News Releases

Rigoberto Advincula, a polymer researcher at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and a Governor’s Chair Professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has received the American Filtration and Separations Society’s Frank Tiller Award at FILTCON26 in Pittsburgh. The honor recognizes his lifetime leadership and scientific impact in fluid-particle separation, citing advances in new materials, 3D-printed membranes, and smart separation surfaces. A highly decorated fellow of multiple scientific societies, Advincula has authored 513 publications and holds 15 issued patents, with additional patents pending.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientist Tomas Grejtak has received STLE’s Early Career Award, honoring high-impact research in tribology (friction, wear, and lubrication), and will be recognized at the society’s May 18–21 annual meeting in New Orleans. His work focuses on wear, friction, deformation, and contact mechanics in materials used in nuclear, biomass, and automotive systems.

Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory showed they can “write” ferroelectric regions into aluminum nitride by using a helium ion beam to create precise defects while keeping the crystal intact. Ferroelectric materials can store information without needing continuous power, so this could lead to more reliable, lower-energy memory made with processes already used in chip manufacturing. The defect patterning reduced the amount of voltage needed to switch the material between its two stable internal states (like 0 and 1 in digital memory) by about 40% and boosted the electromechanical response, which also benefits radio-frequency filters and resonators — parts in wireless devices that tune and stabilize high-frequency signals.Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory showed they can “write” ferroelectric regions into aluminum nitride by using a helium ion beam to create precise defects while keeping the crystal intact. Ferroelectric materials can store information without needing continuous power, so this could lead to more reliable, lower-energy memory made with processes already used in chip manufacturing. The defect patterning reduced the amount of voltage needed to switch the material between its two stable internal states (like 0 and 1 in digital memory) by about 40% and boosted the electromechanical response, which also benefits radio-frequency filters and resonators — parts in wireless devices that tune and stabilize high-frequency signals.