A High-Tech Powerhouse
The Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley area is one of the nation’s premier science and technology centers, thanks to world-class research institutions supported by an advanced telecommunications infrastructure. The region is home to:
- The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the nation’s largest multidisciplinary science and energy laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle
- The University of Tennessee, a Carnegie Foundation Research-Extensive Institution
- The Y-12 National Security Complex, a technology institution with highly advanced capabilities that is helping to address the security challenges facing the U.S. and the world
- Oak Ridge Association Universities (ORAU), a university consortium that leverages the strengths of 99 research institutions to advance science and education
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory has five core research areas:
- Nanotechnology and Materials Sciences:
- Spallation Neutron Source, a $1.4 billion facility that provides the most intense pulsed neutron beams in the world for research that leads to technological advances in science, electronics, and many other fields
- Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, a Department of Energy collaborative research facility for the design and synthesis of nanoscale materials
- Computational Sciences
- National Center for Computational Sciences, a partnership that has built some of the world’s fastest supercomputers, including the recently launched Cray XT5 “Kraken” and the Cray XT5 “Jaguar,” ranked as the world’s fastest computer for open scientific uses
- Biotechnology
- Systems Genetic Group, which conducts research in the systems biology of populations, studying environmental effects and disease using the mouse as a model organism
- Computational Biology Group, which works on developing state-of-the-art tools for the analysis and annotation of genes to assist the DNA sequencing work that is being conducted around the world
- Energy and Environment
- The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Program, which conducts research in biomass resources, zero-energy buildings, hydrogen fuel cells, and numerous other areas to create a cleaner environment.
- The BioEnergy Science Center, working to develop clean alternative fuel sources such as switchgrass and soybeans into automotive fuel
- Homeland Security
- Technology and expertise to help government agencies and private industry with national and homeland security needs.
- Global Security and Nonproliferation Programs, which work to reduce threats to the nation from weapons of mass destruction
- The Technology Advantage Center, which finds and evaluates technologies for homeland security and national defense.
The Y-12 National Security Complex addresses national and global security issues.
- As part of the National Nuclear Security Administration, Y-12 helps ensure a safe and reliable nuclear deterrent, retrieves and stores nuclear materials from around the globe, and disposes of surplus highly enriched uranium in a safe way.
- Its programs support soldiers in combat and enhance space missions.
- It lends its specialized expertise to the Department of Homeland Security, other federal agencies, and private-sector firms by developing and deploying innovative security technologies with wide-ranging applications.
For information on the Innovation Valley's technology resources, contact Jesse Smith, Director of Technology, at 865-220-2029 or jsmith@innovationvalleyinc.org.
Overview of Technology Assets
Science & Technology.pdf
