The University of Tennessee Knoxville receives grant from U.S. Department of Energy

The University of Tennessee Knoxville's Tickle College of Engineering has received a $20 million grant from the US Department of Energy in support of a project entitled Integrated Materials Program to Accelerate Chamber Technologies, or IMPACT, that is being led by Steve Zinkle, the UT-Oak Ridge National Laboratory Governor’s Chair for Nuclear Materials. The goal of the project is to develop new materials for nuclear fusion energy systems.

According to an article on the University of Tennessee Knoxville’s website, Zinkle will be working in collaboration with Khalid Hattar, who serves as an associate professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, Bradley Jared, who is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering, and Eric Lass, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. 

Zinkle is quoted as saying of the project, “We are excited to embark on this ambitious program. Our assembled multidisciplinary team includes experts with a demonstrated track record of using science-based methods to rapidly design, fabricate and deploy advanced structural materials.”

Among the goals of the program is to create a database for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Boiler and Pressure Vessel code qualification, which will help bring fusion materials from qualification into production and application.

This project comes on the heels of the University of Tennessee launching a new nuclear engineering minor in 2024.

For more information about the University of Tennessee Knoxville, visit the school’s website.