Valentino Cooper, a scientist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been appointed to the Department of Energy's Basic Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (BESAC).
The appointment is for a period of three years, and Cooper's expertise in advanced materials for energy and information technology is expected to provide valuable insights to the committee, according to an April 25 news release.
“I am truly honored to have been selected to participate as a member of the BESAC,” Cooper said in the release. “I am looking forward to advising BES as it sets long-range plans, priorities and strategies to facilitate science that addresses our nation’s energy challenges.”
Cooper has received a DOE Early Career award and is the head of the Materials Theory, Modeling and Simulation section in the Materials Science and Technology Division, the release reported. Additionally, he is the director of FaCT, a DOE Energy Frontier Research Center focused on fast and cooperative ion transport in polymer electrolytes.
Cooper's appointment comes as Andrew Stack, leader of the Geochemistry and Interfacial Sciences group in ORNL’s Chemical Sciences Division, is leaving the BESAC. Stack chaired the Committee of Visitors for the Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences division of BES during his three-year term.
“I used my voice to help ensure that BES’s strategy focused on synchrotrons and that scientific research computing was sound,” Stack said in the release. “Over my three years of service, my biggest accomplishment was chairing the Committee of Visitors for the Chemical Sciences, Geosciences and Biosciences division of BES. This committee serves to assess the proposal review process at BES, ‘reviewing the reviewers,’ so to speak, and to recommend changes.”
Cooper's appointment is a testament to his scholarship and research excellence, according to Cynthia Jenks, ORNL associate laboratory director for the Physical Sciences Directorate, the release reported
“BES-funded research seeks to better understand the physical world and harness nature to benefit people and society," Jenks said in the release. "We are extremely proud that Tino will advise one of the nation’s largest sponsors of research in the physical sciences."
