Faculty Research Experiences
The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) provides short- and long-term programs for either faculty or faculty-student teams to collaborate with ORISE’s science and engineering partners.
The length of the faculty programs can vary—from summer internships to year-long sabbaticals—but all programs enable faculty members to broaden their professional outlook beyond the classroom to the application of laboratory research.
For example, these researchers have taken advantage of ORISE opportunities:
Dr. Miguel Castro
Dr. Miguel Castro, of the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez, spent three months conducting research on surface tension in Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Faculty Student Team Research program.
Dr. Chin Chang
Dr. Chin Chang advanced counterterrorism efforts at the ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach as a participant in the 2009 DHS Summer Research Team Program for Minority Serving Institutions at the National Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events.
Dr. Patricia Hatch
Dr. Patricia Hatch and Shawnta Lloyd focused their research on ricin, a natural toxin that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has designated as a possible agent of biological warfare.
Dr. Thomas Liu
Dr. Thomas Liu and student Monty Bains created a Web service and for data analyisis and visualization as part of the Department of Homeland Security Summer Research Team Program for Minority Serving Institutions.
Dr. Rolin Mainuddin
Dr. Rolin Mainuddin of North Carolina Central University spent the summer with two of his students lending their knowledge in social sciences to help the U.S. Department of Homeland Security gain more intelligence about the process of radicalization.
Dr. Santosh Mandal
Dr. Santosh Mandal studied the incorporation of rhenium into glass and in the process, discovered that perrhenate complexes make excellent anti-cancer drugs.
Dr. Nelly Mateeva
Dr. Nelly Mateeva researched toxin-detection systems to help protect the food supply during an adventurous summer at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, and the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Eddie Red
Dr. Eddie Red of Morehouse College studied nanotube characteristics that could lead to improved fuel cells as part of the DOE Faculty and Student Team research program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Dr. Dianna Spence
North Georgia College and State University professor Dianna Spence, Ph.D., and students work to hasten the speed at which computationally-intensive equations are solved for more efficient analysis of groundwater at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Dr. Edu B. Suarez-Martinez
Dr. Edu B. Suarez-Martinez hopes to lessen the probability of a pandemic flu occurring through her research of the distribution of avian influenza virus receptors in Puerto Rican wild, migratory and non-migratory birds.
Dr. Liz Diaz Vázquez
Three Puerto Rican scientists spent summer researching new ways to detect explosive traces as part of Department of Homeland Security Summer Research Team for Minority Serving Institutions.
Dr. Jessie Walker
Students Kierra Smith and Tarsheika West, under the supervision of faculty mentor Dr. Jessie Walker, researched cyber security during natural disasters while participating in the U.S. Department of Homeland Sercurity’s Summer Research Team Program for Minority Serving Institutions.