Chi-Chang’s Corner

Second Joint NSLS/CFN Users’ Meeting Another Success

June 1, 2007

Chi-Chang Kao
NSLS Department Chair
kao@bnl.gov

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May has brought yet another very successful Users’ Meeting, the second time the event has been held jointly with the Center for Functional Nanomaterials (CFN). This year, the first day of the meeting also marked the official opening of the CFN. I want to thank everyone who helped organize the scientific program of the main meeting, workshops, exhibits, and poster session, and congratulate the winners of the poster awards, the UEC Community Service Award, and the first Julian Baumert Ph.D. Thesis Award. We are also deeply saddened by the passing of Gary Krebs, the head of the user services at the Advanced Light Source, who died suddenly on the evening of May 22 during his visit to Long Island to attend our Users’ Meeting.

The outcome of the latest Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting, held on May 3-4, was very positive. The SAC officially endorsed the NSLS Five-Year Plan, which was recently updated based on new information and input from users and funding agencies. The committee members encouraged us to go forward with the plan to expand the usage of the NSLS by industries, and with developing some of the many scientific opportunities at the Source Development Lab. The SAC also provided valuable input about transferring NSLS beamlines to the NSLS-II as well as for the planning of the Joint Photon Sciences Institute.

We are continuously looking for ways that we can provide better support and services to users, and an essential part of that is the End-of-Run Survey. To encourage more users to fill out these important forms, we’ve recently scaled down the number of questions from 37 to 10 and linked it through the PASS system for easier access. We also plan to make the survey available in hard-copy format and find a way to provide timely feedback about the changes made as a result of user input. Please take a couple minutes to fill out and submit the End-of-Run Survey.

More than 1,800 pieces of equipment have been inspected so far as part of the Electrical Equipment Inspection (EEI) program, much of that progress made during the recent May shutdown. We’ve now begun inspecting equipment at individual beamlines, and we ask for the continued cooperation from beamline staff and users as we progress. I would like to thank the staff members involved in this most recent shutdown for their hard work on both the EEI program and regular maintenance and construction activities.

Also on the safety front, we’ve prepared an R2A2 (Roles, Responsibilities, Authorities, and Accountabilities) document for lab stewards to help define how our set-up laboratories are best managed. We are working to improve the use and oversight of these labs and to assure better definition and review of the work completed in them. Completion of the R2A2 is the first step in that process. Soon, we will define the training requirements for this position and we will re-evaluate how this responsibility is assigned. It is clear that use of the set-up laboratories can be improved and we expect that better definition of the program will help.

We’re working on a new history board to hang near the x-ray ring entrance for the benefit of users, visitors, and tour groups. Designed in a timeline format, this display will highlight the major events and scientific “firsts” in NSLS history. Please email any suggestions or ideas to User Administrator Kathy Nasta.

On the scientific program front, as part of the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has received significant new funding to expand its research program at the NSLS. NIST currently operates U7A, X24A, and X23A2 at the NSLS. The new funding will allow major upgrades to the existing beamlines, and the development of two additional beamlines, as well as provide additional staff. We are looking forward to working with the NIST team here.

Finally, I’d like to acknowledge two NSLS users who were recently elected to the National Academy of Sciences: Chris Miller and Noel Clark. Miller is an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a biochemistry professor at Brandeis University. He has used X25 and X29A to study crystallized ion channel and transporter homologues. Clark is a physics professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and has used X10A to complete some of his research on the properties of condensed phases, including experiments on melting and ferroelectric liquid crystals. They are among 72 members elected to the Academy this year. Congratulations to both of you.