Judges for the 2007 Tennessee State Tournament

Tom Burgess - Design Award

Tom Burgess is currently the Remote Systems Group Leader in the Nuclear Science and Technology Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is a mechanical engineer (UTK, '83) with over 20 years experience in the R&D and design of advanced robotic and remote handling systems, tooling and process systems for hostile environments. Primary fields of application have included the nuclear fuel cycle, fusion reactors and accelerators. He has led many R&D and design activities in these fields for both national and international projects.

Craig Bradley - Design Award

Craig Bradley is a development engineer and project manager at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the Remote Systems Group. He has over 25 years experience in leading development projects for remotely operated and robotic equipment. Some of the equipment he has helped develop include, nuclear fuel handling and dismantling equipment, a radioactive waste transport cart, and a remotely controlled robotic arm for reloading Patriot missiles. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas, and is a registered Professional Engineer in Tennessee.

Dr. Hwan-Sik Yoon - Design Award

Dr. Hwan-Sik Yoon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tennessee Tech University. His research area includes modeling and control of mechatronic systems, design of sensors and actuators, and application of smart materials. He has published over 20 journal and conference articles related to smart materials and the control of mechatronic systems.

Kathy Nichols - Design Award

Katherine Nichols, PE, is Manager of Civil/Facility Design Engineering for Aerospace Testing Alliance at Arnold Air Force Base. She has a Masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Iowa and is the current Vice President of the Tennessee Society for Professional Engineers.

Yuan Li - Design Award

Yuan Li is a Ph.D. candidate in the computer science department at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She received her M.S. degree in computer science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and her B.S. degree in computer information science from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Her research interests are cooperative multi-robot systems, distributed robotics, wireless sensor networks and artificial intelligence.

Dr. Lynne Parker - Design Award

Dr. Parker is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She is also an Adjunct Distinguished Research and Development Staff Member in the Computer Science and Mathematics Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She received her Ph.D. in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She performs research in autonomous robots, multi-robot systems, sensor networks, embedded systems, and artificial intelligence.

Paige Stafford - Design Award

Paige Stafford received her Masters Degree in Computer Science from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 2002. She currently works at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the Networking and Computer Technologies Division. Her work focuses on network-related business applications such as the Network Registration System. She designs and implements database (ORACLE, mySQL) driven web applications, and manages the network services, DNS and DHCP. Her preferred programming tools include C, Perl, shell scripts, HTML, and JavaScript.

Dr. Venu Varma - Design Award

Dr. Venu Varma received his Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1993. From 1993-2001, he has been with the Robotics and Process Systems Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and works in the kinematics, mechanical design, dynamics and control aspects of robot development. Currently, he is a member of the Nuclear Science and Technology Division at ORNL. His current interests are in the area of piezoelectric and shape memory alloy actuator development.

Dr. Fred Baker - Presentation Award

Fred is a Senior Research Staff Member in the Materials Science and Technology Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he is the technical manager of the low cost carbon fiber precursor development program. He obtained his Ph.D. in Surface Chemistry at Brunel University (London, UK). He is a Chartered Chemist and Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and is the immediate past chairman and chief executive officer of the American Carbon Society. One of his current research interests includes production of carbon fibers from renewable resources for lightweight automotive composites.

William Craddick - Presentation Award

Mr. Craddick has a B.S. degree in Physics and Mathematics from Rice University and M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Illinois. He has worked at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for 31 years, with an emphasis in fluid flow and heat transfer processes, ranging from nuclear safety to residential energy efficiency. Currently he is the leader of the Residential Buildings and Equipment Research group in the Engineering Science and Technology Division.

John Kueck - Presentation Award

Mr. Kueck earned a BS in Physics from Purdue University and an MS in Electrical Engineering - Power Systems, from Ohio State University. Over the first 20 years of his career, Mr. Kueck worked in the design and operation of fossil fuel and nuclear generating stations. Since 1992, Mr. Kueck has been a researcher at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory where he works primarily in issues regarding transmission reliability, restructuring, and distributed energy.

