The National Nuclear Security Administration’s Supply Chain Management Center recently presented Y‑12 with an award for having the highest year-over-year savings growth percentage in SCMC commodity agreement usage.

In FY 2014, Y‑12 used SCMC’s multisite commodity agreements at a 65 percent higher rate than the previous year to increase procurement savings. SCMC recognized Y‑12 at the center’s biannual operational meeting in October for having the highest rate among NNSA sites.

CNS Senior Supply Chain Manager Michael Vermeulen said, “The use of NNSA’s SCMC agreements and tools is essential to support the attainment of CNS’s cost-reduction targets while ensuring that quality products and services are procured. These tools also reduce administrative burden by allowing CNS Supply Chain personnel to devote valuable resources to higher value and more complex acquisitions.”

The NNSA created SCMC to gain pricing and process efficiencies by aligning the purchasing power of the enterprise’s management and operating contractors. SCMC operations began in 2007 and introduced two major tools: eSourcing, a method in which suppliers bid for a contract online, and Strategic Sourcing, a method for negotiating multisite commodity agreements with vendors.

Josh Jones is the sixth Y‑12 participant in the America’s Veterans to Tennessee Engineers program. Jones came off active Navy duty as a Petty Officer, Second Class, of the USS Arlington, and knows a variety of trades: welding, sheet metal work, pipefitting and firefighting.

“So much credit goes to Josh for reaching out to us,” Renee McGhee of Career ONE said.

“He was persistent and determined to make sure he was on a career path when he left the Navy.”

“This is my dream job,” Jones said. “I grew up in Clinton and always knew about Y‑12. I’m proud to be an employee here. I found out about the Y‑12 program about a year and a half ago. It’s something I wanted to achieve for my family and me, so I started pursuing it.”

Previous participants in this program include Brian Paul and Matthew Nash (nuclear engineers); Brent Gallagher (electrical engineer); Tom Tress (mechanical engineer) and John Brasher (civil engineer). Tress is serving as Jones’ mentor.

“Transitioning from the military to civilian life is already a challenge,” Tress said. “However, going after an engineering degree while you are making this transition, going to school and also providing for your family is very difficult. Josh is fortunate to have five previous veterans that have all made this jump who are all wanting him to succeed.”

Tress added, “It is personally rewarding to know that I am helping a fellow veteran. Many veterans can fall through the cracks, so it is good to know that programs such as America’s Veterans to Tennessee Engineers exist to ensure that we do not lose out on capturing the work ethic and skills of veterans when they transition into civilian life.”

McGhee concurred, “Support of the program demonstrates tremendous patriotism and appreciation for our veterans’ service and desire to provide career opportunities for them.”

Jones recently began his education at Pellissippi State, then he will complete his mechanical engineering degree at UT.

Employees in Consolidated Nuclear Security’s Infrastructure organization have worked more than 3.2 million hours since a lost-time injury. For electricians, carpenters, machinists, riggers, welders and other craft personnel at the Pantex Plant and the Y-12 National Security Complex, the “office” is often atop a ladder or in a bucket truck working on high-voltage lines. That’s why working safely is a daily, if not hourly, preoccupation.

“It’s hard to pin down one or two things we’ve done to be successful,” said Scott Underwood, head of Y-12’s Infrastructure group with more than 900 employees who combined have worked more than 2.5 million hours without a lost-time injury. “We’ve leveraged all the people, processes and tools we have in place to make a difference.”

Foremost, explained Underwood, safety is not about a program; it’s about people. “You’ve got to care about your own personal safety and the safety of others. That’s where it starts,” he said. “We’ve also made improvements in some of our processes. When problems do arise, managers, front-line supervisors and craft personnel actively work together to find solutions.”

Finding solutions is part of Steve Passmore’s job. “Every day, people call me and tell me their safety concerns,” said Passmore, one of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council’s safety officers assigned to Y12’s Infrastructure group. “We maintain a log, and we work the issues. If it’s a true safety issue, we find the money to get it fixed. However, some issues can be fixed without the need for additional funding. It’s just a matter of getting the right communication to the right people. Then I always get an answer back to those who call.”

Pantex Infrastructure manager Bob Asbury also knows a thing or two about closing the loop on safety suggestions, concerns and solutions. “It is critical that when issues are raised by employees they are welcomed by leadership, but more importantly the loop has to be closed with the employee,” he said. “You owe the employee an answer, and that is best delivered face to face.”

