNA sequence, behaviors and lifestyle, then provide personalized advice to prevent disease and prescribe tailored treatments… Read more: Robert W. Williams, UTHSC-ORNL Governor’s Chair for Computational Genomics
Power Players
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Power Player: Tomonori Saito
From upcycling polymers to making ultra-tough adhesives, much of Tomonori Saito’s research has focused on making stronger and more functional polymer materials that are energy efficient and environmentally friendly. “We tailor polymer chemistry for many energy-related applications such as plastic recycling, batteries, building materials, and manufacturing,” said Saito, who is a senior scientist at Oak…
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Power Player: Jian Liu
In 2021, more than 1,862 data breaches affected nearly 294 million Americans. This is troublesome for researchers working with machine learning since they use enormous data sets which may contain sensitive personal information. Jian Liu, an assistant professor in the Min H. Kao Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, is looking for a reliable…
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Power Player: Luke Scime
Luke Scime, an associate staff scientist and part of the energy systems analytics team, is one of three new University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute fellows. He uses complex algorithms to program computers to use artificial intelligence to search for flaws in 3D printed items. Appointed for one-year renewable terms, UT-ORII Fellows are responsible for…
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Power Player: Tony Schmitz
Schmitz is working to help rebuild America’s manufacturing industry. A University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute fellow, Schmitz is a professor in Tickle College of Engineering at the University of Tennessee‘s Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering and joint faculty for Oak Ridge National Laboratory‘s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility. He focuses on manufacturing research in support of…
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Power Player: John Brantley
Plastic is everywhere―from food and drink containers to kids’ toys to car parts. “We produce billions of tons of plastic waste every year, and many of these materials end up in landfills and they eventually infiltrate the environment,” said Brantley, an assistant professor of chemistry. His StART project focuses on developing new techniques for breaking…
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Power Player: Mike Kilbey
Designing New Materials for Energy, Sustainability, Additive Manufacturing UT Knoxville Chemistry Professor Mike Kilbey received one of UT-ORII’s first seed grants, right after the institute launched. That funding, renewed for 2022, was used to bring together a team of UT faculty, Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers and PhD students specializing in polymer synthesis, computation and…
Media Contact:
Bridget Waller
Director of Communications, UT-ORII
bwaller5@tennessee.edu
Phone: 865-466-2649
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PUBLICATIONS
To learn more about the creation of UT-ORII, download the 2019 UT-ORNL Steering Committee’s Dec. 31, 2019, report.
Download the Recommendations of the Steering Committee (PDF)