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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Knowledge Transfer Program for International Nuclear Safeguards

Nuclear safeguards were first announced in 1945 by the U.S., Canadian and British governments as a means to exchange scientific information about peaceful uses of atomic energy and prevent the use of nuclear material for weapons. International nuclear safeguards, now under the provision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), serves to hold accountable the 140 member countries (States) that have entered into treaties and agreements against the spread of nuclear weapons. Most notably, the IAEA acts as a nuclear materials inspectorate under the global Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, brought about in 1968, that specifies commitments member States make to the world?s non-proliferation regime. The Office of International Nuclear Safeguards (OINS) is part of the National Nuclear Security Administration, a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. Within OINS, the Human Capital Development program recognizes the need to build workforce capacity and safeguards expertise. This includes supporting the education and training of younger generations working in international nuclear safeguards. One of the program?s main concerns is core competencies being lost to retirement or attrition and building knowledge retention pipelines from senior to new professionals. One identified core competency is knowledge gained by individuals who have completed IAEA assignments such as missions to member States to conduct safeguards inspections. Such individuals possess unique knowledge, and efforts are being put forth to effectively capture this knowledge within the national laboratories complex. To this end, we report findings from a one-year mentor-mentee knowledge retention program in which an international safeguards subject matter expert imparted knowledge and skills to a willing professional mentee. The knowledge and skills stem from the mentor?s multi-year assignment at the IAEA in Vienna, Austria.

98 - NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL↗
DOE OSTI2022

Contrasting student and staff perceptions of preclinical‐to‐clinical transition at a Chilean dental school

Abstract Introduction Dental education is a challenging and demanding field of study as students are expected to acquire various competencies to fulfil their professional requirements after graduation. The objective of this study was to investigate and compare dental students' and clinical staff instructors' perceptions of the preclinical‐to‐clinical transition training at a Dental School in Santiago, Chile. Material and Methods Two questionnaires containing 11 quantitative and one qualitative item were developed to assess our year three, four and five ( n = 244) dental undergraduate students' challenges when they begin treating patients, and clinical staff ( n = 78) perceptions of the preparedness to treat patients of the same students. Both questionnaires were voluntarily and anonymously implemented eight weeks after the beginning of the 2019 academic year. Responses were analysed using a Chi‐squared test for each quantitative question, while qualitative comments were studied to form themes and dimensions. RESULTS A total of 234 (96%) students and 60 (77%) instructors completed their respective questionnaire. There were considerable variations between students in the different years of the programme, as well as between students and staff members. Students and instructors felt the former had enough knowledge to treat patients though it was difficult for them to apply it in clinical practice. Again, both believed they could communicate with patients, but third year students asked for more training on this. Regarding practical skills, fourth‐ and fifth‐year students felt prepared but not third year students, who preferred to work in pairs with senior students, a preference that was shared by the instructors. All student groups asked clinical staff to provide more frequent, constructive and consistent feedback and felt that the difference between simulation and clinical environments and the amount of clinical work to fulfil clinical requirements made them feel stressed. Another mentioned stressor was students' low self‐confidence when working with patients. Among the requested improvements, students requested better training on how the dental clinic works to save time. Conclusions Preclinical‐to‐clinical transition training presents several challenges. Some of the problems highlighted by both students and clinical staff members persisted with the transition after three, four and even five years of training, which needs to be addressed.

Tricio, Jorge↗
DOE OSTI2020

The CYBER security – Competency Health and Maturity Progression (CYBER-CHAMP) model: Extending the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Framework Across Organizational Security