Asbury’s organization of about 375 employees has worked more than 330 days — more than 717,000 hours — without a lost-time injury. He attributes that track record to employee ownership of safety issues and solutions, supervisory engagement and an effective Plan of the Day, or POD. The POD, an electronic document prepared by Maintenance craft workers and management, serves as a daily risk-based review of work activities that then leads into a pre-job briefing.

Pantex’s Maintenance organization implemented the POD three years ago, and the idea has since caught on in other groups at the site. “The response has been truly amazing,” said Shane Feagan, Metal Trades Council safety officer at Pantex. “The POD now reaches people across many organizations at the plant. The most important thing the POD brings to the table is that it ensures we all receive timely and accurate information.”

The Pantex POD description, authored by Feagan, was selected as an Energy Facility Contractor’s Group best practice and is also featured on the Department of Energy’s OPEXSHARE website.

Taken together, the Y-12 and Pantex processes, tools and people undergird the CNS Infrastructure organization’s commitment to creating and maintaining a continuously improving safety culture.

Pantex’s Shaun Verporeum (left) and Kirk Spear identify lock out/tag out isolation points on a steam piping system prior to performing work.



Keith Long (standing) gives a pre-job briefing to pipe shop craftsmen Kirk Spear (left) and Shaun Verporeum at their morning stand-up meeting.

NFRR project provides critical infrastructure upgrades in Building 9212.

The Leadership Knoxville Class of 2015 recently visited Y‑12. Tom Berg of Y‑12 is a member of this year’s class. According to their website, Leadership Knoxville’s mission is to “build a stronger Knoxville by developing people and groups, leading to a greater community.” This mission is accomplished through leadership programs, community workshops and events designed to inspire, challenge and connect people at all levels of leadership development.





Leadership Knoxville visited Y-12.



Scott Broyles of Leadership Knoxville talks with Y-12’s Gene Patterson.



Becky Huckaby and Nikitia Thompson of Leadership Knoxville have a discussion during a visit at Y-12 National Security Complex.



Lisa Hood Skinner shares a laugh Gail Lewis during Leadership Knoxville’s visit to Y-12.



Leadership Knoxville classmates Antone Davis and Shannon Harper chat during a session at Y-12.



Nate Allen and Jordana Nelson of Leadership Knoxville enjoying their visit at Y-12.

Y-12 employees recently donated an estimated $750 worth of personal hygiene items to Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, or ADFAC, so the agency could restock its Crisis Cupboard. Each year, ADFAC, a United Way agency, provides more than 800 families with personal items that cannot be purchased with food stamps. Items Y-12 collected include shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, bar soap and disposable baby diapers and wipes.

“I appreciate Y-12’s generous contribution because the annual need for these items is great, and many months, our cupboards are bare,” said Liz Herbes, ADFAC’s social services program director. “It would be wonderful if we had donations of these items every month since we have so many clients who could use them!”

Herbes said her clients live at or below the federal government poverty level and are struggling with the smallest necessities of life. “Many of my clients tell me they do without or wash their hair and clothes with dish soap since this is all they have,” she said. “We often have folks come in asking for toilet paper, and I think how difficult that must be.”

Y-12 employees Elaine Warren and Joy Evans helped coordinate the collection efforts, and Construction employees picked up and delivered the items to ADFAC. “When I looked at the boxes and bags of items that were donated to benefit ADFAC, I realized that each one of those items will help a person or a family who might not be able to purchase them,” Warren said.

“This donation from Y-12 employees will go a long way to provide comfort to many families in need. I know there will be a lot of mothers who will be happy to see the diapers and wipes sitting on the shelves at ADFAC!”

Evans said she appreciated Y-12 employees’ enthusiastic response and was glad to lend a hand in coordinating the collection. “Volunteering my time and donating a few items is something small I can do that will make a big difference,” she said. “I know the items will get to those who need them most.”

Established in the mid-1980s, ADFAC is an independent non-profit agency that serves the basic needs of primarily low-income residents in Anderson and surrounding Appalachian counties. For more information visit the agency’s website.

The American Heart Association wants February to be known for more than cards and candy. Employees at Pantex and Y-12 National Security Complex celebrated National Wear Red Day on Thursday, Feb. 6, by wearing red and participating in wellness activities such as blood pressure checks and CPR demonstrations. This was in support of the American Heart Association’s Go Red campaign that shows support for and awareness of heart disease in women.





