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DOE OSTI2024

Isotope Production Education and Research via a Systematic Study of Photo-nuclear Reaction Yields and Excitation Functions

A new collaboration between the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Idaho State University, and Idaho National Laboratory builds the domestic workforce in isotope production and related science and technologies by conducting research and education programs related to photo-nuclear reactions. Workforce development was identified by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science in the Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) program that seeks to engage underrepresented university students in isotope production activities. This collaboration includes coursework development, student training, and isotope production research utilizing photo-nuclear reactions at electron linear accelerators. Bremsstrahlung-weighted excitation functions and cross-sections will be measured and the use of nanomaterials to exploit kinematic recoil reactions will be investigated. Students will be hosted at the Idaho National Laboratory where mentors will provide opportunities to explore careers in nuclear science and technology. This presentation regards the ongoing progress of the research and education objectives of the collaboration that was performed under the Office of Science Isotopes Program under award number D000-22-2765.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Effects of Long Duration Space Flight on Low Frequency Hearing

Pure tone hearing threshold data has been collected on astronauts since the early days of spaceflight. Between 1981 and 2001 (STS-1 thru 108) it was found that of the 608 shuttle astronauts, 17% returned home with a significant hearing threshold shift, and of that 6% had permanent changes in the high frequencies. Believed to be due to prolonged noise exposure on the space crafts. (Hart, 2006) As NASA aimed for longer duration missions the uncertainty about the effects of month-long noise exposure needed to be addressed. To avoid constraining crewmembers to constant earplug usage, and satisfying budget demands, a focused effort on overcoming the issues began. Noise monitoring systems were introduced onto the International Space Station (ISS) and astronauts were given education on the noise environment aboard the ISS, the hazards of noise induced hearing loss, hearing conservation principles, and countermeasure strategies (earplugs, noise cancellation headsets). As well as being trained on a new countermeasure effort that had been in trial testing on prior shuttle missions (STS-6 thru 8), On-Orbit Hearing Assessment (OOHA). (Hart, 2006) OOHA was implemented to routinely monitor the hearing thresholds of crewmembers who are on orbit for longer than 30 days. Flight Surgeons on ground monitor these test for significant hearing changes while aboard. Between 2000 and 2021 the ISS OOHA system (EarQ) recorded changes in the low frequency hearing thresholds. Low frequency hearing changes are not typically caused by noise exposure, and it was initially believed that these changes were due to environmental noise interference. In 2021 an ISS software upgrade (KUDUwave) allowed for a more comprehensive hearing assessment. The new testing system allowed for additional tests that helped describe the type of hearing loss being experienced and determine the influence of ambient noise or other environmental factors. OOHA Data indicates a low frequency hearing shift in 40% of all tests and 60% of all crewmembers. Since 2021, OOHA results (using the KUDUwave) suggest that these shifts are sensorineural and are not the result of ambient noise. While hearing shifts are seen at both 250 and 500 Hz, metrics tracking these shifts have only used 500 Hz data. The lack of 250 Hz has prevented accurate reporting of low frequency hearing shift recovery. The aim of this study is to capture 250 Hz data and accurately present low frequency hearing loss recovery.

hearing↗

DOE OSTI2025

5G integrated edge computing platform for efficient component monitoring in coal-fired power plants

This project developed a cutting-edge 5G-integrated edge computing framework to enhance operational efficiency and reliability in coal-fired power plants through real-time component monitoring and anomaly detection. The initiative focused on leveraging distributed machine learning, federated learning, and 5G-based dynamic network slicing to support scalable, fault-tolerant monitoring environments to meet the operational requirements in industrial control systems. With a Distributed Edge Computing Service (DECS) orchestration, this project enabled federated learning at edge for condition monitoring and introduced adaptive client selection strategies to minimize communication overhead. Scalable distributed training was achieved using the Horovod framework, thus enhancing performance across edge nodes. In the realm of 5G networking, the project designed and deployed reconfigurable, QoS-aware network slicing tailored for operational technology (OT) environments, integrating software-defined networks to bolster cyber-resilience and enabling dynamic slicing for federated learning workloads. A significant milestone was the development of a virtualized ICS environment with 5G core integration—which allowed elastic and fault tolerant distributed training on real-world datasets such as NASA Bearings, Hydraulic Systems, and TEP. To broaden the impact of the project, a TRL-3 virtualized ICS testbed for research and education was designed. This project engaged several graduate and undergraduate students to conduct research on the cutting-edge technology, and it resulted in one PhD dissertation, one MS thesis, and over 14 peer-reviewed publications. With the support of this project students also participated in national cybersecurity competitions to improve their professional development skills.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Achieving GPT-4o level performance in astronomy with a specialized 8B-parameter large language model

