A former intern for the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory was selected to represent Tennessee presenting his research at the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, or NJSHS.
Langalibalele "Langa" Lunga, a senior at Farragut High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, interned with ORNL researchers over the summer in 2024 working on deep learning for fast scanning microscopy, a technique for capturing microscopic images more rapidly than traditional methods.
Singanallur Venkatakrishnan, a research scientist in energy science and technology at ORNL, served as Lunga's mentor during his internship and praised his high-level understanding of the science and diligence in the lab.
A Department of Defense funded program, NJSHS is intended to encourage high school students to research the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Lunga was one of just 245 students from across the country invited to present their research at what will be the 63rd annual symposium held from April 22 through 26 in Chantilly, Virginia. This will mark Lunga's second year representing Tennessee at NJSHS.
Titled "Accelerating Scanning Probe Microscopy Using Sparse Reconstruction Algorithms", Lunga's project uses a microscopy technique known as a scanning probe to capture one point of an image at a time while AI is used to fill in gaps.
Lunga's project demonstrates how emerging AI methods are transforming traditional scientific tools - an example of the kind of innovation ORNL fosters through its AI Initiative.
After his experience as an intern at ORNL, Lunga said he's planning to major in computer engineering when he enrolls in college in the fall.
This project was funded as part of ORNL's AI Initiative, which serves as an internal research investment leveraging the laboratory's computing infrastructure and software capabilities to maximize the potential of AI in projects across the lab.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy'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 . - Mark Alewine