Y‑12’s Occupational Health Services staff encourages employees to be heart healthy.



Information was available to employees regarding heart health.



Mary Benton (right) demonstrates hands-only CPR to Anna Beard.



Amy Forrester wants to ensure her blood pressure is on target.



Members of the Uranium Processing Facility project team posed in their red attire.



Monica Lewis (left) gets her blood pressure checked by Rachel Whittington.



Sanchez Harley has his blood pressure checked by Melissa Davis.



Mary Benton (left) and Karen Lacey of Occupational Health Services were available to answer employees’ questions about heart health.

The Consolidated Nuclear Security Supply Chain Management department wants to alert suppliers to an active email scam involving request for quotations and issuance of purchase orders that purport to originate from CNS but are in fact fraudulent.

Notice to our suppliers

When UPF Construction completed the half-mile haul road extension in January, approximately 132,000 cubic yards of soil had been excavated. Most of the excavated soil from Phase II of the site readiness work was reused as engineered fill material or stockpiled at Y-12 for future use. About 400 cubic yards of topsoil, however, was sent to the Bear Creek Burial Ground as part of an agreement that indirectly saved the UPF Project more than $30K.

In an arrangement with UCOR (URS|CH2M Oak Ridge), a contractor of DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Consolidated Nuclear Security agreed to exchange surplus topsoil for the use of UCOR equipment.

“By partnering, both UCOR’s and UPF’s needs were met. Each party was able to deliver a practical, effective solution to the other without additional cost to either project. Especially for construction projects, working together is key to getting work done,” John Stone, UPF Project superintendent, said.

UCOR received 23 truckloads of surplus topsoil from the UPF Project to address soil settlement at the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility where the inactive nuclear waste burial ground is located. In exchange for the topsoil, the UPF Project received equipment to use during construction of the haul road extension.

Borrowing UCOR’s government-furnished equipment eliminated rental costs that the Project would have incurred, and UCOR realized a cost savings from not having to obtain topsoil elsewhere.

Because the equipment was needed only at certain stages of construction, renting it would have been costly. A hydroseeder was used only in areas needing erosion controls; a motor grader was used for periodic maintenance of a gravel access road; and ground mats were used primarily in wetland areas.

“If we had rented this equipment, it would have sat underutilized throughout the majority of the project. Sending the equipment back during periods of non-use would have generated excess costs due to mobilization and demobilization charges from the vendor,” Chris Pruett, Lead Indirects Field Engineer, said.

In addition to saving on rental costs, the logistics for handling the excavated soil was simplified. “We reduced the amount of time handling the soil by delivering it to UCOR instead of having to place it on-site,” Pruett said.

The soil exchange wasn’t the only way the Project put excavated soil to good use during site readiness work. The soil that was wetland material, which contains seeds of native plants, such as cattails, was reclaimed and used for restoration activities nearby.

The haul road extension connects the UPF Project site at Y-12 to the existing haul road, which links the East Tennessee Technology Park (old K-25 site) with EMWMF. The new roadway is part of a plan to increase safety and efficiency during UPF construction by separating construction vehicles from light vehicular traffic.

While 2014 was a transitional year for the UPF Project, this exchange with UCOR illustrates that efforts to find new cost-saving solutions continue to ensure the Project’s long-term success.

For more information on this effort check out the story on energy.gov.

By Gene Patterson— When the gun sounds on the 2015 Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon, the streets will fill with more than 7,000 runners. They will come, young and old, in all shapes and sizes and all with a common goal-finish the race.

For some, the challenge will be the 5K, for others the Half Marathon, and for a hardy few it will be a personal quest to beat one of the great challenges of the human body, a 26.2 mile run that will test not just the body, but the heart.

Consolidated Nuclear Security is a corporate sponsor of the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon this year, which will be held March 29. But CNS is contributing more than dollars. The company is also supporting a team — the CNS Running Crew.

Forty-six Y‑12 employees, 16 men and 30 women, signed up for this year’s program. Some are veteran runners; others are just beginning their journeys. Their group training began in mid-January, trudging the hills and valleys along Melton Hill Lake under the watchful eye of LiveWise athletic trainer Robert Eichin.

Eichin sees group training as a plus for those who are new to running distances.

“If you know someone else is going to be out there with you enjoying the challenge, it adds to your accountability,” said Eichin.