AstroSage-Llama-3.1-8B is a domain-specialized natural-language AI assistant tailored for research in astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, and astronomical instrumentation. Trained on the complete collection of astronomy-related arXiv papers from 2007 to 2024 along with millions of synthetically-generated question-answer pairs and other astronomical literature, AstroSage-Llama-3.1-8B demonstrates remarkable proficiency on a wide range of questions. AstroSage-Llama-3.1-8B scores 80.9% on the AstroMLab-1 benchmark, greatly outperforming all models—proprietary and open-weight—in the 8-billion parameter class, and performing on par with GPT-4o. This achievement demonstrates the potential of domain specialization in AI, suggesting that focused training can yield capabilities exceeding those of much larger, general-purpose models. AstroSage-Llama-3.1-8B is freely available, enabling widespread access to advanced AI capabilities for astronomical education and research.

AI assistant↗

NASA NTRS1987

Microburst model requirements for flight simulation: An airframe manufacturer's perspective

A brief outline is given of topics for presentation and discussion at the workshop. As manufacturers and certifiers of transport airplanes and associated on-board systems, an interest in the prevention of wind shear related accidents and incidents is inherent. The near term objectives are to provide the customers technical support in the areas of training as well as to research existing and potentially improved on-board systems. In the future, many improved systems should be implemented. This will require certification as well as further educational activity in the use of these new systems. A set of wind models is needed for design work which characterize a wide variety of real microbursts as measured during the JAWS project. The wind models should be limited in both size and complexity to just those features which degrade aircraft performance.

Schoenman, Richard L.↗

DOE OSTI2026

Data-Driven Modeling and Control of Systems with Plasma-Surface Interactions (Final Technical Report)

This final technical report summarizes the activities and accomplishments in the period from February 2023 thru January 2026. The objective of the proposed research is to investigate the physical mechanisms and processes underlying the formation of structures and patterns in systems with plasma-surface interactions. In the past decades, there have been extensive studies on the interaction of glow discharges, dielectric barrier discharges, and arc discharges with confining or intervening surfaces. The advancement of the understanding of these phenomena is not only of fundamental scientific interest and relevance to the knowledge of the plasma state, but also with profound implications in various technological applications. The research will integrate theoretical, computational, and experimental work within an innovative framework of data assimilation, i.e., optimally combining model predictions with measurements. The scientific merit of this research has three aspects. Firstly, it extends the studies of plasma-surface interactions to systems with insulator surfaces and multi-layer systems, while existing studies are predominantly on electrode surfaces. Secondly, it expects to develop a novel data-driven modeling approach based on data assimilation to enhance the predictive and control capabilities, which could make transformative contributions to basic plasma research. Thirdly, it will shed new light on outstanding problems related to formation of patterns interfacing plasmas. This project also aims to launch an education and outreach initiative at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, a non-R1, minority-serving institution in South Texas. The initiative is structured as a four-tier pyramid. Tier one will be a webinar series for culture and capacity building to inform broader audience in the region about the research fields of plasma science and engineering. Tier two will be the creation and offering of an upper-level undergraduate course on introductory plasma physics, which will help with the recruitment for the upper tiers. On tier three, we will engage and mentor senior design students to conduct work toward the research goal of this project. There will also be a certificate program on general plasma science for undergrad and graduate students, part of which will be lab training at Princeton University. Tier four will be the supervision and mentoring of Ph.D. students. Therefore, this project will systematically expand the talent pipeline, broaden participation from communities historically and geographically underrepresented in DOE SC research portfolio, significantly improve the research and education capacity at the PI’s institution, and contribute to developing a diverse workforce in plasma science and engineering.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

