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Deeksha Rastogi uses high-performance computing to understand the human impacts of climate change. Credit: Carlos Jones, ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy

An international problem like climate change needs solutions that cross boundaries, both on maps and among disciplines. Oak Ridge National Laboratory computational scientist Deeksha Rastogi embodies that approach.

As part of the Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiments Arctic project, scientists are gathering and incorporating new data about the Alaskan tundra into global models that predict the future of our planet. Credit: ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy

Improved data, models and analyses from ORNL scientists and many other researchers in the latest global climate assessment report provide new levels of certainty about what the future holds for the planet 

Peter Thornton, right, works with Robertsville Middle School students to assemble the RamSat. Credit: Ian Goethert/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

RamSat’s mission is to take pictures of the forests around Gatlinburg, which were destroyed by wildfire in 2016. The mission is wholly designed and carried out by students, teachers and mentors, with support from numerous organizations, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Verónica Melesse Vergara speaks with third and fourth graders at East Side Intermediate School in Brownsville. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Twenty-seven ORNL researchers Zoomed into 11 middle schools across Tennessee during the annual Engineers Week in February. East Tennessee schools throughout Oak Ridge and Roane, Sevier, Blount and Loudon counties participated, with three West Tennessee schools joining in.

The ORNL National Center for Computational Sciences is now home two Hewlett Packard Enterprise, or HPE, Cray EX supercomputers that will provide the U.S. Army and Air Force with global and regional numerical weather model outputs for planning and executing missions worldwide. Credit: Jason Smith/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy and HPE Cray

The U.S. Air Force and Oak Ridge National Laboratory launched a new high-performance weather forecasting computer system that will provide a platform for some of the most advanced weather modeling in the world.

Quantum Science Center

The Department of Energy has selected Oak Ridge National Laboratory to lead a collaboration charged with developing quantum technologies that will usher in a new era of innovation.

XACC enables the programming of quantum code alongside standard classical code and integrates quantum computers from a number of vendors. This animation illustrates how QPUs complete calculations and return results to the host CPU, a process that could drastically accelerate future scientific simulations. Credit: Michelle Lehman/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Energy

In the early 2000s, high-performance computing experts repurposed GPUs — common video game console components used to speed up image rendering and other time-consuming tasks 

Edge computing is both dependent on and greatly influencing a host of promising technologies including (clockwise from top left): quantum computing; high-performance computing; neuromorphic computing; and carbon nanotubes.

We have a data problem. Humanity is now generating more data than it can handle; more sensors, smartphones, and devices of all types are coming online every day and contributing to the ever-growing global dataset.

Researchers in ORNL’s Quantum Information Science group summarized their significant contributions to quantum networking and quantum computing in a special issue of Optics & Photonics News. Image credit: Christopher Tison and Michael Fanto/Air Force Research Laboratory.

A team from the ORNL has conducted a series of experiments to gain a better understanding of quantum mechanics and pursue advances in quantum networking and quantum computing, which could lead to practical applications in cybersecurity and other areas.

The students analyzed diatom images like this one to compare wild and genetically modified strains of these organisms. Credit: Alison Pawlicki/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US Department of Energy.

Students often participate in internships and receive formal training in their chosen career fields during college, but some pursue professional development opportunities even earlier.