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Debjani Pal’s photo “Three-Dimensional Breast Cancer Spheroids” won the Director’s Choice Award in Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Art of Science photo competition. It will be displayed at the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Credit: Debjani Pal/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
“Three-Dimensional Breast Cancer Spheroids” submitted by radiotherapeutics researcher Debjani Pal is stunning. Brilliant blue dots pop from an electric sphere threaded with bright colors: greens, aqua, hot pink and red.
As a scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tugba Turnaoglu is investigating new thermal energy storage materials and ways to incorporate them into cost-effective and energy-efficient heat pump designs. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept of Energy

The common sounds in the background of daily life – like a refrigerator’s hum, an air conditioner’s whoosh and a heat pump’s buzz – often go unnoticed. These noises, however, are the heartbeat of a healthy building and integral for comfort and convenience.

Steve Nolan, left, who manages many ORNL facilities for United Cleanup Oak Ridge, and Carl Dukes worked closely together to accommodate bringing members of the public into the Oak Ridge Reservation to collect distant images from overhead for the BRIAR biometric recognition project. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Carl Dukes’ career as an adept communicator got off to a slow start: He was about 5 years old when he spoke for the first time. “I’ve been making up for lost time ever since,” joked Dukes, a technical professional at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Andrea Delgado, Distinguished Staff Fellow at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, uses quantum computing to help elucidate the fundamental particles of the universe. Credit: Carlos Jones/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Andrea Delgado is looking for elementary particles that seem so abstract, there appears to be no obvious short-term benefit to her research.

Phil Snyder

When virtually unlimited energy from fusion becomes a reality on Earth, Phil Snyder and his team will have had a hand in making it happen.

Materials scientist Denise Antunes da Silva researches ways to reduce concrete’s embodied carbon in the Sustainable Building Materials Laboratory at ORNL, a research space dedicated to studying environmentally friendly building materials. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Materials scientist Denise Antunes da Silva researches ways to reduce concrete’s embodied carbon in the Sustainable Building Materials Laboratory at ORNL, a research space dedicated to studying environmentally friendly building materials. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

ORNL physicist Libby Johnson demonstrated a new control panel at ORNL’s Bulk Shielding Facility in 1957. Among the first females to operate a nuclear reactor, Johnson blazed trails for women. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Oak Ridge National Laboratory physicist Elizabeth “Libby” Johnson (1921-1996), one of the world’s first nuclear reactor operators, standardized the field of criticality safety with peers from ORNL and Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Friederike (Rike) Bostelmann is a nuclear data and reactor physics analyst at Oak Ridge National Laboratory working to advance new technology for nuclear power reactors as a clean energy source for electricity generation. Credit: ORNL, Carlos Jones

Friederike (Rike) Bostelmann, who began her career in Germany, chose to come to ORNL to become part of the Lab’s efforts to shape the future of nuclear energy.

Brian Fricke, equipment research group lead at ORNL, works with Anthony Gehl at the Building Technologies Research and Integration Center on a new prototype installation. Collaboration with fellow researchers across the building technologies area strengthens his group’s capabilities. Credit: ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

When Brian Fricke walks into a supermarket, evidence of his scientific achievement is all around in the refrigerated cases housing the fresh fruits and vegetables. As an Oak Ridge National Laboratory building equipment researcher, Fricke has a long history of making sure that produce is kept fresh in an energy efficient and environmentally sound manner.

ORNL’s Christine Walker, a technical consultant and researcher in the Integrated Building Performance Group, works with the nation’s federally owned buildings through the Federal Energy Management Program, helping to reduce their carbon footprint and improve their energy performance. Credit: ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy

She may not wear a white coat or carry a stethoscope, but Christine Walker of ORNL spends her days diagnosing the energy health of buildings and figuring out how to improve their efficiency to achieve cost savings and reduce their carbon footprint.