NASA NTRS2012

Design and Performance of a Wideband Radio Telescope

The Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope (GAVRT) is an outreach project, a partnership involving NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Lewis Center for Educational Research (LCER), and the Apple Valley Unified School District near the NASA Goldstone deep space communication complex. This educational program currently uses a 34-meter antenna, DSS12, at Goldstone for classroom radio astronomy observations via the Internet. The current program utilizes DSS12 in two narrow frequency bands around S-band (2.3 GHz) and X-band (8.45 GHz), and is used by a training program involving a large number of secondary school teachers and their classrooms. To expand the program, a joint JPL/LCER project was started in mid-2006 to retrofit an additional existing 34-meter beam-waveguide antenna, DSS28, with wideband feeds and receivers to cover the 0.5-to- 14-GHz frequency bands. The DSS28 antenna has a 34-meter diameter main reflector, a 2.54-meter subreflector, and a set of beam waveguide mirrors surrounded by a 2.43-meter tube. The antenna was designed for high power and a narrow frequency band around 7.2 GHz. The performance at the low end of the frequency band desired for the educational program would be extremely poor if the beam waveguide system was used as part of the feed system. Consequently, the 34-meter antenna was retrofitted with a tertiary offset mirror placed at the vertex of the main reflector. The tertiary mirror can be rotated to use two wideband feeds that cover the 0.5-to-14-GHz band. The earlier designs for both GAVRT and the DSN only used narrow band feeds and consequently, only covered a small part of the S- and X-band frequencies. By using both a wideband feed and wideband amplifiers, the entire band from 0.5 to 14 GHz is covered, expanding significantly the science activities that can be studied using this system.

Weinreb, Sander↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Artificial Neural Network (ANN) Surface Longwave and Shortwave Fluxes Trained on CERES Observations

The Clouds and Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) project provides satellite-based observations of the radiative fluxes and clouds systems. CERES climate quality data products typically take several months of calibration and validation before release to the public. The Fast Longwave and Shortwave Radiative Flux (FLASHFlux) data product was developed to provide key data for the applied sciences and educational users within a week of observation. FLASHFlux achieves this by using simplified calibration, an operational meteorological product from Global Modeling and Assimilation Office (GMAO), and its own surface parameterizations model. The CERES FLASHFlux provides two data products: 1) an hourly Level 2 Single Scanner Footprint (SSF) data separately for Terra and NOAA-20 observations, and 2) a daily Level 3 Time Interpolated and Spatially Averaged (TISA) 1o x 1o gridded data that combines Terra and NOAA-20 observations. Currently, FLASHFlux uses the Langley Parameterized Shortwave Algorithm (LPSA) and Langley Parameterized Longwave Algorithm (LPLA) to derive its surface fluxes (Kratz et al., 2010; Gupta et al, 2001). A new Machine Learning (ML) based approach using Artificial Neural Networks to derive Surface Longwave (LW) & Shortwave (SW) fluxes based on training data from the CERES Clouds Radiative Swath (CRS) product is being investigated to replace LPSA and LPLA in the SSF surface flux products. One of the biggest hurdles in training ML model is model fitting. To overcome the problem of overfitting we use feature engineering that helps in finding the important feature and remove features that are irrelevant to the model. In our training we employed the Leave-One-Feature-Out Importance (LOFO) to evaluate the significance of each feature in our training. We intercompare ANN fluxes against surface fluxes produced from the Fu-Liou model in CRS and the LPSA/LPLA in FLASHFlux SSF. Furthermore, we validated ANN derived fluxes to the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN).

