- Argonne National Laboratory and its collaborators earned top honors at the 2023 R&D 100 Awards for pioneering projects spanning cancer research, nuclear reactor simulation, and climate resilience tools.
- The laboratory’s groundbreaking innovations, such as the CANDLE AI-driven cancer research platform and the ClimRR climate risk portal, exemplify its commitment to advancing science and technology for the benefit of communities and industries.
- These awards underscore Argonne’s track record of excellence, with 145 R&D 100 Awards to date, cementing its reputation as a leader in innovation and scientific achievement.
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, in collaboration with partner organizations, are basking in the glory of their recent achievements at the 2023 R&D 100 Awards, often referred to as the “Oscars of Innovation.” To add to the excitement, one of Argonne’s projects has also secured a finalist spot in this prestigious competition.
Megan Clifford, Associate Laboratory Director for Science and Technology Partnerships and Outreach at Argonne, expressed her delight at the well-deserved recognition garnered by the lab’s researchers and partners for their groundbreaking work. She emphasized that the winning projects and the finalist project encompass a broad spectrum of cutting-edge science and engineering, spanning from climate science to cancer research, all of which have the potential to make a significant impact on communities and individuals alike.
Argonne’s remarkable track record at the R&D 100 Awards is worth noting, with an impressive total of 145 awards collected since the competition’s inception in 1963. It’s worth mentioning that past winners include Fortune 500 companies, other DOE national laboratories, academic institutions, and smaller companies.
CANDLE (CANcer Distributed Learning Environment):
CANDLE stands as a groundbreaking artificial intelligence-based computer code that seamlessly integrates machine learning, deep learning, and cancer research. Its primary mission is to expedite the discovery of novel cancer therapies and treatments. CANDLE tackles three critical challenges in cancer research: analyzing the behaviors of proteins in tumor cells, deciphering the intricate relationships between tumors and drugs, and extracting invaluable insights from biomedical records. Notably, CANDLE has also contributed to research on potential treatments for SARS-CoV-2.
In an exciting development, CANDLE is being harnessed to evaluate the performance of the most advanced DOE computing systems, including the upcoming Aurora exascale supercomputer. This remarkable creation has been the result of a collaborative effort involving the DOE and the National Cancer Institute, with support from the Exascale Computing Project—a collaborative initiative of DOE’s Office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Cardinal: Scalable High-Order Multi-Physics Simulation:
Simulation plays a pivotal role in enabling scientists and engineers to predict the behavior of nuclear reactors under various design conditions. Often, practical experiments are either cost-prohibitive or impractical due to the need for rapid design iterations. This challenge is particularly pertinent in the development of innovative nuclear reactor designs, where simulation and modeling provide invaluable insights to enhance both efficiency and safety.
Enter Cardinal, an open-source simulation software package that excels in delivering exceptionally accurate solutions for a diverse range of applications in nuclear energy sciences. Cardinal boasts state-of-the-art, scalable algorithms that can handle multiphysics simulations encompassing neutron transport, fluid dynamics, heat transfer, and material behavior. Remarkably, Cardinal can run seamlessly on a wide array of platforms, from standard laptops to extreme-scale supercomputers. It has the capability to simulate a wide range of physical phenomena, from atomic-level neutron interactions with matter to the holistic response of nuclear reactors interacting with electric grids over kilometer scales. Funding for Cardinal has been generously provided by DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy.
