Calvin Lear is a research and development (R&D) associate in Fusion Hydrogen in Materials with Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Radiation Effects & Microstructural Analysis Group (REMAG). He is also a University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute Fellow, working with the institute’s Fusion Technology and Materials for Extreme Environments Convergent Research Initiative. 

His research focuses on processing-structure-property-performance relationships for materials for nuclear energy applications, leading the study of hydrogen interactions with metals, ceramics, and radiation-induced defects. Lear is a user of the Low Activation Materials Development & Analysis (LAMDA) laboratory with expertise in analytical electron microscopy (SEM, S/TEM) and targeted sample fabrication (EBSD/EDS, FIB).

Lear is a topic editor for Frontiers in Nuclear Engineering and peer reviewer for the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Science User Facilities, Acta Materialia and Journal of Nuclear Materials. He is a member of The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS); American Nuclear Society; and ASM International. He is a committee member for TMS Nuclear Materials Committee and TMS Nuclear Materials Committee Programming Subcommittee. 

Previously, Lear was a staff scientist in the Dynamics of Materials Team of the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies at Los Alamos National Laboratory, studying materials strength and aging with irradiation, performance of irradiated materials across mechanical and temperature extremes, and the effects of metal additive manufacturing and advanced joining techniques on irradiated performance. He was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences at the University of Michigan. 

Education