Lab Partnering Service Discovery

Dr. Viktor P. Balema is a Senior Scientist at Ames Laboratory. He joint the laboratory in 2016 to lead new materials development and commercialization at Ames’ led DOE consortium (CaloriCool) founded by US Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office. His technical expertise comprises development of biologically active compounds, hard and hybrid materials, polymers and chemical recycling. 

Before joining Ames Laboratory, Viktor served in various leading roles, including Hard Materials Head and Global R&D Manager, at Sigma-Aldrich Corporation - a major materials supplier to research and commercial markets. Once at Ames Laboratory, Dr. Balema served on the laboratory’s Research Management Team and Technical Advisory Committee of REMADE Institute and contributed to the development of the Strategic Plan for Ames Laboratory.

Scientific expertise of Dr. Balema spans over chemistry of bio-active agents, synthetic materials chemistry as well as upcycling of spent products, including rare earths and polymers. Viktor published over 70 papers, reviews and proceedings in open literature and filed ~15 US and international patents and IP disclosures. He also developed and commercialized numerous proprietary materials that have been offered through diverse business channels.

Thomas is the Director of Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts for Berkeley Lab’s Energy Technologies Area as well as the Head of the Sustainable Energy and Environmental Systems department. His expertise lies in developing air pollution sensors and evaluating impacts of emission treatment and control technologies. He serves as the editor of the Aerosol Science and Technology journal.

COVID-19-related research: "New Research Launched on Airborne Virus Transmission in Buildings"

Dr. Peterman is a distinguished staff scientist within the Aqueous Separations and Radiochemistry department at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). He has expertise in nuclear fuel cycle separations, radiation chemistry and f-element solution chemistry. At INL he has developed processes for the separation of fission products from acidic dissolved nuclear fuel, and developed and characterized fluorinated aromatic dithiophosphinic acid extractants. These unusual molecules exhibit remarkable selectivity for trivalent actinides over fission product lanthanides, which is a key unresolved challenge in developing closed nuclear fuel cycles. In the area of radiation chemistry, he designed and commissioned an irradiation test loop for the investigation of gamma radiolytic degradation of solvent extraction process flowsheets. He has numerous publications in the areas of separations chemistry and radiation chemistry, and holds seven US patents. His research teams have been recognized with an R&D 100 Award in 2011, a 2014 Secretary of Energy’s Honor Award for Salt Waste Disposal Technologies and a 2015 US-DOE Certificate of Appreciation for the INL Solvent Degradation and Radiation Chemistry Team.