P C Sawaengphokhai↗

DOE OSTI2024

Supporting Growth of a Skilled Workforce in the Building Energy Efficiency Industry (Final Technical Report)

The Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), having worked for well over a decade to develop national networks and best practices focused on attracting and training high quality workers for the clean energy industries, sought to address shortfalls in skilled workers who build, retrofit, operate, and maintain energy efficient buildings. Through this project, IREC created and promoted a Green Buildings Career Map (GBCM)—a career awareness and recruitment tool—that seeks to boost the nationwide growth of workers entering the energy efficiency (EE) industry. Working with a team of subject matter experts and our partner organizations—Building Performance Association (BPA), Building Performance Institute (BPI), Community Action Partnership (CAP), and the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS)—IREC produced an interactive, engaging career map to attract and motivate individuals into pursuing careers in energy efficiency, and in support of the Weatherization Assistance Program. The GBCM was designed for a broad audience including educators, career advisors, employers, policymakers, workforce professionals, and jobseekers who may otherwise have little or no awareness of the exciting and rewarding opportunities within targeted industry sectors. Most individuals seeking careers do not know about the breadth of careers awaiting them in the built environment and the same is true for most career and guidance counselors, educators, and parents. The GBCM provides this broad audience with a vision of the myriad jobs that could lead to a long-standing career in energy efficiency. The GBCM describes diverse occupations across the EE industry, charts possible progression between those occupations, and identifies the training, skills, and credentials necessary to do them well.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

NASA NTRS1999

Space 2000 Symposium

The purpose of the Space 2000 Symposium is to present the creativity and achievements of key figures of the 20th century. It offers a retrospective discussion on space exploration. It considers the future of the enterprise, and the legacy that will be left for future generations. The symposium includes panel discussions, smaller session meetings with some panelists, exhibits, and displays. The first session entitled "From Science Fiction to Science Facts" commences after a brief overview of the symposium. The panel discussions include talks on space exploration over many decades, and the missions of the millennium to search for life on Mars. The second session, "Risks and Rewards of Human Space Exploration," focuses on the training and health risks that astronauts face on their exploratory mission to space. Session three, "Messages and Messengers Informing and Inspire Space Exploration and the Public," focuses on the use of TV medium by educators and actors to inform and inspire a wide variety of audiences with adventures of space exploration. Session four, "The Legacy of Carl Sagan," discusses the influences made by Sagan to scientific research and the general public. In session five, "Space Exploration for a new Generation," two student speakers and the NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin address the group. Session six, "Destiny or Delusion? -- Humankind's Place in the Cosmos," ends the symposium with issues of space exploration and some thought provoking questions. Some of these issues and questions are: what will be the societal implications if we discover the origin of the universe, stars, or life; what will be the impact if scientists find clear evidence of life outside the domains of the Earth; should there be limits to what humans can or should learn; and what visionary steps should space-faring people take now for future generations.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1999

The Henry Cecil Ranson McBay Chair in Space Science

The goals and objectives of the Henry Cecil Ransom McBay Chair in Space Sciences were to: (1) provide leadership in developing and expanding Space Science curriculum; (2) contribute to the research and education endeavors of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth program; (3) expand opportunities for education and hands-on research in Space and Earth Sciences; (4) enhance scientific and technological literacy at all educational levels and to increase awareness of opportunities in the Space Sciences; and (5) develop a pipeline, starting with high school, of African American students who will develop into a cadre of well-trained scientists with interest in Space Science Research and Development.

Bota, Kofi B.↗

NASA NTRS2006

The Columbia Debris Loan Program; Examples of Microscopic Analysis

Following the tragic loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia NASA formed The Columbia Recovery Office (CRO). The CRO was initially formed at the Johnson Space Center after the conclusion of recovery operations on May 1,2003 and then transferred .to the Kennedy Space Center on October 6,2003 and renamed The Columbia Recovery Office and Preservation. An integral part of the preservation project was the development of a process to loan Columbia debris to qualified researchers and technical educators. The purposes of this program include aiding in the advancement of advanced spacecraft design and flight safety development, the advancement of the study of hypersonic re-entry to enhance ground safety, to train and instruct accident investigators and to establish an enduring legacy for Space Shuttle Columbia and her crew. Along with a summary of the debris loan process examples of microscopic analysis of Columbia debris items will be presented. The first example will be from the reconstruction following the STS- 107 accident and how the Materials and Pro~es~steesa m used microscopic analysis to confirm the accident scenario. Additionally, three examples of microstructural results from the debris loan process from NASA internal, academia and private industry will be presented.

