ORNL invites students to join the JUMP into STEM building science challenge

JUMP into STEM leadership encourages building science students from across the U.S. to join the seventh annual competition and present solutions to three new challenges. Winners will be awarded 10-week internships at ORNL. Credit: Alonda Hines/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Science, technology, engineering and math students from colleges across the nation who participate in the next U.S. Department of Energy Building Technologies Office's JUMP into STEM competition will tackle three new challenges: building affordability, peak power demand and indoor comfort in extreme climates.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a co-sponsor of JUMP into STEM, or Join the discussion, Unveil innovation, Make connections and Promote tech-to-market. Undergraduate and college students in teams of two to four are invited to submit solutions to the challenges by November 8, 2024.

"This competition offers students a real-world opportunity to experience the journey of bringing building technologies from the research-and-development stage to commercialization," said Yeonjin Bae, ORNL's JUMP into STEM lead. "The goal is to help students understand how affordable, attainable and energy-efficient technologies designed in a laboratory setting can have real impacts in the market."

The JUMP into STEM challenges include:

• Building affordability - focuses on reducing costs of high-performance, energy-efficient building technologies to improve costs, equity and accessibility. Students may consider solutions to improve the affordability of installing, retrofitting, operating or maintaining high efficiency building equipment or building envelopes.
• Reduce power demand or load in U.S. buildings - focuses on thermal loads and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. Innovative solutions in commercial, residential and new and existing buildings developed by student teams should lead to significant reductions in carbon emissions while being accessible to low-and moderate-income communities.
• Taking comfort to the extreme - gives students the opportunity to develop solutions that improve occupant indoor thermal comfort in buildings in the U.S. located in extreme climates or locations prone to severe weather events. Students will address the environmental factors that determine individual satisfaction within indoor atmospheres.

Winners of the annual building science student competition, JUMP into STEM, work alongside researchers in the Building Technologies Research and Integration Center at ORNL during summer internships. Credit: Alonda Hines/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Teams with the most promising ideas win paid summer internships at ORNL, and co-sponsors the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, or NREL, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, or PNNL, to develop their solutions further with top building scientists and industry leaders. The program seeks to attract students from a wide range of personal and academic backgrounds because their unique experiences, perspectives, talents and skills are essential to understanding the full range of building occupant behaviors and needs. JUMP into STEM hopes to enrich the capabilities of students so they innovate better solutions to longstanding challenges in the building sector. The competition especially enables students from historically underrepresented communities in STEM, building sciences and building sector workforces to thrive in related careers.

"JUMP into STEM provides unique access into the work of the national labs," said Liane Hancock, student advisor with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. "The access to directors from programs and leading scientists and engineers shows just how much the Department of Energy is dedicated to bringing young people who represent the fabric of this country to the forefront of cutting-edge research on building technology. No matter where you come from, you belong here."

Kyle Gluesenkamp, right center, and Xiaobing Liu, left center, thermal energy storage researchers at ORNL, mentor JUMP into STEM students during 10-week summer internships. Credit: Alonda Hines/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Hancock is a member of the professor team, which consists of faculty from colleges and universities who incorporate the competition into their curricula and offer students the opportunity to participate as part of their studies. Although many participants learn about JUMP into STEM in the classroom, independent student teams may apply without a professor team connection.

Challenge-level winners and additional eligible teams will compete during the final competition held January 30 - 31, 2025, at NREL. All challenge-level winners earn one-on-one mentorship from a building science professional. Eligible competition winners receive a paid 10-week summer internship at ORNL, NREL or PNNL and participate in onsite partner visits with industry sponsors Johnson Controls and Clayton Home Building Group.

Students and professors interested in incorporating JUMP into STEM into their curriculum can learn more about the competition and review this year's open challenges here, while potential sponsors can learn more here.

UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE'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.