UT-Battelle, which manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the Department of Energy, has contributed up to $475,000 for the purchase and installation of advanced manufacturing equipment to support a program at Tennessee's Oak Ridge High School that gives students direct experience with the AI- and robotics-assisted workplace of the future.
Through the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation, UT-Battelle donated $225,000 toward the purchase of equipment for the school and has committed up to $250,000 in ORNL staff time to assist with installation and calibration. Industry partners, including Lincoln Electric, ABB, Amazon Robotics and NAVUS, are also making in-kind contributions to the program.
The gifts support the school's award-winning iSchool curriculum that began with a state grant as part of Tennessee's Innovative School Models program launched in 2021. Oak Ridge High School's Wildcat Manufacturing iSchool functions as a student-run business, offering experience in AI-generative design, additive manufacturing and robotics for local organizations, while students earn college credit.
The program, founded and led by ORNL retiree Mark Buckner, won the 2024 Award for Excellence in Education from the Tennessee School Boards Association and supports President Trump's executive order " Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth ."
"UT-Battelle is pleased to support Oak Ridge High School's forward-looking curriculum, which gives students direct experience with the latest AI-enabled manufacturing innovations and business skills they need to succeed in tomorrow's workplaces," said Stephen Streiffer, president and CEO of UT-Battelle and director of ORNL. "While we can proudly claim Mark Buckner as an ORNL retiree, it is his personal passion for students and developing the workforce of the future that made this happen."
The equipment will be used to create a student-built platform similar to the R&D-100 award-winning MedUSA system , a robotic additive manufacturing platform co-developed by ORNL scientists with industry partners to print large-scale components, along with associated industrial robotics and controls. ORNL will also provide a copy of its MedUSA software, which slices 3D model designs and controls the entire manufacturing process.
Advancing new technologies, new skillsets
The systems represent the latest innovations from the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility , a DOE user facility at ORNL that functions as a nationwide consortium working with industry and other research institutions to transform the U.S. manufacturing sector.
"The MDF represents the best of collaborative science and technology research to support American leadership in manufacturing, developing innovations for strong domestic supply chains and high-quality jobs," said Robert Wagner, associate laboratory director for Energy Science and Technology at ORNL. "We are proud of our staff who have worked with Mark and others across the region to support innovative STEM programs for the workforce of tomorrow."
ORNL manufacturing systems researcher Andrzej Nycz and colleagues served as advisors for the design and selection of components for the school's additive manufacturing system, and will follow up with installation assistance and initial training as needed. "This is not just laboratory equipment," Nycz said. "The platform can be easily deployed, supporting many different large-scale fabrication projects."
Working with Oak Ridge High School, or ORHS, "helps build the workforce needed to encourage adoption of these new technologies to support a nimble, robust and globally competitive manufacturing sector," said Joshua Vaughan, lead for ORNL's Manufacturing Robotics and Controls group. "We're excited to see more students gaining experience with this cutting-edge equipment."
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
