Bio
Dr. Laura H. Arias Chavez is a Senior Chemical Engineer in the Fuel Cycle Chemical Technology Group, part of the Fusion and Fission Energy and Science Directorate. She works to develop, analyze, and scale-up new technologies that improve the sustainability of nuclear fuel cycles and utilize waste energy and materials associated with nuclear power production. Prior to joining ORNL in 2024, she was a faculty member in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Tennessee Tech University, where she built a research program that studied, developed, and applied polymeric membrane technologies. Her experimental work spans the nano-scale to the pilot-scale, and her process modelling work extends to full-scale. Particular areas of expertise include reclamation of industrial wastewaters, water treatment, and the use of waste heat and surplus electricity from nuclear power plants for seawater desalination. Arias Chavez obtained her Ph.D., M.Phil., and M.S. in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from Yale University and her B.S.E. in Civil Engineering (in the environmental engineering track) from Duke University.