All ORISE Ignite Off! Competition

Hosted by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, the annual All ORISE Ignite Off! competition showcases the talents of interns from participating federal agencies and offices as they share their research through Ignite Talks. Each competitor has five minutes to present their project, using 20 picture-centric slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds. Through ORISE Learn, contestants have access to an ORISE professional development course that teaches the process for developing an Ignite talk.

2026 Competition

The All ORISE Ignite Off! highlights the talents of ORISE participants through a dynamic five-minute presentation known as an Ignite Talk. Competitors present their research using 20 image-focused slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds — challenging participants to communicate their research clearly, creatively and concisely. 

Read the 2026 news feature

  • Shams Al Azzawi

    Shams Al Azzawi

    1st Place: Shams Al Azzawi

    Program: Research Student Internships Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

    Presentation Title: “Isotope Separation Visualization with Hyperspectral Imaging”

    Mentors: Kristian Myhre, Ph.D., and Cannon Giglio, Ph.D.

    Academic Level: Undergraduate

    Institution: Virginia Commonwealth University

  • Meaghan Lightfoot

    Meaghan Lightfoot

    2nd Place: Meaghan Lightfoot

    Program: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

    Presentation Title: “Bridging Science & Education: Engaging Youth with Great Lakes Data”

    Mentors: Anne Scofield, Ph.D., and Erica Yang

    Academic Level: Post-Master’s

    Institution: University of Delaware

  • JB Zhu

    JB Zhu

    3rd Place: JB Zhu

    Program: Research Student Internships Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

    Presentation Title: “Turbulence & You”

    Mentor: Wes Brewer, Ph.D.

    Academic Level: Post-Bachelor’s

    Institution: Brown University

  • Sanskriti Dwivedi

    Sanskriti Dwivedi

    Fan Favorite: Sanskriti Dwivedi

    Program: Education Collaboration at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

    Presentation Title: “Novel Thermotolerance Genes Identified in Arabidopsis thaliana”

    Mentor: Jay Chen, Ph.D.

    Academic Level: Post-Bachelor’s

    Institution: University of North Texas

Watch the video recording of the 2026 All ORISE Ignite Off Final Viewing Event

Past Ignite Off! Competitions:

Read the news feature

Watch the video recording of the 2025 All ORISE Ignite Off Final Viewing Event

Postdoctoral fellow at U.S. Army DEVCOM Soldier Center wins 2024 ORISE Ignite Off! competition

Jonathan Blutinger, Ph.D., an ORISE postdoctoral fellow at the U.S. Army DEVCOM Soldier Center , was named the winner of the 2023 Ignite Off! competition . Read more about the  2024 winner and finalists.

Watch the  video recording of the 2024 Ignite Off Final National Viewing Event

USDA-ARS fellow wins 2023 ORISE Ignite Off! competition

Amanda Fanelli de Souza , an ORISE postdoctoral fellow in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Research Participation Program , was named the winner of the 2023 Ignite Off! competition . Read more about the  2023 winner and finalists.

Watch the  video recording of the 2023 Ignite Off Final National Viewing Event

First all-ORISE Ignite Off Competition names ORNL intern as its winner

Amish Mishra, an ORISE participant in the National Science Foundation's Mathematical Sciences Graduate Internship (NSF-MSGI) Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), won the 2022 Ignite Off! competition. Read more about the 2022 winner and finalists.

Watch the  video recording of the 2022 Ignite Off Final National Viewing Event

2021 Ignite Off! Competition Winner

Janet Teng, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

View 2021 finalists’ and other Ignite Off! presentations

Kristyn Johnson, National Energy Technology Laboratory

Other 2020 Ignite Off! finalists:

  • Enakshi Saha | ANL – Bayesian Latent-Variable Modeling of COVID-19 Infection Rate
  • Abdullah Kuziez | ANL – Accelerators for Carbon Ion Therapy
  • Trevor McQueen | ORNL – Capturing Molecular Actions via Vitrification
  • Tanner Stelmach | NETL – Chemical Looping Gasification (CLG)
  • Jacob Sumner | ORNL – Protein Shape Reconstruction with Neutron Scattering and Computational Tools

View 2020 finalists’ and other Ignite Off! presentations

Kaylee Cunningham, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Other 2019 Ignite Off! finalists:

  • Benjamin Aronson | ANL – The Future of Metal Manufacturing
  • Taylor Dennis | ORNL – The Search for Mirror Neutrons
  • Carol Lin | ANL – Investigation of the Tribological Effects on the Surface Interaction of Wind Turbine Bearings
  • Tayler Sundermann | ORNL – Robotic Laser Titanium Wire Big Area Additive Manufacturing
  • Nadia Zaragoza | ANL – Materials Science and Nuclear Fuels

View 2019 finalists’ and other Ignite Off! presentations