David Parker of Oak Ridge National Laboratory is lead for the Developing Substitutes Focus Area. He has been a Staff Scientist at ORNL for nine years, following postdoctoral work at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Southern California in 2006. He applies first principles methods to some of the most difficult challenges in materials for energy applications, including magnets, thermoelectrics, ferroelectrics and superconductors.
He says, “Magnets, as I study for CMI, are of particular interest for my work as they are an established technology, with great potential for applications, for which first principles techniques can be expected to be particularly helpful.” Parker brings a large range of “real-world” experience to CMI, including previous experience in automotive emissions control for the State of California, as well as time spent staking gold mining claims in the Mountain West.