Russell, Rick↗

NASA NTRS2009

Bio-Nanotechnology: Challenges for Trainees in a Multidisciplinary Research Program

The recent developments in the field of nanotechnology have provided scientists with a new set of nanoscale materials, tools and devices in which to investigate the biological science thus creating the mulitdisciplinary field of bio-nanotechnology. Bio-nanotechnology merges the biological sciences with other scientific disciplines ranging from chemistry to engineering. Todays students must have a working knowledge of a variety of scientific disciplines in order to be successful in this new field of study. This talk will provide insight into the issue of multidisciplinary education from the perspective of a graduate student working in the field of bio-nanotechnology. From the classes we take to the research we perform, how does the modern graduate student attain the training required to succeed in this field?

Koehne, Jessica Erin↗

NASA NTRS2002

Collegiate Aviation Research and Education Solutions to Critical Safety Issues

This Conference Proceedings is a collection of 6 abstracts and 3 papers presented April 19-20, 2001 in Denver, CO. The conference focus was "Best Practices and Benchmarking in Collegiate and Industry Programs". Topics covered include: satellite-based aviation navigation; weather safety training; human-behavior and aircraft maintenance issues; disaster preparedness; the collegiate aviation emergency response checklist; aviation safety research; and regulatory status of maintenance resource management.

Bowen, Brent↗

DOE OSTI2026

Investigation of the Effect of Framework Flexibility on Adsorption in SIFSIX-3-Cu using a Machine-Learned Force Field

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a promising class of adsorbents. The performance of MOF sorbents relies on high selectivity and low regeneration energy. This work focuses on the use of machine learned force fields (MLFFs) to model adsorption in a flexible MOF, SIFSIX-3-Cu. A DeePMD-based MLFF was trained to reproduce DFT (PBE+D3) energies, forces, and stresses, using an iterative sampling scheme combining sampling based on molecular dynamics, Monte Carlo, and geometry optimization to capture both attractive and repulsive regions of the potential energy surface. Flexibility of the MOF was explicitly included in this model. Hybrid Monte Carlo/molecular dynamics (MC/MD) simulations using the MLFF predicted adsorption isotherms in good agreement with experimental data for a range of pressures (40 Pa – 104 Pa) in contrast to rigid models, which overpredict CO2 adsorption at low pressures. The improvement was the result of a description of the variability of fluorine-fluorine diagonal distances at adsorption sites. This detailed description of flexibility afforded by the MLFF resulted in more accurate predictions adsorption isotherms when compared to the experimentally measured values. These results underscore the importance of including framework flexibility when modeling adsorption phenomena in MOFs, particularly for low pressure applications and provide a robust procedure for training MLFF models for MOFs.

Atomistic Simulation↗

DOE OSTI2023

Bishop Paiute Single Family Solar Home Project: Phase 4 (Final Technical Report)