This year, 53-year-old Barbara King, who works in Information Solutions and Services, is training for the marathon. It’s an amazing accomplishment, given that just two and a half years ago she had never even run a 5K. But that changed when she joined CNS’s LiveWise “Couch to 5K” program.

“Although I knew what the goal was (to run a 5K), I didn’t know how I was going to get there,” King said.

LiveWise Wellness Coordinator Karen Lacey says the fears and anxieties felt by King are typical of many who want to get in shape but worry they can’t. Once these employees join the program, they realize they can.

“What they find out is that we are here to support them,” Lacey said. “We prepare each runner with a plan that is sound, realistic and achievable.” Lacey says the key is to set a goal. “If you have a goal, you can create a plan, and you can get there,” she adds.

Still King initially wondered if she was too old, too overweight, or too out of shape to participate. She was shocked when she wasn’t turned away and also terrified that she wasn’t turned away.

“It took a while for me to understand that my participation was at my comfort level,” King said. “If I wanted to walk the whole thing, I could do that.” That flexibility, she said, and the encouragement of the Livewise staff, took all the anxiety out of running her first 5K. She enjoyed the experience so much that she’s continued with her running. She’s now proud to say she’s run six 5Ks, one 10K and four half-marathons. Now she’s going for the big race.

“I never imagined, in two and a half years, that the couch-to-5K program would eventually have me training to run a full marathon,” she said. King says she’s not finished. She plans to participate in future Triathlons. “The Ironman is in my sights,” she laughs.

Lacey says King is one of many success stories of CNS’s LiveWise program. “Being involved in our running program makes our employees healthier, allows for a greater engagement with each other and connects people across work lines.”

King says her only regret is she didn’t take advantage of the LiveWise programs earlier. “It’s a no brainer for employees,” King said, “you have access to professionals — athletic trainers, a dietician and physical therapy assistants — and it’s free.”

For more information about running or any of the LiveWise programs call Karen Lacey, 865.576.0812.

The UPF project celebrates its first major milestone with the completion of site readiness work, delivered on time and under budget.

When the Deputy Secretary of Energy, Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, was in town last week, she did take the time to meet two "Calutron Girls" at Y-12.

Peggy Stuart and Ruth Huddleston both came to Y-12 when they were 18 years of age. They both were recruited as seniors in high school when someone from Oak Ridge, a place Peggy did not know existed, came to their schools and invited them to join the war effort. Peggy said, "My friend had worked there and got lonesome for home in Sneedville, Tennessee. When she decided to go back to Oak Ridge, I came with her. They did not hire her because she did not stay when she was there before, but I got a job."

Ruth was living in Oliver Springs; when the Manhattan Project began she knew that something big was happening, so she applied for a job and got it. Peggy and Ruth both married and have spent most of their lives in this area.

Peggy later moved to North Carolina, but, after a year of farming, she wanted to return to Oak Ridge. She and her husband settled in Oak Ridge, and he spent his entire career working at Y-12. She is proud to be an Oak Ridger. Ruth still lives in Oliver Springs and has several grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Both these ladies enjoyed their time with the Deputy Secretary, and she seemed to really appreciate learning how these women, as young 18-year-old girls, felt about going to work. Peggy said, "It was good to earn my own money."

Y-12 Historian, Ray Smith said, "these 'Calutron Girls,' who were known as 'Cubicle Operators' at the time, are getting fewer and fewer as even 18-year-old girls from the 1940s are now approaching their 90s. We are pleased to enable the DOE Deputy Secretary, DOEORO, and NNSANPO leadership to have the opportunity to interact with the real living history these ladies could share with them."

Personnel from across the NNSA complex and private industry gathered in Oak Ridge to discuss lessons learned and brainstorm solutions for dealing with the aging nuclear infrastructure. As Teresa Robbins, Deputy Manager of the NNSA Production Office noted, we're still operating in many of the original buildings, and we've made only minimal investments in those facilities over the years.

In his remarks, Chief Operating Officer Morgan Smith said "we have a very, very significant challenge." While the natural inclination is to be hopeful, Smith stressed the need for circumspection. "We have to make sure we don't add to the difficulties," he said. "Normalization of the deviation is what has gotten us to where we are now."

When something fails, you're looking through the rearview. (Integrated Facility Aging Management) is looking through the windshield.

