UTK-MRSEC The Center for Advanced Materials & Manufacturing (CAMM) partnered with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to host the inaugural "Neutron Day," an event designed to deepen collaboration and foster interdisciplinary research connections. This full-day event was organized by CAMM’s Education, Community, Outreach, & Recruitment team, along with Antonio dos Santos, an ORNL neutron scientist. Attendees included CAMM principal investigators, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and participants from the Institute for Advanced Materials and Manufacturing.
The day featured a series of concurrent sessions aligned with CAMM’s interdisciplinary research groups, focusing on relevant topics such as additive manufacturing, advanced materials characterization, and quantum material design. These sessions offered attendees a chance to engage with ORNL experts, explore new methodologies, and discuss challenges and opportunities to collaborate in their research.
One of the event’s highlights was a session dedicated to extreme sample environments, showcasing the unique capabilities that can be coupled with beamlines at ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) and Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). Attendees gained insights into how neutron science can address complex material challenges, with case studies and collaborative brainstorming further enriching the discussions.
Another standout session focused on computational modeling and its role in predicting material behavior. This session emphasized the synergy between theoretical and experimental approaches, encouraging cross-disciplinary dialogues among participants.
Several of CAMM's graduate students delivered lightning talks, presenting their research to an audience of ORNL scientists. These brief, impactful presentations sparked engaging discussions and provided a platform for students to receive feedback from leading experts.
"Neutron Day" exemplified CAMM's commitment to fostering a collaborative and inclusive research community, building bridges between academia and national laboratory expertise, and supporting the next generation of materials scientists.
