Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the largest US Department of Energy science and energy laboratory, conducting basic and applied research to deliver transformative solutions to compelling problems in energy and security.

ORNL’s diverse capabilities span a broad range of scientific and engineering disciplines, enabling the Laboratory to explore fundamental science challenges and to carry out the research needed to accelerate the delivery of solutions to the marketplace. ORNL supports DOE’s national missions of:

ORNL’s diverse capabilities span a broad range of scientific and engineering disciplines, enabling the Laboratory to explore fundamental science challenges and to carry out the research needed to accelerate the delivery of solutions to the marketplace. ORNL supports DOE’s national missions of:

• Scientific discovery—We assemble teams of experts from diverse backgrounds, equip them with powerful instruments and research facilities, and address compelling national problems;
• Clean energy—We deliver energy technology solutions for energy-efficient buildings, transportation, and manufacturing, and we study biological, environmental, and climate systems in order to develop new biofuels and bioproducts and to explore the impacts of climate change;
• Security—We develop and deploy “first-of-a-kind” science-based security technologies to make the world a safer place.

ORNL supports these missions through leadership in four major areas of science and technology: 

• Neutrons—We operate two of the world’s leading neutron sources, which enable scientists and engineers to gain new insights into materials and biological systems;
• Computing—We accelerate scientific discovery through modeling and simulation on powerful supercomputers, advance data-intensive science, and sustain US leadership in high-performance computing;
• Materials—We integrate basic and applied research to develop advanced materials for energy applications;
• Nuclear—We advance the scientific basis for 21st century nuclear fission and fusion technologies and systems, and we produce isotopes for research, industry, and medicine.

National Transportation Research Center

The National Transporation Research Center houses several highly-sophisticated, experimental ORNL research laboratories that constitute the Department of Energy's (DOE) National Transportation Research Center User Facility (NTRC).

As a User Facility, NTRC offers industry, academia, and other agencies the opportunity to access state-of-the-art technologies, equipment and instrumentation, and computational resources to advance transportation technologies. These resources are critical to their efforts in the areas of improving fuel economy, reducing emissions and addressing transportation systems issues, such as traffic congestion, evacuation planning and highway safety.

In addition to serving users, ORNL conducts approximately one-half of all its transportation research at NTRC. The nearly 200 ORNL employees based at NTRC work closely with government agencies, industry and universities through non-user facility partnerships including public-domain work for federal agencies, DOE-funded partnerships with industry, and proprietary contracts conducted on behalf of automotive companies and suppliers, large and small. Approximately 50 employees from The University of Tennessee Center for Transportation Research work at NTRC where they operate several transportation laboratories and occasionally collaborate with ORNL.

Advanced Power Electronics and Electric Machinery

The Advanced Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Group at NTRC is a primary laboratory for DOE Vehicle Technologies Office electric drive technologies research and development. Current projects include benchmarking industry devices, developing new technologies for thermal management and packaging of power electronics, prototyping novel power electronics components, creating wireless charging systems for electric vehicles, extending power module operating range with wide bandgap materials, and designing new motors and digital controls that reduce or eliminate the use of rare earth materials. PEEM researchers use analysis, modeling, simulation, and unique, PEEM-developed equipment and capabilities to evaluate power electronics and electric machines.

PEEM staff members hold advanced degrees in physics and electrical and mechanical engineering. Collectively, they have been granted more than 50 patents and published more than 400 technical papers. Most are active members of professional societies such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Institution of Electrical Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the Society of Automotive Engineers, and hold leadership positions in these organizations.