This year's appointees are Davis Tonks of the Applied Theoretical and Computational Physics Division, Fred Steinkruger of the Engineering Sciences and Applications Division and Alexander Balatsky of the Theoretical Division.
Cyril Stanley Smith Internal Scholar positions are one-year temporary staff member assignments to the Center for Materials Science. The Scholars receive partial support from the CMS to foster multi-divisional participation in materials science, to broaden CMS scientific activities and to build stronger interactions between the materials science community and Laboratory programs. During their assignments the Scholars work with mentors and contribute to intellectual growth in the materials science community.
Davis Tonk's research will examine the theory of damage and fracture mechanisms in dynamic deformation in metals. Tonks is working in collaboration with Anna Zurek of the Materials Science and Technology Division as well as Peter Thomason and David Embury of CMS.
Fred Steinkruger's work will build on an existing CMS/Tritium Science and Engineering collaboration to study the fundamental science associated with the long-term stability of tritium storage material. Steinkruger is working with Carl Maggiore of CMS.
Alexander Balatsky will work on the phase separation, stripe formation and secondary phase transitions in high temperature superconductors and heavy fermion systems. Balatsky is working with Roman Movshovich of the Materials Science and Technology Division.
The Cyril Smith Internal Scholars program is named after Cyril Stanley Smith (1903-1992), a metallurgist at the Laboratory from 1943 to 1946 who lead the team preparing radioactive materials for the first atomic bombs.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and the Washington Division of URS for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.