Idaho National Laboratory signed agreements with Boise State University to deepen collaborative research and development projects that will advance solutions to the nation’s energy and security challenges ensuring energy dominance and economic prosperity.
The new Strategic Understanding for Premier Education and Research (SUPER) agreements will foster collaboration among students, faculty, and INL researchers. They establish a framework to pursue innovations in advanced materials and manufacturing, and secure, resilient energy systems to enhance energy infrastructure and safeguard critical assets.
Boise State and INL will collaborate on these areas of research:
- Advanced materials and manufacturing for extreme environments is the discovery, development, and characterization of strong, reliable materials used in industrial energy production and other applications that can survive difficult conditions such as ultra-low and high temperatures, extreme pressures, radioactivity, corrosive chemicals, etc. Examples include high-entropy alloys, quantum materials, high-temperature materials, wide and ultra-wide band gap semiconductors, metamaterials and radiation-resistant alloys to support manufacturing for next-generation reactor components and microelectronics.
- Secure and resilient energy systems apply technological advancements, strategic decision making, robust controls, and cyber-informed design to safeguard our critical infrastructure. This priority area leverages research and development in AI/computing and socio-technical system factors for the protection of national and energy security, while supporting system resilience amidst disruption, and the securing of the U.S. against cyberattacks on our government agencies and industry that can exploit our systems and networks.
“Since INL’s inception in 1949, we have established and strengthened research collaborations with Boise State University and University of Idaho,” said INL Director John Wagner. “Research in the areas that we have identified today is critical to accelerating our nation’s energy, manufacturing and technology sectors for the benefit of the American people. These agreements have the potential to elevate INL’s impact on these urgent national priorities.”
The five-year agreements leverage the facilities, capabilities, and expertise of the lab and Idaho universities to create impactful research and development outcomes. Longstanding research and development efforts in areas such as nuclear energy and high-performance computing will continue under these enhanced partnerships.
“Boise State has rapidly grown and advanced our research enterprise, particularly in these areas that are so critical for Idaho and our nation. We are committed to collaborating with industry and government partners to educate American workers and set up businesses for success in global markets,” said Dr. Marlene Tromp, Boise State president. “This new agreement will produce incredible new knowledge and pay dividends for years to come.”
The official memorandum of understanding is between Battelle Energy Alliance, which manages INL for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, and Boise State University.