Problem Statement: There is a pervasive talent deficit in the cybersecurity industry that prevents employers from being able to fill their open positions efficiently. A holistic approach to security is required to ensure organizations have adequate prevention and response capabilities in case of a cyberattack. Specifically, industrial control systems (ICS’s) and their operational technology (OT) components have become a constant target for cyberattacks. Research Questions: It is proposed that the NICE Framework should be extended in the following areas: 1) Include guidance regarding the job roles and competencies for both IT and OT professionals. 2) Offer step-by-step solutions, based on the work role mappings from the NICE Framework, to increase cybersecurity through employee training and education. 3) Provide a streamlined, lifecycle approach to building a cybersecurity program. Contribution: The CYBER security – Competency Health and Maturity Progression (CYBER-CHAMP©) model provides a customized solution for businesses to understand their education gaps in organizational security and target areas for improvement. Rationale: The Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity v1.1 addresses ICS but does not offer a measurement of cybersecurity maturity or clear methods to ascertain an organization’s current risk profile. In Phases 1 and 5 of the model, measurements are provided to help an organization build their current and target risk profiles. The NICE framework provides a structure for planning an IT cybersecurity workforce, but the OT aspects of cybersecurity are only briefly discussed. The model uses Phases 2-3 to examine the competencies of an organization’s workforce, which includes both IT and OT roles. Current frameworks do not offer next steps to increase an organization’s cybersecurity. During Phase 4, employees’ roles are mapped to training, education, and/or certifications from common vendors. Investigative Approach: The model provides measurements and metrics for both an organization’s status and continual improvement. This improvement methodology includes guidance for creating an overall strategic plan for security improvement via products designed to increase an organization’s operational readiness through workforce competency health. Lessons Learned: Depending on who was participating, there were contradicting answers given in Phase 1 due to different security cultures in the organization. This revelation has influenced the steps listed in the User’s Guide, where Phase 1’s first recommended step is to assemble a team that champions the facilitation and implementation of the model in the organization. During Phase 2, the discovery was made that organizations may be missing roles that are necessary to perform critical cybersecurity functions. By understanding the functional roles and competencies needed, they can contract or hire cybersecurity help to fill these gaps. Implications: Using the model, organizations can discuss quantitative measures for improvement as a business case for advancing their security program. Future research can validate and extend the present theory and model to a variety of environments. It is of interest to investigate additional security roles and knowledge domains that are used to build standardized cybersecurity curriculum.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Hydrogen Education for a Decarbonized Global Economy (H 2 EDGE) (Final Technical Report)

The energy sector is undergoing rapid growth and transformation, creating urgent demand for a skilled workforce to support emerging technologies and resilient systems. Hydrogen is an emerging solution for “hard to abate” sectors, including heavy industry and transportation that also provides optionality for the electric system and enables long‑duration energy storage. As hydrogen scales from traditional industrial uses to new applications, success depends on knowledgeable engineers, technicians, planners, and operators safely deploying hydrogen technologies across the full value chain: production, delivery, storage, and end use. The H 2 EDGE initiative, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office from 2020 to 2025, was launched to prepare people for careers hydrogen and related technologies. Through its interactive approach, H 2 EDGE equipped stakeholders with knowledge and tools to build a reliable and sustainable energy future together. H 2 EDGE built a national network of academic and industry partners to deliver modular training, share open-access curricula, and engage diverse talent pipelines. The program leveraged EPRI’s extensive industry membership and expanded on the train-the-trainer model of the GridEd program to connect educators, employers, and community organizations across all regions of the U.S. New methods were introduced to more systematically map hydrogen competencies and assess curricula using traditional and AI-assisted approaches. Outcomes included delivery of professional short courses, developing university curriculum, sponsoring faculty and student projects, and engaging stakeholders through workshops, site tours, and webinars.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2026

A Benchmarking Framework for Evaluating Large Language Model Capabilities in Nuclear Reactor Safety Applications

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly capable of answering technical questions, synthesizing domain knowledge, and supporting engineering workflows. For nuclear science and engineering, these capabilities require careful, domain-specific evaluation before they can be credibly incorporated into safety-related activities, regulatory review, or technical decision support. This paper presents preliminary results from benchmarking framework for evaluating LLM capabilities in nuclear contexts. The framework is organized into three evaluation categories: nuclear fundamentals, general dual-use knowledge, and plant specific knowledge. These categories are intended to distinguish general nuclear engineering competence from broader technical reasoning and more context-dependent nuclear knowledge. Initial evaluations focus on nuclear fundamentals using questions representative of the knowledge expected of a nuclear professional engineer. Results indicate that contemporary frontier models perform at a high level and substantially exceed the performance of older model generations, with some models approaching saturation of the current benchmark. These findings suggest both the rapid improvement of LLM capabilities in specialized technical domains and the need for more discriminating evaluation methods. The paper presents the benchmark structure, preliminary model-comparison results, and ongoing work. This work supports development of verifiable, responsible, and safety-conscious methods for assessing AI systems in nuclear engineering applications.

