Matt Korey

Bio

Dr. Matthew Korey specializes in the development and industrialization of novel, sustainable manufacturing technologies for plastics and their composites.  His work focuses on mechanical, chemical, biological, and thermochemical methods of composite recycling and the use of advanced re-processing techniques and repurposing to recycle industrial composites waste.  Dr. Korey also has an R&D portfolio looking at the development and implementation of sustainably derived plastics made from renewable, waste-derived, and greenhouse gas-based plastics. He also has several projects focused on the lifecycle and technoeconomic analysis of plastics manufacturing, separation, and recycling. For his work he was awarded the 2024 Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer award at the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. He is currently an Associate R&D Scientist at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and an Assistant Professor in Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.  Dr. Korey is also co-chair of the Circular Economy Working Group at the Institute of Advanced Composites Manufacturing and Innovation (IACMI) and Founding Chair of TMS PRIDE.

Recent technologies industrially adopted from work by Dr. Korey's team:

Industrial Products from Recycled Wind Turbine Blades:

Spray Bottle Cap - Carbon Rivers

Shipping Container Floors - Greentex

100% Recycled (Re-Pelletized) Large Format Additively Manufactured Molds

Recycled Molds Being Industrialized

Summary of Our Work

100% Recycled Mold Used to Make Splitter for Racecar

Other Technologies

Sensor-integrated mechanical recycling

Professional Experience

2022 - Present
Associate R&D Staff
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Manufacturing Science Division

2023 - Present
JFA Assistant Professor
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Dept. of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering

2020-2022
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Energy, Science & Technology Division
Manufacturing Science Division

2015-2020
Graduate Research Assistant
National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) Fellow
Dept. of Materials Engineering

Awards

• Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer, 2024 – Society of Manufacturing Engineers
   
• Editor’s Choice Award Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 2024
   
• Certificate of Achievement, Composites Science & Technology Section, ORNL, 2024
   
• Service Core Value Award - ESTD Division, ORNL, 2023
   
• Top 10 People Under 40, Lafayette Chamber of Commerce; Tippecanoe Connect, 2019
   
• Purdue Graduate School – Graduate Service Award, 2019
   
• Purdue College of Engineering – Graduate Service Award, 2018
   
• Ohio State College of Engineering – Leadership Award, 2015
   
• Ohio State College of Engineering – Diversity Enhancement Award, 2015

Education

Ph.D. in Materials Engineering
Purdue University; West Lafayette, IN
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) Fellow (2017-2020)
Thesis: “Tannic Acid: A Key to Reducing Environmental Impacts of Epoxy”
Advisors: Dr. Jeffrey Youngblood and Dr. John Howarter

B.S. in Biomedical Engineering
Ohio State University; Columbus, OH 
Focus: Biomaterials, Cell & Tissue Engineering
Minor Degrees: Women’s Studies and Gender Studies

Professional Service

• 2020-Pres.
  Co-Chair & Steering Committee, IACMI Circular Economy Working Group
   
• 2020-2022 
  Executive Board, Oak Ridge Postdoctoral Association
   
• 2018-2024
  Founding Chair, TMS PRIDE
   
• 2017-2019 
  Volunteer & Teacher, Lafayette Jefferson High School Outreach
   
• 2016-2018
  Board of Organizers, Diversity in Materials (DMMM3) Conf., Santa Barbara, CA
   
• 2016
  Participant, Diversity in the Minerals, Metals, and Mat. Profession (DMMM2)
   
• 2015-Pres. 
  Member, TMS Diversity Committee

Specialized Equipment

Dr. Korey's lab houses scaled mechanical recycling equipment from benchtop to 4000+ lbs/hr (1800 kg/hr) throughput capable of breaking down large, thermoset and thermoplastic-containing material assemblies to smaller, remanufacturable pieces. The equipment is sensor-integrated to enable real-time collection of primary data for lifecycle analysis and technoeconomic analysis. With this, his team quantifies the carbon emissions and costs of the process. 

https://www.ornl.gov/composites-recycling

https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2022-07/h2-mach-22-ozcan.pdf  

Trademarks and Patents

• Korey, M., Youngblood, J., Howarter, J., Burgos, N. (2023) U.S. Patent 11,697,702
   
• Korey, M., Tekinalp, H., Wang, P., Ozcan, S. (2022) U.S. Provisional Patent Application 63/416,621.
   
• Korey, M., Howarter, J., Youngblood, J. (2021) US Patent 10,899,922

Publications

Other Publications