Description

Join us at ETEC in person or virtually on Friday, December 6 at 7:30am to hear from David Sholl, Executive Director, of the University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute (UT-ORII). 

Launched in 2021, UT-ORII is leveraging the combined strengths of UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to establish Tennessee as a hub for world-class discovery and innovation, interdisciplinary graduate education and talent development. More info is below.

No registration is necessary for in-person attendance.

Click here to register for the VIRTUAL meeting (note, this is a NEW link for the 2024 ETEC Friday morning  meetings):
https://tennessee.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZctdu2vqzwiHNMa_b5aisjx0xKW2eP4C6mY

For more information about ETEC’s weekly meetings, click here. 

Visit the Find Us page for the meeting location, address, and map.

This month's ETEC Friday Morning Meeting Series are sponsored by Strata-G.  

David Sholl

Executive Director

University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge Innovation Institute (UT-ORII)

Launched in 2021, UT-ORII is leveraging the combined strengths of UT and Oak Ridge National Laboratory to establish Tennessee as a hub for world-class discovery and innovation, interdisciplinary graduate education and talent development.

100 new UT-ORNL innovators by 2027

UT-ORII is on track to hire 100 innovators by 2027 (50 at UT and 50 at ORNL). These joint researchers will leverage UT and ORNL’s existing resources and partner with industries and others across the state to make world-leading advances in five important joint convergent research initiatives (CRIs) that will positively impact Tennessee for years to come.

UT and ORNL will jointly invest ~$20 million in each CRI. The funds will be used to hire 20 new joint researchers and support 25 or more PhD students in each CRI.

Today, UT-ORII has four CRIs and is evaluating proposals to add its 5^th CRI in 2025.

UT-ORII’s current CRIs include:

• Radiopharmaceutical Therapies – Jointly led by the UT Health Science Center in Memphis, UT Knoxville and ORNL
• Circular Bioeconomy Systems – Jointly led by ORNL and the UT Institute of Agriculture
• Fusion Materials/Clean Manufacturing- Jointly led by ORNL and UT Knoxville
• Energy Storage/Transportation – Jointly led by UT Chattanooga, UT Knoxville and ORNL

Doubled enrollment in UT-ORNL graduate programs

In the fall of 2024, UT-ORII added 70 new PhD students to the Bredesen Center’s Energy Science and Engineering, Data Science and Engineering, Genome Science and Technology UT-ORNL joint graduate programs and to allied departments such as Nuclear Engineering. UT-ORII’s goal is to have 500 joint PhD students by 2028. The students are funded by UT-ORII their first year and by their ORNL or UT advisors in remaining years.

UT-ORII, 4-H, ORISE launches STEM middle school program across state

UT-ORII, the UT Institute of Agriculture’s 4-H youth program and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education are partnering on a yearlong pilot to bring fun, interactive STEM lessons to 350 sixth graders in four counties across the state.

Through its new Ready! Set! Stemovate! program, 4-H agents are rolling out activities in artificial intelligence, kinetic energy, circuit design, invasive species, renewable energy and engineering activities throughout the 2024-25 school year in sixth grade classrooms in Cocke, Cumberland, Overton and Crockett counties. All of the lessons are aligned with Tennessee standards. Following the pilot, UT-ORII plans to expand the program to other counties and hopes to offer the program statewide.