Staff Awards: 2011
SNS User Receives DTG Young Researcher Award
Physicist Dr. Anne Möchel has been presented with the DTG Young Researchers Award 2011 by the German Thermoelectric Society (Deutsche Thermoelektrik-Gesellschaft, DTG) for her doctoral thesis “Lattice dynamics in thermoelectric Zintl phases,” carried out at JCNS-2. While researching her thesis, Dr. Möchel made extensive use of the instruments at several large-scale research facilities, including ILL (Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France), JCNS (Jülich Centre for Neutron Science), FRM-II (Forschungsreaktor München II, the leading German neutron source in Garching, Munich), SINQ PSI (Spallation Neutron Source at the Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland), SNS (Spallation Neutron Source at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA), ESRF (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France), and the APS (Advanced Photon Source at the Argonne National Laboratory, USA).
This year, the prize is conferred upon two theses, worth €1000 to each winner and is awarded to the best doctoral, graduate, or Master’s thesis submitted in the field of thermoelectrics in German-speaking countries. The prize money was kindly donated in equal parts by the DTG and Micropelt GmbH. The selection committee emphasized the fact that competition was especially stiff this year; the winning theses had, however, clearly distinguished themselves from the other entries. The award ceremony, which included speeches from the prize winners, took place on 17 November at the annual general meeting of the DTG in Freiburg, Germany.
Shull Fellow Christianson Named 2012 Young Scientist
Andy Christianson of ORNL’s Neutron Sciences Directorate has been named the winner of a “2012 Young Scientist” award by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. Christianson was the winner for the IUPAP Commission on the Structure and Dynamics of Condensed Matter.
The IUPAP Young Scientist prize recognizes exceptional achievement by scientists at a relatively early career stage. The recipient “is expected to have displayed significant achievement and exceptional promise for future achievement” in experimental, theoretical, or computational physics. The award includes a prize of 1,000 Euro and a medal, which will be presented at the American Physical Society meeting in February in Boston.
Christianson’s citation reads “For outstanding contributions to the study of magnetic structure and of dynamics of strongly correlated electron systems including heavy fermion, magnetoelectric, and Fe-based superconducting systems.”
Christianson came to ORNL in 2006 as a Shull Fellow in the Neutron Sciences Directorate and joined the ORNL staff in 2009. He has been an author on several frequently cited papers, including high-impact articles on iron-based superconductors published in Nature, Nature Physics, and Physical Review Letters. He is an author on 66 scientific publications.
He holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in physics from Colorado State University and a B.S. in physics from the University of Northern Iowa.
IUPAP was established in 1922 in Brussels. Its stated mission is to assist in the worldwide development of physics, to foster international cooperation in physics, and to help in the application of physics toward solving problems of concern to humanity.
HFIR and SNS Experiments Take Gordon Battelle Awards for Scientific Discovery
The element 117 experiment increased the number of known neutron-rich super-heavy nuclei by 25%.
The High Flux Isotope Reactor and the Spallation Neutron Source figured in two of the five Gordon Battelle prizes for scientific discovery announced on January 31, 2011. Awards were presented to Oak Ridge National Laboratory teams for the discovery of element 117, which used isotopes created at HFIR, and for groundbreaking studies of iron-based superconductors conducted on triple-axis spectrometers at HFIR and the ARCS (Wide-Angular Range Chopper Spectrometer) instrument at SNS.
The prizes are awarded by Battelle Memorial Institute to recognize the most significant advancements at national laboratories that Battelle manages or helps to manage. Each award includes a $5,000 donation to be made to a school chosen by the team members. Battelle is a nonprofit independent research and development organization based in Columbus, Ohio. ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, a partnership of Battelle and the University of Tennessee.
Cam Hubbard
Hubbard Elected ASM International Fellow
The Material Science & Technology Division's Camden Hubbard has been elected a 2011 fellow of ASM International. He leads the Diffraction & Thermophysical Properties research group and is also leader of the HTML Residual Stress User Center.
Cam's citation reads, "For exceptional leadership and innovation in applying x-ray and neutron diffraction methods in materials science and for developing a world-class neutron residual stress capability at the High Flux Isotope Reactor and the Spallation Neutron Source."
Cam will be recognized at the annual awards banquet during the MS&T '11 Conference in Columbus, Ohio, in October. In an e-mail to his group and HFIR/SNS colleagues, Cam said, "I believe without each of your contributions, support, encouragement, hard work, and/or funding, such recognition for ORNL and our efforts would not have happened."