21 - SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLAN↗
DOE OSTI2026

PowerAmerica (Final Technical Report)

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (predecessor to AMMTO) established PowerAmerica in December 2014 to develop and accelerate the adoption of wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor chips and power electronics in manufacturing. The objective was to spark early commercialization of energy efficient products; educate and train the workforce; create high-tech jobs; and nurture the growth of the U.S. WBG semiconductor manufacturing industry. PowerAmerica isled by North Carolina State University by way of a five-year, $140M cooperative agreement with DoE. This private-public partnership with DoE includes member companies ranging from startups and small-medium enterprises to large system integrators, world-class universities, and national labs. The WBG power electronic ecosystem formed by our diverse membership is focused on using advanced manufacturing to 1) lower the cost of silicon carbide and gallium nitride semiconductor devices to be comparable to silicon devices; 2) demonstrate the system benefits and energy efficiency advantages of WBG semiconductor power electronics through system demonstrations that validate their effectiveness; and 3) build an education pipeline for a skilled workforce to meet the future demand for emerging WBG semiconductor markets — and enhance U.S. economic competitiveness globally. PowerAmerica was initially funded in six budget periods, each lasting 12 to 18 months. By the end of Budget Period 6 (August 2023), PowerAmerica had achieved its major objectives in technology development, semiconductor device cost reduction, ecosystem growth and engagement, and education and workforce development. Through strategic foundry investments, we helped to establish the first U.S. SiC foundry (X-FAB) and supported a lab (Microchip) to start SiC volume production. We’ve helped bring together companies from different parts of the supply chain, resulting in several successful new partnerships and business relationships. Through projects with some of the largest manufacturers of energy-intensive equipment in the U.S. — John Deere, GE, United Technologies, Raytheon, Carrier, Toshiba, and others — we have successfully demonstrated the energy and system benefits of WBG technology. We have also harnessed the unique capabilities and facilities of national labs — the Naval Research Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory — to help solve challenging technical problems for industry. Thanks to our many webinars, tutorials, annual events, and presence at major energy and electronics conferences around the world, the PowerAmerica name has become synonymous with WBG technology advancement. The commercial interest in WBG technology is higher than ever; companies and governments around the world have announced hundreds of millions of dollarsin future investment to build capacity — and compete with silicon in many markets and applications. We have trained hundreds of engineering students, from universities across the U.S., through hands-on projects and WBG coursework. Working professionals have also benefited through the years from our many targeted short courses, tutorials, and technical webinars. In short, PowerAmerica has made great strides in each of our key objectives, and the organization has been operating without government or NC State

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

The Influence of Patient–Provider Language Concordance in Cancer Care: Results of the Hispanic Outcomes by Language Approach (HOLA) Randomized Trial

Delivering linguistically competent care is critical to serving patients who have limited English proficiency (LEP) and represents a key national strategy to help reduce health disparities. Current acceptable standards of communication with patients who have LEP include providers communicating through professional interpretive services or bilingual providers speaking the patients’ preferred language directly. This randomized clinical trial tests the effect of patient-provider language concordance on patient satisfaction.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Grid-Ready Energy Analytics Training with Data (“GREAT with Data”)

GridEd is a collaborative educational initiative consisting of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), 5 Partner Universities (Stony Brook University, The University of Texas at Austin, University of California – Riverside, Virginia Tech, Washington State University), and participating industry sponsors. This educational initiative focuses on developing and training the next generation of power engineers so they can help shape the electric grid of the future by anticipating and fulfilling the needs of changing electric industry requirements. GridEd is leveraging electric industry research to educate a future electric grid workforce by empowering new and continuing education students, not only to become competent and well-informed engineers, but also to participate and influence major technological, social, and policy decisions that address critical global challenges. GridEd’s activities are centered around four core pillars: Enhancement of university power systems engineering curricula; Professional development and training for a diverse electric industry workforce; Stimulating students to join the movement for the next generation of power engineers, and; Improve workforce development efforts in the electric utility industry. Major accomplishments over the course of the project were: Over 50 unique professional short courses were delivered by more than 30 instructors across the GridEd network; Over 3,600 unique learners, many who took multiple courses, received more than 27,000 professional development hours (PDH) and over 1,000 certificates of completion; Approximately 2,900 unique learners undertook a course that was offered LIVE online or in-person; Approximately 700 unique learners undertook a course that was offered as computer-based training (CBT); Over 35 unique university courses were delivered by more than 30 instructors to 1,500 university students across the GridEd network; One-hundred-and-fifty-seven (157) students were funded to completed 43 student projects in topics of power systems and data science, and; Six (6) Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) recruited as Affiliate Universities via Utility Partners. The professional training initiative and workforce development activities launched by this project will be sustained through EPRI’s collaborative business model with industry. Stimulating students to join the power engineering workforce of the future and the enhancement of tertiary training may continue to need government support.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Dynamic and Responsive Distributed Energy Resource Education Solutions for Building, Fire, and Safety Department Officials (Final Technical Report)