— Craig McMullin, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions

By focusing on successes in the public and private sectors, attendees were able to crystallize the issues in three categories-maintenance, standards and requirements and risk and prioritization. With regard to maintenance, some of the key points included the need for integrated planning and having a good tool for performing outages. Distinguishing among life extension, aging management and code compliance was determined to be key in the standards and requirements arena. The group also noted a need to change the approach by looking at what we holistically need to deliver the mission. Finally, attendees noted that the risk of doing nothing (which can greatly increase decontamination and decommissioning costs) is often not considered. The need for a consistent template to communicate risk was also identified.

As the workshop ended, Ken Sheely, NNSA Deputy Associate Administrator for Infrastructure, assured the audience that a prioritization model will inform decision making, adding "we don't want to overrate the high-consequence, low-probability activities" Ken Keith of Engineering summed the essence of the gathering succinctly. He said,"we have unique sites, but our problems are the same. There should be common solutions."

DOE Undersecretary for Nuclear Security and NNSA Administrator Frank Klotz visited the Y-12 National Security Complex to celebrate the successful completion of the Nuclear Facilities Risk Reduction project. The Nuclear Facilities Risk Reduction project made two of Y-12's primary production facilities safer and extended their operational lives — and it came in $5.6M under budget and 11 months ahead of schedule.

"What a terrific project. It's always great to celebrate victories," Klotz told an invited crowd of Consolidated Nuclear Security Y-12 employees who contributed to the project. "And this," he added emphatically, "is a victory."

CNS is a gold sponsor of this year's Tennessee Science Bowl.

At a recent kickoff luncheon, Y‑12 Site Manager Bill Tindal (right) and Kimberly Mitchell of the Atomic Trades and Labor Council (left) gave a $15,000 check to Susie Racek, executive director of the local chapter of March of Dimes (center). The ATLC, an organization that represents 16 International Unions with more than 2,100 members, and Consolidated Nuclear Security, Y‑12’s managing and operating contractor, are entering their seventeenth year in a partnership to raise funds and awareness regarding the March of Dimes. In addition to the $15,000, Y‑12 also will donate proceeds from sales of candy bars and t-shirts, as well as participate in the upcoming Anderson/Roane/Loudon counties March for Babies to be held May 8 at Bissell Park in Oak Ridge.

A three-year collaboration of scientists from Y‑12 National Security Complex and The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, resulted in the innovation of a patented chemical sensor that is unique in several aspects: it's inexpensive, tiny and portable; it promises virtually limitless applications; and it allows readings through barriers.

The sensor, named ChIMES (Chemical Identification by Magneto-Elastic Sensing), received one patent last fall and anticpates approval this spring of a second patent for applications outside national security.

ChIMES is based on chemical recognition materials called molecular recognition phases. Using strategically selected MRPs, sensors can be made that detect chemical and biological warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals, waterborne and airborne pollutants, explosives, illegal drugs, food pathogens and exhaled gases that indicate disease or illegal drug use, just to name a few possibilities. In fact, the list of applications for the sensor is virtually unlimited, said Y‑12's Dr. Vincent Lamberti, who managed the project.

"We have not been able to find any references to this technology in the literature, so it may be completely original to Y‑12," Lamberti said. "The main advantage is the very broad range of applications made possible by the MRPs approach. If the MRPs are modular, perhaps configured as snap-in cartridges, users will be able to quickly load the appropriate sensors and respond to multiple threats with a single instrument."

Each sensor is small — less than the width of a dime — and about the same diameter as the business ends of a cotton swab. Sensors consist of an MRPs and a ferromagnetic wire. There are no moving parts, and the sensor communicates wirelessly with the detection system.

Photo: ChIMES uses chemical recognition materials called molecular recognition phases to detect chemical and biological warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals, waterborne and airborne pollutants, explosives and illegal drugs, just to list a few. The tiny white cylinders are the MRPss. The magneto elastic wire that runs through the MRPss wirelessly sends data to interpreting software.

In simple terms, an MRPs is a material that reacts in a predictable way when it encounters a target chemical. In this Y‑12's technology, the MRPs expands as it absorbs the chemical, which imposes stress on the magneto-elastic wire inside the sensor. The stress changes the magnetic properties of the wire, and those changes can be interpreted using specialized instrumentation and software. The sensors can be arranged in an array to screen for a variety of compounds.

"If we can develop an MRPs for any target, then we have a sensor for it," Lamberti said. "At this point, we are limited only by our imaginations," he said.

