Yarom Polsky

Dr. Yarom Polsky is the Director of the Manufacturing Science Division (MSD) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is also a joint faculty member at the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary and Graduate Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. MSD’s applied research efforts include the development, implementation, and scale-up of next-generation manufacturing approaches that support DOE’s mission to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions. The division has four primary focus areas: composite science and technology, industrial efficiency and decarbonization, precision manufacturing and machining, and secure and digital manufacturing. In his capacity as director, Dr. Polsky leads a globally recognized team that operates two Department of Energy (DOE) national user facilities: the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) and the Carbon Fiber Technology Facility (CFTF). Established in 2011, the MDF is focused on performing early-stage research and development to improve the energy and material efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness of American manufacturers. The CFTF was established in 2013 and is DOE’s only designated user facility for carbon fiber innovation. Dr. Polsky joined ORNL in 2009 and has held multiple positions including Section Head for Energy Systems Integration and Controls; manager for ORNL’s fossil energy and carbon management and geothermal energy programs; and manager of the ORNL Laboratory Directed Research and Development program. He has served in various external scientific leadership capacities such as the Process Innovation and Intensification Topic Area Lead for the National Alliance for Water innovation (NAWI), the Technical Standing Committee for the Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII), and has contributed to the development of multiple DOE roadmaps and multi-year program plans including the DOE Subsurface Science, Technology, Engineering, and R&D Crosscut (SubTER) as well as the DOE Office of Electricity’s Sensor Technologies and Data Analytics multi-year program plan. Over the course of his career, he has earned 14 patents and has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications. Prior to joining ORNL, he worked at Sandia National Laboratories and Schlumberger. Dr. Polsky holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, an M.S. in Mechanical Energy from Rice University, and B.A. in Physics from Rice University