Draft Talking Points
for
Phillip J. Bond,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology
and
Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Commerce
NIST Center for Neutron Research Recognition Event
5 August 2002
[Mr. Bond is introduced
by NIST Director Arden Bement.]
- Thank you, Arden.
I'd like to add my welcome to our distinguished guests, including
- Rep. Constance
Morella
- Dr. Marburger
- Dr. Colwell
- I suspect there
are at least a few people here who share with me a sense of awe as we
stand here in this huge hall surrounded by some very serious machines.
- To the lay
person, who instinctively thinks of "scientific instrument"
as something you take out of a cabinet and put on your lab bench,
a scientific instrument that involves a couple tons of metal is
instantly impressive.
- For the rest
of you, I suppose this is all pretty much old hat.
- Or maybe not. Because
that's a large part of why we're here today, isn't it? To celebrate
a unique facility.
- Arden sketched
for you a little of the background of this place, its development
into what is today one of the best facilities for neutron research
in the world.
- The 1,700 scientists,
engineers, and students from around the U.S. and the world who annually
benefit from this facility in research ranging from the dynamics
of proteins to the trading patterns of the Middle East 3,000 years
ago are a testimony to its great value to the nation.
- The NIST Center
for Neutron Research is a national resource, and we are well aware
of our responsibilities as its stewards.
- From laying
the cornerstone of the original facility in the 1960s to the recently-completed
installation of the new advanced cold neutron source, the goal has
always been to provide the nation's scientists and engineers - in
industry, in academia, in government - with the best measurement
tools in a facility that encourages the broadest possible access.
- That's something
of a theme here at NIST, and one that I'd like to take a minute
to recognize.
- NIST is
a lot of things to a lot of people -
- A source
of calibrations and reference standards, naturally
- A source
of world-class scientific research: witness our two Nobel
laureates
- But
also a source of world-class tools and facilities - a "toolbox"
that university and industrial researchers can go to for
capabilities that they can find nowhere else.
- NIST works
hard to keep the cutting edge of its "tools" sharp -
- In case
you missed hearing about it, our last big construction effort,
the Advanced Chemical Sciences Laboratory, is a state-of-the-art
lab.
- Just the
sort of place to help us - and U.S. industry - meet the 21st
century's needs for accurate chemical measurements and standards
in pharmaceutical manufacturing, medical diagnosis, pollution
monitoring and clean up, nutritional analysis and other chemical
fields.
- Driving to
this event you could hardly miss seeing the current big construction
effort. When completed next year - and I'm happy that Arden keeps
reporting that the project is on-schedule and on-budget - the new
Advanced Measurement Laboratory will be one of the most technologically
advanced buildings in the world.
- No existing
laboratory combines the features of close temperature control,
vibration isolation, air cleanliness, and power quality into
a facility of this magnitude or importance.
- The AML
will have some astonishingly rigorous specifications.
- They reflect
the world of the semiconductor industry, where a single nanometer-scale
contamination particle can cause the whole device to fail.
- They reflect
the world of precision manufacturing, where the heat from a
single human body can warp a measuring machine enough to alter
the calibration of a calibration standard.
- They reflect,
in short, the world of our clients, in industry, at universities,
at other agencies. We see it as part of NIST's fundamental mission
to ensure that the measurement capabilities they need are there
when they need them. That is a stewardship we take very seriously.
- To these add
the newly improved NCNR. Let me tell you something that Arden left
out about user access to this unique resource.
- While NIST
uses this facility for important mission-related work, the majority
of the valuable time on the impressive suite of instruments
behind me is used by a broad spectrum of researchers from the
U.S. science and technology community.
- Some of
the NCNR instruments you see have been funded and built in conjunction
with partners - Participating Research Teams. Even for these
instruments, NIST requires that at least 25 percent of time
be made available to general users .
- And of
course for the extraordinary instruments in the joint NIST-
National Science Foundation Center for High Resolution Neutron
Scattering most of the time is available for general users.
- Forgot
for a moment the visionary design. Forget the world-class research
work. If it had done nothing else, NIST would have set a mark
to meet in its management of this facility in the interests
of the nation's scientific community.
- And speaking
of setting marks for management, it's my honor to introduce to you
someone who has distinguished himself in academia, in industry,
and now in government, Deputy Secretary of Commerce Samuel Bodman.
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