The Bishop Paiute Tribe is committed to energy efficiency, renewable energy, and environmental protection and has a vision to install solar energy systems on all buildings on the Reservation where technically feasible. Through completion of the Bishop Paiute Tribe Residential Solar Program – Phase 4, Bishop Paiute Tribe continued its successful model partnering with non-profit solar installer GRID Alternatives to advance its vision and build energy self-sufficiency on the Bishop Paiute Reservation. The Bishop Paiute Tribe Residential Solar Program – Phase IV deployed 67 kW-AC of new clean, renewable energy through grid-tied, net-metered rooftop solar electric systems installed on a total of 20 (one more than the planned 19) existing owner-occupied, single-family homes for low-income families on the Reservation. This represents nearly 14% of the Reservation’s total “unsolarized” homes. These systems were provided at no cost to the homeowners, who will also receive energy efficiency education to further reduce energy consumption and lower electric bills. GRID led a solar installation for three (3) of the homes where Tribal/community members, were given an opportunity in participating in on-the-roof trainings to gain new skills while installing solar for their low-income community members. Subcontractors through GRID Sub Contractor Partnership Program (GRID SPP) led solar installations for seventeen (17) of the homes. Each installation provided paid employment for a solar trainee trainees hired by the SPP subcontractors as entry level solar installers. It is estimated that the installed 67 kW-AC of solar will produce at least 120,000 kWh/year, displacing at least 30-75% of the 20 homes’ total electricity use for a combined system lifetime electricity cost savings for the low-income homeowners of about $\$$500,000. It is further estimated that the installed renewable energy systems installed will prevent greenhouse gases by about 1,000 tons, equivalent to planting approximately 25,000 trees. Following the successful completed installations, it is expected that the Reservation and surrounding communities will benefit from improved air quality via reduced wood stove use for heating. Cumulatively with other initiatives, the project will result in nearly 40% of the Reservation’s solarizable homes being solarized. Overall, the triple impact of the phase 4 of the Bishop Paiute Tribe Residential Solar Program – Phase 4 is: 1) affordable energy for low-income families; 2) on-site clean energy production, 3) hands on training and paid solar installation work for local tribal/community workers. These impacts will support and grow the Tribe’s energy, economic, environmental, and social self-sufficiency and sovereignty amongst the neediest on the Reservation.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

NASA NTRS2016

Enhancing Systems Engineering Education Through Case Study Writing

Developing and refining methods for teaching systems engineering is part of Systems Engineering grand challenges and agenda for research in the SE research community. Retention of systems engineering knowledge is a growing concern in the United States as the baby boom generation continues to retire and the faster pace of technology development does not allow for younger generations to gain experiential knowledge through years of practice. Government agencies, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), develop their own curricula and SE leadership development programs to "grow their own" systems engineers. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) conducts its own Center-focused Marshall Systems Engineering Leadership Development Program (MSELDP), a competitive program consisting of coursework, a guest lecture series, and a rotational assignment into an unfamiliar organization engaged in systems engineering. Independently, MSFC developed two courses to address knowledge retention and sharing concerns: Real World Marshall Mission Success course and its Case Study Writers Workshop and Writers Experience. Teaching case study writing and leading students through a hands-on experience at writing a case study on an SE topic can enhance SE training and has the potential to accelerate the transfer of experiential knowledge. This paper is an overview of the pilot experiences with teaching case study writing, its application in case study-based learning, and identifies potential areas of research and application for case study writing in systems engineering education.

Stevens, Jennifer Stenger↗

DOE OSTI2026

Novel additive manufacturing for plasma facing materials ‐ creating a research pathway for minority students

This project addresses two critical and intertwined challenges in fusion energy, namely the shortage of a broadly trained scientific workforce and the lack of scalable manufacturing solutions for plasma-facing components (PFCs). Through a collaboration among Florida International University (FIU), Miami Dade College (MDC), and Purdue University, the project established structured, reproducible educational and research pathways that recruit and advance students from institutions historically outside the fusion energy enterprise, building the human capital that this field urgently needs. The project integrates the complementary research strengths of FIU and Purdue to investigate flash sintering as a transformative processing route for tungsten-based PFCs. Unlike conventional sintering approaches, flash sintering offers rapid densification at significantly reduced thermal budgets, making it a compelling candidate for fabricating complex tungsten geometries that must withstand extreme plasma-facing environments. Systematic experimental and modeling efforts will elucidate the fundamental mechanisms governing microstructure evolution, grain boundary chemistry, and thermomechanical response during flash sintering — knowledge that is presently lacking but essential for translating this technology into reliable manufacturing practice. The convergence of workforce development and cutting-edge manufacturing research positions this project to deliver measurable, durable impact: a pipeline of fusion-ready researchers cultivated through expanded institutional partnerships, and a validated materials processing framework that accelerates domestic readiness for next-generation fusion reactor construction.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