Manufacturing the ‘Giants of Oak Ridge’
Buckner retired in 2019 as lead for the ORNL Power and Energy Systems Group, where he led cross-disciplinary teams of scientists and engineers developing innovations for U.S. energy and national security. His leadership of the iSchool program at ORHS continues his lifelong dedication to STEM education and the development of student skills promoting agile, collaborative teamwork.
“UT-Battelle’s ongoing commitment to the community will help us usher in a new, exciting era of unprecedented learning opportunity for students at Oak Ridge High School,” Buckner said. “The skills our students learn here will equip them for influential careers in intelligent, AI-driven manufacturing. This is just the beginning of what we can do and what we will do.”
The best-of-industry systems will enable Wildcat Manufacturing to take on a community project called “Giants of Oak Ridge.” As part of the project, students will use AI and the new equipment to design and manufacture life-sized statues of prominent, historical figures for installation throughout the city of Oak Ridge.
Oak Ridge was the first and largest of the Manhattan Project sites built to support development of atomic weapons during World War II. ORNL and other facilities on the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation continue to support the nation’s security and economic success, including as ideal locations for new AI infrastructure and associated power generation facilities to support growing demand for new data centers.
UT-Battelle’s contribution to Oak Ridge High School continues its legacy of support for science and technology education in the region. The company has donated millions of dollars to educational outreach since becoming the managing contractor of ORNL in 2000. UT-Battelle gifts have funded equipment for more than 40 high school science laboratories throughout the region, including financial and executive contributions to the modernization and expansion of Oak Ridge High School, and initial funding for a nuclear technology program at Roane State Community College.
The MDF, supported by DOE’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office, is a nationwide consortium of collaborators working with ORNL to innovate, inspire and catalyze the transformation of U.S. manufacturing.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science. — Stephanie Seay
This Oak Ridge National Laboratory news article "UT-Battelle, industry partners energize Oak Ridge High School STEM program with state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment" was originally found on https://www.ornl.gov/news
