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2023 Battelle Distinguished Inventors

Four scientists affiliated with ORNL were named Battelle Distinguished Inventors during the lab’s annual Innovation Awards on Dec. 1 in recognition of being granted 14 or more United States patents.

Karen White

Karen White, who works in ORNL’s Neutron Science Directorate, has been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Frontier, the fastest supercomputer in the world, provides expansive and energy-efficient power, which gives scientists the capability to train large AI models in a responsible way.

ORNL is home to the world's fastest exascale supercomputer, Frontier, which was built in part to facilitate energy-efficient and scalable AI-based algorithms and simulations. 

ORNL researchers Lu Yu and Yaocai Bai examine vials that contain a chemical solution that causes the cobalt and lithium to separate from a spent battery, followed by a second stage when cobalt precipitates in the bottom. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Used lithium-ion batteries from cell phones, laptops and a growing number of electric vehicles are piling up, but options for recycling them remain limited mostly to burning or chemically dissolving shredded batteries.

Front row: Victoria DiStefano and Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe of DOE toured the SPRUCE experiment with Natalie Griffiths, Melanie Mayes, and Verity Salmon; back row: Dave Weston, Stephen Sebestyen (US Forest Service), Jonathan Stelling, Mark Guilliams, John Latimer (ORNL contractor), Kyle Pearson and Paul Hanson. Credit: Genevieve Martin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

The first climate scientist to head the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, recently visited two ORNL-led field research facilities in Minnesota and Alaska to witness how these critically important projects are informing our understanding of the future climate and its impact on communities.

The Frontier exascale supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

ORNL has joined a global consortium of scientists from federal laboratories, research institutes, academia and industry to address the challenges of building large-scale artificial intelligence systems and advancing trustworthy and reliable AI for

Conceptual art depicts machine learning finding an ideal material for capacitive energy storage. Its carbon framework (black) has functional groups with oxygen (pink) and nitrogen (turquoise). Credit: Tao Wang/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Guided by machine learning, chemists at ORNL designed a record-setting carbonaceous supercapacitor material that stores four times more energy than the best commercial material.

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory contributed to several chapters of the Fifth National Climate Assessment, providing expertise in complex ecosystem processes, energy systems, human dynamics, computational science and Earth-scale modeling. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Scientists at ORNL used their knowledge of complex ecosystem processes, energy systems, human dynamics, computational science and Earth-scale modeling to inform the nation’s latest National Climate Assessment, which draws attention to vulnerabilities and resilience opportunities in every region of the country.

From left are Analytics and AI Methods at Scale group leader Feiyi Wang, technical lead Mike Matheson and research scientist Hao Lu.

The team that built Frontier set out to break the exascale barrier, but the supercomputer’s record-breaking didn’t stop there.

Staff working on construction and facility updates in preparation for the Frontier, the world’s first exascale supercomputer.

Making room for the world’s first exascale supercomputer took some supersized renovations.