From April 2021 through March 2024, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) led a collaborative project to develop a free online clearinghouse of educational resources about solar photovoltaics (PV), energy storage systems (ESS), electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), and grid-interactive efficient building (GEB) technologies. Two websites—the Clean Energy Clearinghouse and CleanEnergyTraining.org—housed over 70 educational resources. Over the course of the three-year project, 154,272 unique visitors accessed the learning materials. Learner feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Even through the end of the project, there was sustained demand for education and communication. A primary innovation of the project was to drive multiple complementary audiences to the same place. Building owners, designers, installation contractors and developers, authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs), and fire service personnel all benefit from a shared understanding of clean energy technologies, including safety and code-related requirements. When considering the impact on the target audience, the project team worked with partners and advisors to inform resource creation and delivery in such a way as to address key motivational factors of the target audience and compel each user to seek additional information on the topic and return to the Clean Energy Clearinghouse website as their central location for more information. Resources were intentionally developed to be concise—five to 15 minutes—and accessible, meaning not overly technical. Providing basic information demystified the technologies and invited the professional to explore additional learning opportunities. Awardee and partner collaboration was key to project success. IREC facilitated collaboration among the other Topic 2 awardees, Southface and New Buildings Institute (NBI). The three awardees shared relevant information gained through discovery and validation questionnaires that informed product development and reduced duplication of effort by coordinating the development of complementary, and not competing, educational resources. Inspired by this collaboration, IREC brought on additional partners even in the final year of the project. Five regional energy efficiency organizations were part of the project, which expanded the connection between efficiency and distributed energy resources. We also included resources on the Clearinghouse that were developed through other federally funded projects, such as the Buildings Energy Efficiency Frontiers & Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) program. The website was developed with the learner in mind, and not solely the funding source. Feedback from stakeholders throughout the project, and especially in its final year, indicated the need for continued education and facilitated communication among stakeholders to further the safe and widespread adoption of clean energy.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Multidisciplinary design optimization in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction: a detailed review and call for collaboration

The design of buildings has become a complex and multidisciplinary problem involving multiple conflicting objectives as architects and designers address competing technical, economic, environmental, and societal concerns. This has been driving research in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) toward rigorous multidisciplinary decision-making frameworks that generate and evaluate numerous design alternatives using multi-objective optimization in concert with simulation and analysis models of varying fidelity and computational expense. While such frameworks are well known and widely employed in the aerospace and systems engineering domains, efforts by design professionals and researchers in the AEC field are scattered at best. In this paper, we provide a detailed review of recent developments in optimization frameworks in the AEC field and subsequently highlight how such developments are largely compartmentalized into separate domains such as structural, energy, daylighting, and other performance factors. Herein, we further discuss the technical challenges involved in concurrent coupled multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) in the AEC field such as interoperability issues between Building Information Modeling (BIM) environments, analysis/simulation tools, and optimization frameworks. We conclude by outlining research needed for more unified modeling and simulation-based optimization frameworks to aid in complex and multidisciplinary building design processes. We also highlight the need for the identification and development of multi-fidelity simulation tools for use across multiple design phases. As such, this paper contributes a novel roadmap to leverage aerospace and systems engineering research in MDO into the field of AEC, along with a call for researchers in the MDO community to seek collaborations in AEC field.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2024