Dr. William Miller - Presentation Award

Dr. Miller is a specialist with 27 years of experience in vapor compression refrigeration systems, absorption heat and mass transfer and building science technologies. He has a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, and works for the Engineering Science and Technology Division of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Julia Kelley - Presentation Award

Julia is experienced in the area of utility demand-side management and building energy efficiency technology deployment programs. She is the group leader of the Commercial Buildings and Industrial Energy Efficiency Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Since 1996, she has been heavily involved in supporting the U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). This program works to reduce the cost and environmental impact of the Federal government by advancing energy efficiency and water conservation, promoting the use of distributed and renewable energy, and improving utility management decisions at Federal sites.

Dan O'Connor - Teamwork Award

Dan O'Connor received a BS degree in Civil Engineering and a MS degree in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech before coming to Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1979. He has been involved in materials related research, mostly in support of the nuclear industry. Currently, Mr. O'Connor holds a position in the newly formed Facilities Management Division with responsibilities for a variety of facilities across the campus.

Bill Toth - Teamwork Award

Bill Toth is an Engineering Manager, working in non-proliferation programs at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He has focused his career in systems engineering on the programmatic approach to safeguards and security. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master's Degree in Industrial Engineering both form the University of Tennessee. His previous work experience includes support of the Department of Energy in Washington, DC; work as a Security Systems Engineer at the Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge and work as an Avionic Systems Engineer at General Dynamics in Ft. Worth, TX.

Terry Olberding, P.E. - Teamwork Award

Terry Olberding is the Assistant Manager for the Office of Programs at the Y-12 Site Office, National Nuclear Security Administration. Her responsibilities include the managing the NNSA programs and projects at the Y-12 Plant. Terry has twenty-five years of government service. Previous work experience includes three years as the Assistant Manager for Technical Services at the Y-12 Site Office, several years as a Team Leader in the Nuclear Safety Division at Oak Ridge Operations, and numerous years as a mechanical engineer at the Tennessee Valley Authority. Terry obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Science and Mechanics from the University of Tennessee in 1978, and she is a registered Professional Engineer in Mechanical Engineering.

Marie Westfall - Teamwork Award

Mrs. Westfall has 25 years experience in program design and implementation for government, public and private agencies. She currently administers education programs involving the latest technologies in research and science applications for the Department of Energy, the Appalachian Regional Commission, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Joseph Westfall - Team Spirit Award

Joseph Westfall obtained his BS. Degree in Industrial Technology from Middle Tennessee State University; he received his Master's Degree from Vanderbilt University. He has served in the US Army, served as adjunct faculty at MTSU, has extensive experience in remodeling and construction, and has been the technical representative for a large, construction equipment sales company. He is currently a minister in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Kunlun Hong- Junior FLL Expo

Kunlun Hong is a staff scientist associated with the Chemical Science Division and Center for Nanophase Materials Science at Oak Ridge National Laboratory working on polymeric, colloidal and bio-inspired materials.has He has a B.S. degree in Chemical Physics, and an M.S. degree in Polymer Science. He received a Ph. D. in Material Science from University of Alabama, Birmingham.

Brian Coate- Junior FLL Expo

Brian Coate, P.E. is the Electric Department Manager for the Tullahoma Utilities Board. His responsibilities include the safe and efficient operation of the electric distribution system for the city of Tullahoma, Tennessee. Brian graduated from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute, Indiana in 1990 with a B.S. degree in electrical engineering. He currently serves as President of the local Tullahoma chapter of the National Society of Professional Engineers.

Dr. John Cole- Junior FLL Expo

John H. Cole, P.E., Ph. D. is an alumnus of Tennessee Tech University's school of engineering and is president of Eastern Electric and Engineering, Inc. of Hermitage, Tennessee. He currently serves as the treasurer of the Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers and the president of the Nashville Chapter -TSPE.

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