2018 | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

Polymer Coating Cools Down Buildings

Columbia Engineers make white paint whiter—and cooler—by removing white pigment and invent a polymer coating, with nano-to-microscale air voids, that acts as a spontaneous air cooler and can be fabricated, dyed, and applied like paint.

Mordijck to Lead U.S. Department of Energy Milestone Initiative

Saskia Mordijck, assistant professor of applied science at William & Mary, will serve as the global leader of the Joint Research Target for the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences, working with labs throughout the world to solve the complicated problem of refueling fusion reactions.

Piezomagnetic Material Changes Magnetic Properties When Stretched

Piezoelectric materials, which generate an electric current when compressed or stretched, are familiar and widely used: think of lighters that spark when you press a switch, but also microphones, sensors, motors and all kinds of other devices. Now a group of physicists at UC Davis have found a material with a similar property, but for magnetism.

Democratizing Science: Researchers Make Neuroscience Experiments Easier to Share and Reproduce

Researchers at the University of Washington have developed an open-access browser to display, analyze and share neurological data collected through a type of magnetic resonance imaging study known as diffusion-weighted MRI.

Christoph Benning wins 2018 MSU Innovator of the Year Award with John Ohlrogge

The scientists won for identifying the WRINKELD1 gene and developing its use to engineer plant oils and lipids. Benning is MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory director. Ohlrogge is University Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Plant Biology.

TerAvest Applies Persistence to Stubborn Bacteria

Michigan State University assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology Michaela TerAvest is trying to better understand the bacterial strain Zymomonas mobilis in order to use it in developing sustainable biofuels and bioproducts.

UNM Students Receive DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program Award

Aidan Grummer and Neil McFadden, two graduate students in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at The University of New Mexico, were among 60 students selected nationally to receive the prestigious Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program award.

To Study Clouds, Grad Student Trades Lake Superior for the Desert

Tyler Jacob Capek, a PhD student in the Department of Physics at Michigan Tech, earned a Department of Energy research fellowship to study the optical properties of aerosols during atmospheric processing at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Graduate Student Thomas Heuser Recognized by the Department of Energy

THOMAS HEUSER, a graduate student in materials science and engineering, has earned a Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program award. This award supports graduate thesis research conducted at a DOE laboratory or facility and aims to prepare graduate students for a career in science, technology, math or engineering.

Institute for Catalysis in Energy Processes Receives $2.8 Million Award from the Department of Energy

The $2.8 million award allows ICEP to address fundamental questions in catalysis—building on nearly two decades of leadership in a research field that is at the core of all industrial chemical processes.

Quantum Network to Test Unhackable Communications

Scientists at the national labs and at the University of Chicago are creating one of world’s longest fiber-optic links to ‘teleport’ information.

Research on Light-Matter Interaction Could Lead to Improved Electronic and Optoelectronic Devices

A paper published in Nature Communications by Sufei Shi, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering at Rensselaer, increases our understanding of how light interacts with atomically thin semiconductors and creates unique excitonic complex particles, multiple electrons, and holes strongly bound together.