Brianne Beers
Non-Destructive Characterization of Nuclear Materials
Nuclear power is a critical part of the global energy portfolio. It is important to characterize the materials used in a nuclear reactor including concrete, steel, and Zr alloys. These materials experience deformation during reactor operation. Research is performed using non-destructive techniques to understand how defects form. This allows scientists to analyze samples without causing further damage. Understanding nuclear material deformation is important for maintaining reactor safety.
Bronson Messer
Using the World's Most Powerful Supercomputer to Blow Up Stars for Fun and Profit (well, fun anyway...)
Summit, at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computer Facility, is the most powerful computer ever built by humans. Some of the most computationally intensive tasks undertaken on the machine are supernova simulations. I will describe how computational scientists really use Summit to learn how massive stars die, form neutron stars and black holes, ripple spacetime with gravitational waves, and form the elements that make us... us.