Alan Liby to lead UT and ORNL Joint Institute for Advanced Materials
Alan Liby, former Director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Advanced Manufacturing Program, has been appointed Director of the University of Tennessee’s (UT) Joint Institute for Advanced Materials (JIAM). Located at UT’s Research Park at Cherokee Farm, JIAM is a partnership between UT and ORNL.
Liby, a former colleague during our years at ORNL, was also a successful entrepreneur. He was the Co-Founder and President of Manufacturing Sciences Corporation, an Oak Ridge tech-based manufacturing business that grew from its start-up in Boulder, CO, to more than 200 employees prior to its sale. It continues to operate under ownership by Global Medical Isotope Systems.
UT and ORNL established JIAM in 2005 as a way of bringing together material scientists to do groundbreaking work. Advancements in physics, computer science, building, and energy collection and storage have all benefited from the work done at JIAM.
In his new role, Liby will be responsible for the financial management, building operations, core facilities oversight, and administration of grants and contracts for the institute. He will work closely with JIAM-affiliated faculty and staff to continue and strengthen collaborations with UT and ORNL. Liby will also collaborate with the leadership of the Cherokee Farms Development Corporation to position JIAM as the gateway to the research park.
For the past year, Liby has worked as an advisor to Montefibre Hispania, S.A., a textile plant located in northwest Spain. In that role, he worked with ORNL and the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) to transition plant production from textile acrylic fiber to specialty acrylic fiber as a precursor to commercial carbon fiber production.
