Govindarajan Muralidharan, a scientist and inventor at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been elected a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, or NAI.

The NAI was established to recognize inventors with U.S. patents and to promote academic technology and innovation that globally benefits society. NAI fellows have achieved the highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors.

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are using a novel approach in determining environmental impacts to aquatic species near hydropower facilities, potentially leading to smarter facility designs that can support electrical grid reliability.

Scientists can speed the design of energy-dense solid-state batteries using a new tool created by Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The Solid-State Battery Performance Analyzer and Calculator, or SolidPAC, can help researchers who have developed a promising new material but are unsure how to design a successful cell, said ORNL’s Ilias Belharouak. “It builds practicality into the search for better batteries,” he said.

A new analysis from Oak Ridge National Laboratory shows that intensified aridity, or drier atmospheric conditions, is caused by human-driven increases in greenhouse gas emissions. The findings point to an opportunity to address and potentially reverse the trend by reducing emissions.

Scientists examined the underlying causes for these long-term changes in global aridity using a multipronged approach and a wealth of observational data from 1965 to 2014.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers recently used large-scale additive manufacturing with metal to produce a full-strength steel component for a wind turbine, proving the technique as a viable alternative to conventional welding approaches.

Wind energy adoption in the United States depends largely on industry’s ability to manufacture large, complex structures. Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, could reduce cost and increase production efficiency compared with traditional methods.