Lamberti described the collaboration team as a three-legged stool, with his area of expertise in data analysis and the application of machine-learning to the sensor. Team member David Mee of Y‑12 brought top-level skills in instrumentation and electronics. UT chemistry professor Michael Sepaniak brought an international reputation in molecular recognition materials. Sepaniak also contributed the brainpower of two top members of his UT research group: post-doctoral researcher Nahla Abu Hatab and graduate student Nichole Crane.

"If you take one leg of that stool away, the whole thing falls apart," Lamberti said, "We have a very fruitful collaboration with UT."

Sepaniak said the team's investigators each brought unique expertise to the project, which produced a synergy that led to innovation.

Hatab said she felt fortunate to collaborate with the team. "Not only has this job given me invaluable work experience at Y‑12, it has also taught me the value of team-oriented problem solving," she said.

Work continues to miniaturize the electronic equipment that interprets sensor data while the team seeks outside partners to invest in further development to produce ChIMES units for the mainstream market.

The most compelling attribute of ChIMES is that the sensor does not require direct contact with the readout electronics, Mee said. Most sensors require a hardwired connection to the electronics, which means inserting a lead or probe through a hole in the suspect material, container or structure, which exposes the analyst to a risk of contamination.

"One of the things that sets this sensor apart is that it can read through barriers. That opens up so many applications where you want to see what's going on inside a welded wall," Mee said.

Consolidated Nuclear Security Development Director Randolph Dziendziel said the health of the Nuclear Security Enterprise is dependent on these types of partnerships.

"CNS considers university collaborations essential to the vitality of our future-focused technology. Collaboration with critical partners like UTK helps us to multiply the efforts of our internal staff with a goal of accelerating technology insertion and making a difference in how efficiently we accomplish our mission," Dziendziel said.

The ChIMES project received funding through Y‑12's Plant Directed Research, Development and Demonstration Program as well as a similar program at UT, the Joint Directed Research and Development Program.

$25K donation contributes to help improve Oak Ridge facility in need of new roofing

In retrospect, Dr. Ashley Stowe's life path seems to have always been leading him to East Tennessee, Oak Ridge and Y-12; and here he's been able to achieve impressive successes, including the most recent, a Greater Knoxville Business Journal 40 under Forty award.

While still in high school, he already knew he wanted to make chemistry his career. He was preparing to sign up to join the nuclear Navy when a scholarship to Furman University in Greenville, S.C. came through. Stowe said Greenville is sort of "Knoxville on the other side of the mountains." By the time he was finishing his third chemistry degree, a doctorate at Florida State University, he had already decided he wanted to live and work in the Knoxville/Oak Ridge area.

In his seven years at Y-12, Stowe, 35, has become a senior chemist, Technology Fellow (only the second), and R&D 100 Award winner. As of Jan. 5, 2015, he can add the 40 under Forty award. Stowe was one of 40 young leaders recognized by the business monthly's eighth annual awards edition.

When talking about the award, or his work in general, Stowe is quick to credit and praise his colleagues.

"This is a nice feather in my cap, but I'm not doing all this work on my own. I got here because I'm surrounded by so many good people," Stowe said. "I don't like being in the spotlight. This is a team," he said, going on to name several colleagues who conduct research with him at Y-12: Vanderbilt University doctoral student Brenden Wiggins, Fisk University professor of physics Dr. Arnold Burger and Dr. Eric Lukosi, assistant professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Tennessee.

The 40 under Forty award program seeks to recognize "Knoxville's Best Assets" from a wide array of nominations of young professionals in myriad fields.

"From hundreds of nominations of individuals worthy of recognition, we aimed to create a diverse group that is representative of the many ways individuals make a living in our community and make our community a better place to live," said Greater Knoxville Business Journal Editor Amy Nolan.

Stowe's research at Y-12 currently centers on finding a replacement for helium-3, which is widely used in nuclear materials detection, but in critically short supply globally.

Y-12 named Stowe a Technology Fellow in 2013, allowing him to focus on researching a lithium-based semiconductor crystal 6LiInSe2, which shows promise for use in radiation detection devices. It was this innovation that resulted in the R&D Magazine award.

Jim Placke, director of the Analytical Chemistry Organization at Y-12, nominated Stowe for the 40 under Forty award, saying Stowe and his colleagues' work on the semiconductor crystal "will be the centerpiece for development of hand-held radiation detectors for nuclear nonproliferation and homeland security applications, as well as for improved neutron imaging."

