ORNL: Three researchers named ORNL Corporate Fellows

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has named three researchers ORNL Corporate Fellows for their significant career accomplishments and continued leadership in their scientific fields.

Mitchel Doktycz, Yutai Kato and Burak Ozpineci represent ORNL’s strengths in electrical engineering, materials research and analytical and imaging technologies, respectively. The Corporate Fellow designation recognizes standing in the scientific community as an exceptional and influential researcher and as a role model and mentor among peers and early career researchers.

“Oak Ridge National Laboratory must be a place known for equipping scientists to reach the pinnacle of their fields and rewarding them when they do,” ORNL Director Thomas Zacharia said. “Our Corporate Fellows represent the very best of our research staff. Congratulations to Mitch, Yutai and Burak. We will continue to benefit greatly from their scientific contributions and leadership.”

Mitchel Doktycz is the Bioimaging and Analytics section head in ORNL’s Biosciences Division. He also has appointments at the University of Tennessee Knoxville in the UT-ORNL Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education and the UT Genome Science and Technology Program.

His research interests focus on the intersection of natural and synthetic systems. Doktycz’s laboratory is involved in the development of analytical technologies for post-genomics studies with specific emphases on molecular and cellular imaging techniques and the use of nanomaterials to study and mimic biological systems.

Doktycz is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. He is the recipient of an R&D 100 Award and a National Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer. Doktycz was named a Battelle Distinguished Inventor in 2013. He received his doctorate in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Yutai Kato (professionally known as Katoh) leads the Materials in Extremes section in ORNL’s Materials Science and Technology Division and manages the laboratory’s fusion materials program.

Kato’s research interests involve the development and characterization of ceramics and composites, graphite and other advanced materials for severe environment applications including nuclear fusion and fission energy. He also studies the effects of neutron and high energy particle irradiation in metals, alloys and ceramics, with emphases on irradiation effects on properties and microstructures of silicon carbide and influences of helium on irradiation effects in materials.

He is a fellow of the American Ceramic Society and American Nuclear Society, and a member of ASTM International, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and Fusion Power Associates. He received the ANS’s Mishima Award in 2019. Kato, who holds 16 patents, received his doctorate in materials science from the University of Tokyo.

Burak Ozpineci is head of the Vehicle and Mobility Systems Research section in ORNL’s Buildings and Transportation Science Division. He also serves as a joint faculty with the UT/ORNL Bredesen Center.

Ozpineci focuses on transportation electrification and wireless charging of electric vehicles. His team achieved the world’s first 20-kilowatt wireless charging system for passenger cars and also demonstrated a 120kW benchtop wireless charging system both through a 6-inch gap and above 95% efficiency. He is working with his team on wireless extreme fast charging at 270kW and high-power dynamic wireless charging at 200kW to eliminate range anxiety for electric vehicles. Another focus of Ozpineci’s research is the development of lightweight, compact, durable and efficient electric drive system components to improve electric, hybrid and fuel cell passenger and commercial vehicles.

He is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers professional society. His awards include DOE Vehicle Technologies Office Distinguished Achievement Award, IEEE PELS Vehicle and Transportation Systems Achievement Award and an R&D 100 Award. He received his doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Tennessee.