ANS-8 Nuclear Criticality Safety Consensus Standards - Current Initiatives

The nuclear criticality safety (NCS) consensus standards are developed as using rigorous procedures of the Standards Board of the American Nuclear Society. These procedures have been accredited by the American National Standards Institute, Inc., as meeting the criteria for American National Standards. The Nuclear Criticality Safety Consensus Committee (NCSCC) that approved all 18 NCS consensus standards is balanced to ensure that competent, concerned, and varied interests have had an opportunity to participate. The ANS-8 subcommittee (ANS-8) consists of 17 NCS experts with many years of experience as end users of ANS standards who serve on standard working groups to develop and maintain standards. ANS-8 ensures that the technical content of the standards is adequate for NCS community use. Attempts are made to ensure that ANS-8 consists of NCS professionals with a diverse range of experience such that all standards are applicable to as many sites as possible. ANS-8 is a very active subcommittee, and some active projects in progress are discussed in this paper: basis statement development for all standards, development of a glossary for consistency of definitions across all ANS-8 standards, and Considering the Criticality Safety Support Group (CSSG) Recommendation 2016-04 to the ANS Standards Board for changes in several ANS-8 standards.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗
DOE OSTI2024

U.S. Department of Energy Collegiate Wind Competition 2025: Rules - Phases 2 and 3

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Wind Energy Technologies Office's (WETO) Collegiate Wind Competition (CWC, also referred to as the "competition" in this rules document) invites interdisciplinary teams of undergraduate students from a variety of academic programs to solve complex wind energy challenges. Through the competition, WETO intends to offer students direct industry experience, valuable exposure to wind energy career pathways, and greater knowledge of wind energy's potential to contribute to a clean energy future. The competition will select up to 35 teams to start, making them eligible to compete for a cash prize pool of up to $280,000. Each year, the competition identifies a new challenge and set of activities that address real-world research questions, thus demonstrating skills that students will need to work in the wind or wider renewable energy industries. The Collegiate Wind Competition 2025 challenge requires participants to compete simultaneously in four contests: 1) Turbine Design Contest: Design, build, and present a unique, wind-driven power system. 2) Turbine Testing Contest: Test the wind turbine in a competition wind tunnel at the final event. 3) Project Development Contest: Research wind resource data, transmission infrastructure, and environmental factors to create a site plan and financial analysis for a hypothetical wind farm. 4) Connection Creation Contest: Partner with wind industry professionals, raise awareness of wind energy in your local community, and work with local media to promote your team's accomplishments. The competition does not prescribe a power system market or wind regime. It is expected that each team will participate in all four contests.

Collegiate Wind Competition↗
DOE OSTI2024

U.S. Department of Energy Collegiate Wind Competition 2025 Rules - Phase 1

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Wind Energy Technologies Office's (WETO) Collegiate Wind Competition (CWC, also referred to as the "Competition" in this rules document) invites interdisciplinary teams of undergraduate students from a variety of academic programs to solve complex wind energy challenges. Through the competition, WETO intends to offer students direct industry experience, valuable exposure to wind energy career pathways, and greater knowledge of wind energy's potential to contribute to a clean energy future. The competition will select up to 35 teams to start, making them eligible to compete for a cash prize pool of up to $280,000 . Each year, the competition identifies a new challenge and set of activities that address real-world research questions, thus demonstrating skills that students will need to work in the wind or wider renewable energy industries. The Collegiate Wind Competition 2025 challenge requires participants to compete simultaneously in four contests: 1) Turbine Prototype Contest: Design, build, and present a unique, wind-driven power system based on market research; 2) Turbine Testing Contest: Test the wind turbine in a competition wind tunnel at the final event; 3) Project Development Contest: Research wind resource data, transmission infrastructure, and environmental factors to create a site plan and financial analysis for a hypothetical wind farm; and Connection Creation Contest: Partner with wind industry professionals, raise awareness of wind energy in your local community, and work with local media to promote your team's accomplishments. The competition does not prescribe a power system market or wind regime. It is expected that each team will participate in all four contests.

