Felipe Polo-Garzon, catalytic chemist at ORNL, received the 2024 Luminary Award for his outstanding research expertise, self-teaching ability and passion for his culture and community. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship at ORNL, Polo-Garzon has been on the chemical sciences research staff since 2019, working on the fundamental understanding of catalytic mechanisms and kinetics in energy conversions. Polo-Garzon’s research interests deal with the development of reactivity descriptors for heterogeneous catalysis, as well as the elucidation of governing reaction mechanisms through in-situ and operando characterization techniques, kinetic analysis and computational tools. 

“Felipe carved his reputation as a driver of science at ORNL, and has played a critical role in our collaborations, bringing a personal, congenial attitude along with research acumen that far exceeds many of his contemporaries. Our group relies on Felipe to make both personal and professional connections that build confidence and trust among all contributors,” said Zili Wu, group leader of surface chemistry at ORNL. “It is this built trust, which permeates our organization, that has fast-tracked scientific results and advances and improved workplace well-being and job satisfaction among all of those who have the opportunity to interact and collaborate with Felipe.”

Polo-Garzon has volunteered with Centro Hispano, an organization that works to raise awareness for the exceptional contributions of the Latino community in Appalachia. One of his involvements has been through the Latinos Empowered to Advocate and Dream Mentorship program, which serves to foster leadership development skills, public speaking, teamwork and advocacy while exploring postsecondary education and career options.

The Great Minds in STEM Conference, formerly the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference, has been a national leader in STEM for more than 35 years.

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States. The Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.

This Oak Ridge National Laboratory news article "Two ORNL staff receive 2024 Great Minds in STEM Luminary award" was originally found on https://www.ornl.gov/news