Notes from the UEC

Past and Present

July 10, 2008

John Parise
UEC Chair
Stony Brook University
john.parise@stonybrook.edu

Archives:
July 2008
March 2008
November 2007
August 2007
April 2007

Stony Brook University professor John Parise took over the post of UEC Chair for NIST scientist Dan Fischer in May. Read below for their thoughts on the activities of the last year and the plans for the future.

Wrapping up an Eventful Year

It has been my pleasure to serve all of you as UEC chair this past year.

One of the principal functions of the UEC is to provide an organized framework to communicate the needs and concerns of those who use the NSLS (the users) to the NSLS management and vice versa. These are usually addressed during our regular UEC and open town meetings.

This year, we spent considerable effort enhancing communication on housing concerns, led by Vivian Stojanoff. Although housing remains an issue for improvement, the UEC has begun a serious dialogue with BNL management with a thorough and respectful airing of needs and concerns.

The UEC together with the RHIC user group strongly supported the creation of the Starbucks coffee kiosk in the Research Support Building, which many of us now regularly enjoy.

Also, this year we were able to substantially increase the funding for the NSLS Users’ Meeting workshops, supporting the travel of a greater number of invited speakers toward improving the overall quality of the workshops.

The UEC also gave input on a number of major issues such as the NSLS Five-Year Plan, the NSLS industrial white paper, and the NSLS-II workshops held early this year. In April, the NSLS had its Department of Energy/Basic Energy Sciences Triennial Review and the UEC had lunch with review committee. We brought up three major points:

First, we made sure the committee understood our unanimous high opinion of Chi-Chang Kao’s leadership and planning at the NSLS and the infectious enthusiasm he brings even under very difficult budget constraints.

Second, we told the review committee, “Even Chi-Chang can’t turn air into dollars!” The NSLS needs more financial support; the staff is spread very thin, and the budget is at a critical level. The NSLS user facility is a vibrant and an indispensable part of this nation’s research infrastructure. We spoke up strongly for improved financial support for the facility, especially looking forward to NSLS-II.

Our third topic with the review committee was the transition of NSLS to NSLS-II and how this was being addressed. Although many issues remain to be resolved, the UEC was invited to serve on the Beamline Transition Working Group.

The Beamline Transition Working Group is chaired by Steve Hulbert and brings together at a single table stakeholders from the NSLS facility, the UEC, and the NSLS-II facility. The group has tried to meet weekly since December. Initially, we met with representatives from every NSLS facility and PRT beamline to individually discuss NSLS-II transition possibilities of beamlines, components, endstations, scientific programs, and staff. This initial suite of meetings created a list of existing NSLS resources that make sense to transfer and documented transition plans already in preparation by some stakeholders. Now that the NSLS/NSLS-II Scientific Strategic Planning Workshops have completed their white papers we have moved on to our next phase – aligning our transition resource data with the identified required beamline capabilities of each scientific workshop. Soon we will generate an NSLS beamline transition report, a key input for the strategic plans of NSLS and NSLS-II that will help all parties pursue the required funding to implement a transition plan.

The ultimate goal is to have a large number of beamlines operational on day one of NSLS-II, reflecting the diversity of the NSLS stakeholders, agency missions they represent, and our industrial partners.

Dan Fischer
UEC Past Chair

Your Involvement Needed Online, In Person

The achievements and innovations of the NSLS users were very much on display at our recently completed joint NSLS/CFN users meeting. The NSLS user administration staff provided outstanding support to this joint meeting and associated workshops. I think the talks by the invited speakers at the main were delivered at a perfect pitch, inspiring many users as they engage with the DOE's energy initiative. The meeting also highlighted views of BNL and DOE management. Despite the fiscal challenges, progress is being made, especially in the area of most concern to NSLS users – the transition to NSLS-II (see below). In her talk, Pat Dehmer, in her new role as Deputy Director for Science Programs at DOE's Office of Science, suggested that this year's budgetary woes may be an aberration. This was a ray of hope in an otherwise challenging environment for facilities.

The UEC also met separately with Pat Dehmer for some sobering discussions on the state of the budget. She was supportive and cautiously optimistic that NSLS-II can maintain its ambitious construction schedule. So there is a sense of excitement at the opportunities for new science funding, tinged with a little trepidation for the future of a valuable resource. The leadership of the NSLS by Chi-Chang Kao continues to be a bright spot. There are questions that need clarifying, including the transition to NSLS-II, the investment in the NSLS, and how long the NSLS will remain lit. These and other questions will need answers in the coming year and I urge you to continue your involvement in these important issues. Involvement might include occasional attendance at one of the regularly scheduled UEC town meetings if you're in town (the next one is August 14, 2008) and using myself and/or your SPIG representatives as amplifiers of your concerns. A new crop of SPIG reps and UEC members are in place and it will be our privilege to represent NSLS users during the next year. Even if you cannot make the meetings, you can avail yourself of the UEC meeting minutes and town meeting video feed posted on the UEC website. Progress depends on communicating our desires effectively to the BNL/NSLS/NSLS-II management, and that’s the reason the UEC exists – for you.

The fruits of the workshops organized at the beginning of 2008 were a series of white papers that are informing the work of the Beamline Transition Working Group (BTWG) headed by Steve Hulbert. These well-attended workshops continue to build momentum and a sense of anticipation for the capabilities of NSLS-II. It is important that users remain engaged. Both past-chair Dan Fischer and I attend BTGW meetings and significant progress is being made. By the same token, it is clear that not all users’ ideas were incorporated in the white papers. This process will soon be opened up again to general users for more extensive comment. This will be an opportunity for users to point out omissions or oversights. Please have a good look at the white papers that you're interested in and provide feedback. We anticipate spending some time on this issue, and others concerning the transition to NSLS-II, at the August 14 meeting. See you there in person or online. In the meantime have a great summer!

John Parise
UEC Chair