collegiate wind competition↗
DOE OSTI2023

Cyber-CHAMP White Paper

Cyber-CHAMP white paper intern school assignment. Worldwide there is a tremendous shortfall in the cybersecurity workforce. By 2021, researchers have forecasted a deficit of 3.5 million cyber professionals. As workforce capabilities diminished, the world's cybersecurity threats have continued to multiply. Industrial control systems (ICSs) and their operational technology (OT) components became more vulnerable to attack and compromise. When an ICS is compromised, attackers can cause widespread impacts on national security, public health, and safety. This capacity makes ICSs attractive targets, with 90% of surveyed OT organizations reporting a damaging cyberattack in the last two years. To address the risk to ICSs, personnel must be competent in operational best practices and the latest threats. While frameworks for information technology (IT) cybersecurity education have been developed, educational standards for OT cybersecurity are nonexistent.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2022

An idea to explore: How an interdisciplinary undergraduate course exploring a global health challenge in molecular detail enabled science communication and collaboration in diverse audiences

Abstract Communication and collaboration are key science competencies that support sharing of scientific knowledge with experts and non‐experts alike. On the one hand, they facilitate interdisciplinary conversations between students, educators, and researchers, while on the other they improve public awareness, enable informed choices, and impact policy decisions. Herein, we describe an interdisciplinary undergraduate course focused on using data from various bioinformatics data resources to explore the molecular underpinnings of diabetes mellitus (Types 1 and 2) and introducing students to science communication. Building on course materials and original student‐generated artifacts, a series of collaborative activities engaged students, educators, researchers, healthcare professionals and community members in exploring, learning about, and discussing the molecular bases of diabetes. These collaborations generated novel educational materials and approaches to learning and presenting complex ideas about major global health challenges in formats accessible to diverse audiences.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Introducing the Journal of Chemical Education’s Special Issue on Chemical Security

Chemical security can be described as the practice of protecting chemicals from people. This editorial introduces the Special Issue on Chemical Security. In this article, we present a concise history of the use of chemicals as weapons and briefly describe consolidated global approaches needed to decrease the security risks from chemicals. We briefly introduce the contributions to this Special Issue from scientists and educators around the world on the topic of chemical security. Given recent high-profile global events that involved chemicals as weapons, improving chemical security awareness and competency is a critical need. We hope this Special Issue continues to generate conversation and collaboration on this important topic and enables educators to teach chemical security principles in their classrooms and laboratories.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2026

Industry-driven Training and Curriculum Development Process

The development of a sustainable, skilled fusion workforce requires coordinated strategy between all sectors of fusion industry. This paper outlines a framework to align training programs with evolving technical and professional demands of fusion, including enhancing existing curricula, the establishment of new programs at educational institutions, and the identification of workforce gaps informed through industry engagement. Effective curriculum development requires input from both educators and employers to ensure that academic content reflects real-world challenges and can prepare students for successful transitions into the field. Collaborative models, such as industry-led training programs, inter-institutional partnerships, and faculty development initiatives, are highlighted as mechanisms for scalable and inclusive workforce development. Continued program success and relevance will be dependent on continuous review processes, including feedback from employers, alumni, and advisory boards. The combination of these programs supports the formation of flexible, industry-informed training pathways. This approach aims to foster a competent workforce capable of advancing fusion energy research and commercialization.

Gehrig, Monica [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000341022612)↗
DOE OSTI2023

Conference Support, 32nd Western Photosynthesis Conference 2023

This DOE-BES award provided conference support for the 32nd Western Photosynthesis Conference (WPC2023), held January 5–8, 2023 at the Bodega Bay Marine Laboratory in Bodega Bay, California. The Western Photosynthesis Conference is one of three regional photosynthesis meetings held annually in the United States and serves as a primary venue for early-career scientists—graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and undergraduates—to present research and build professional networks alongside established investigators in the field. Photosynthesis research is central to the DOE Office of Science's Basic Energy Sciences mission, underpinning fundamental understanding of solar energy conversion, biofuels, and the biological transformation of light into chemical energy. DOE-BES funds were used, as proposed, to support registration and housing costs for 20 early-career participants (9 postdoctoral researchers, 9 graduate students, and 2 undergraduates) and to help defray travel costs for two junior invited speakers based outside California, for a total DOE-BES expenditure of $10,060. The meeting was executed as planned, with no significant deviations from the approved program, budget, or schedule. WPC2023 drew 76 registrants across six scientific topic areas, featured 8 of 9 invited/keynote speakers, and provided extensive opportunities for early-career scientists to present talks and posters, compete for recognition awards, and network with senior researchers in the field.

conference↗