Those devices have applications for fundamental neutron science, space exploration, and perhaps most importantly, nuclear nonproliferation, Stowe said.

"We live in a dangerous place and there are a number of people all over the country and world working tirelessly to make it safe," Stowe told the business journal. "My hope is the research I'm doing can come up with technology that will be transformational and help us as a country and as a world be safer."

Stowe credits one person, a high school teacher, with starting the chain reaction that led to his success. Greg Rushton was then a 20-something chemistry teacher in Stowe's hometown of Columbia, S.C. Instead of writing out equations on the board and lecturing, Rushton, now an associate professor of chemistry at Kennesaw State University, would quite literally spark his students' interest.
"He'd take us into the lab and literally blow something up or set something on fire," Stowe recalls. "Then he'd throw us the keys to the chemical closet and say, 'Now, what do you want to do?'"
Stowe would eventually like to move into research management, leading a team of scientists as they tackle difficult technical problems. In the meantime, he said he's relishing his life in the Knoxville area. He and his wife, Jenny (who has a master's degree in behavioral neuroscience and Stowe says "is a whole lot smarter than I am") have three children: Matt, 11; Anna, 10 and Jaynie, 8. The family enjoys hiking, sports and backyard farming together.

"Living in Knoxville, being at Y-12, I feel like I've got a good balance in life, having time at home with my family to recharge and then coming back here to do the best work I can and do it with integrity," Stowe said.

It looks as if Stowe passed his science spark on to his precocious son Matt, who is fascinated with his dad's work, science, history, weapons and all things nuclear.

Awards show season may have ended for Hollywood’s A‑listers, but for U.S. engineering firms, the red carpet rolls out in April. That’s when the nation’s best engineering achievements at sites around the world will be honored at the 49th annual Engineering Excellence Awards Gala in Washington, D.C. Y‑12’s Gary Hagan knows the top award winner but won’t breathe a word until the big reveal.

Hagan was one of more than 30 judges invited to assess the 170 projects entered in this year’s American Council of Engineering Companies competition. The panel of judges ranked the projects according to uniqueness and originality, technical innovation, social and economic value and complexity.

“As judges, we individually rated a subset of the projects in advance,” said Hagan, who holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Pennsylvania State University. “Each judge was given several individual projects to champion after the initial down-select. A timed presentation followed by a short Q&A session gave you the opportunity to persuade your fellow judges that ‘your project’ was more innovative, efficient and beneficial to the community and science of engineering than the other entries.”

Hagan said that votes were then cast to determine the top 24 projects. “A lively round of discussion followed where judges would challenge the results, suggesting their project was more worthy than one initially placed in the top 24,” Hagan said.

The same process of presentation, vote and challenge was used to select the top 8 and finally the top project in the nation: the Grand Conceptor award for the year’s most outstanding overall engineering achievement.

For Hagan, the benefit of being a judge was twofold. First, he was exposed to modern feats of engineering, and second, he could bring back some of that knowledge and expertise to the workplace. “It was an incredible opportunity to have impressive fellow judges give focused presentations on the best features and methods used in projects to achieve national prominence and then to bring that information back to UPF and Y‑12,” said Hagan, who manages the Uranium Processing Facility Project’s Environment, Safety and Health organization.

Aside from glowing customer recommendations, Hagan said winning projects exhibited a strong commitment to teamwork, a core value essential to the success of building the Uranium Processing Facility. “The projects were each developed by a team pulling in the same direction often with many companies working together in one or two locations,” Hagan said. “Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?”

Although Hagan won’t be attending the black-tie gala announcing the Grand Conceptor award winner, he is proud to have played a role in this year’s competition. Past top-winning projects include the Space Shuttle Launch Complex at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California; the AEOS 3.67 Meter Telescope Facility in Honolulu, Hawaii; the Seattle Aquarium; and the Maysville Cable Stayed Bridge in Kentucky. Bechtel Infrastructure’s San Francisco Muni Metro Turnback Project was the 1998 Grand Conceptor award winner.

The American Council of Engineering Companies, known as ACEC, is the business association of America’s engineering industry, representing more than 5,000 independent engineering firms and more than 500,000 professionals throughout the U.S. Founded in 1909, ACEC is a national federation of 51 state and regional organizations.