Argonne’s Access Grid streams visual and audio content digitally, which users then project on their walls. The system has recently been used to foster discussions between researchers and students, to encourage the students to pursue scientific and technical careers.

Aug. 9 , 2004 -- Some of this week's stories:

Access Grid links researchers, students

By Dinesh Ramde

Four Argonne scientists gathered in June to talk to a wall for 45 minutes, telling it why science is so important. Meanwhile, 130 miles away, 60 middle school girls talked to a different wall, asking it for advice on pursuing science careers.

Welcome to the world of Argonne's Access Grid, a system developed in 1999 to allow remote groups to interact using the Internet. The Access Grid streams visual and audio content digitally, which users then project on their walls.

The discussion between the scientists and students, part of a program to encourage girls to pursue careers in the sciences and technology, demonstrated the effectiveness of the Access Grid. To use it, participants assemble in "nodes," which are rooms set up with cameras, microphones and projectors, and talk to one another as though they were all in the same room.

Imagine a security guard who sits in front of a collection of closed-circuit televisions, monitoring multiple screens at once. The Access Grid has a similar feel: Users can sit on a couch and watch a wall on which is projected multiple windows that stream the sights and sounds from every other linked node, including their own.

Mary Fritsch (MCS), the Access Grid coordinator, said it's an understatement to compare this technology to videocon-ferencing.

"Videoconferencing is point-to-point — it was never designed to link up people at multiple sites. But on the Access Grid you can link as many nodes as you want," she said. "The Access Grid makes you feel like you're talking to someone. When it's over you feel like you actually met these people in person."

Paula Moon (ES) certainly felt a connection with her remote audience. An assistant chemical engineer with Argonne, Moon was one of the presenters who spoke to the girls about education and career.

"I was hesitant to use the Access Grid at first, but after we warmed up, if felt very natural," Moon said. "It's really a powerful tool for communicating across distances."

Other researchers who spoke were Nancy VanWermeskerken (CHM), Jyoti Malhotra (BIO) and Linda Gaines (ES).

The gathering was part of the Girls Engaged in Mathematics and Science program, organized by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Edee Wiziecki, coordinator of education programs at UIUC, said the GEMS program helps middle school girls develop enthusiasm for mathematics and science. She also said the Access Grid session was well received.

"It was a wonderful experience for the girls to connect with role models and to understand some of the careers available to them," she said.

Individuals at any of more than 300 Access Grid nodes established worldwide can interact with other willing users. Argonne provides software free to organizations who want it; users have to provide their own audio and visual equipment.

U.S., Russian lab directors advocate nuclear power

Representatives of seven U.S. Department of Energy national laboratories, including Argonne Director Hermann Grunder, and nine Russian scientific nuclear organizations have developed a joint document that advocates greater global use of nuclear energy.

In addition to providing a virtually limitless supply of secure and reliable energy, greater use of nuclear energy would greatly reduce the risk of nuclear weapon proliferation and nuclear terrorism and reduce the worldwide amount of carbon emissions, the directors said.

C. Paul Robinson, director of the National Nuclear Security Administration's Sandia National Laboratories, was elected chairman of the seven U.S. representatives.

"These meetings were held to explore alternative research and development paths to meet growing energy needs," he said. "We found considerable common ground on ways to achieve future energy needs, with use of advanced nuclear systems."

U.S. and Russian representatives developed the document July 19-21 at the International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna, Austria.

The joint document says the participants believe that of all current or imminently developable energy technologies, only nuclear power is capable of meeting the growing world demand for safe, clean, plentiful and economically viable sources of electricity, fresh water, and hydrogen.

"With government encouragement and the right regulatory and economic conditions, nuclear energy could supply a substantial part of U.S. and Russian energy needs and 30-40 percent of the world electricity demand by 2050," the document says.

The joint document will be submitted to the representatives' governments for consideration.

DOE's Magwood speaks on need for nuclear energy

By Dinesh Ramde

William Magwood, director of the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology, made the case for building a new generation of reactors to meet America's increasing energy needs in an address to students and Argonne officials July 20 at the Advanced Photon Source.

As part of a workshop focusing on the continued role of nuclear energy in America's future, Magwood spoke on "Changing the World: The DOE Vision for the Next Nuclear Era." The audience of about 130 people included graduate students and faculty from the nuclear engineering departments of the Big Ten colleges, as well as government officials and Argonne employees.

"We'll need nuclear power to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil and on price-volatile fuels such as natural gas," he said. "Nuclear power will help us provide inexpensive electricity and produce large quantities of cost-effective hydrogen for transportation."

Since the birth of atomic energy in 1942, nuclear technology has evolved through three generations of reactors, from prototypes to advanced light-water reactors. Magwood envisions a fourth generation, which he expects will be available in the 2020s.

"Our highest priority is the Next Generation Nuclear Plant, which would be able to produce the hydrogen equivalent of 200,000 gallons of gasoline each day without any carbon emissions," he said. The next-generation plant would be developed through collaboration with international partners, such as France, Japan and Korea, and the U.S. private sector.

Expanding the country's nuclear infrastructure will require more workers to manage and operate the new facilities. To this end, Magwood discussed DOE's continuing commitment to educating future nuclear technologists, pointing out that DOE invests $18 million each year in scholarships, fellowships and university support.

Argonne's public Web site gets new look and feel

Employees logging on to the

Monday, Aug. 9, will experience a new look and feel.

"We've redesigned the lab's public Web site to make it easier and more intuitive for people who are unfamiliar with the laboratory and its internal organizational structure to learn about our activities and to find information of interest on our Web site," said Bobbi Bowen, director of Communications and Public Affairs.

The revised site features new content, improved navigation and a more professional look and feel. A major new section on the home page will change every two weeks to provide programmatic divisions with a regular showplace to feature significant programs and activities of their choosing.

A longer-term goal of the redesign, Bowen said, is to create an online look and feel that can spread to all Argonne Web sites to provide the laboratory with a consistent online identity.

"To assist in that effort, we will work with the lab's new Communications Council to develop a set of Web templates and make them available for all Argonne webmasters and content providers.

"We hope to make these available, along with standards for their use, over the next three months," she said. "Their use will greatly reduce the time and cost required to create and maintain Web sites while providing a consistent Argonne look, feel and brand to visitors throughout the anl.gov domain."

The new public site was created by the Argonne Communications Council. Council members are Dave Baurac (C&PA), Paul Domagala, (ET), Chris Klaus (APS), Gail Pieper (MCS), Dana Stasiak (CIS), Bob Sullivan (EAD), Betty Waterman (IPD), and Shari Zussman (CMT).

CHM's John Ferraro named fellow
of American Microscopy Society

John Ferraro

By Elizabeth Quill

Retired Argonne senior scientist John Ferraro (CHM) has been designated a fellow of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy. This is the seventh award he has received from the society since he became a member of the Chicago chapter in the late 1950s.

Offered for the first time in 2003, the fellowship recognizes members for their contributions to the society and the field of molecular spectroscopy.

Ferraro has served as president of the society and as editor-in-chief of the journal Applied Spectroscopy. He has also received the society's Distinguished Service Award.

At age 86, Ferraro continues to work at Argonne. He joined the laboratory in 1948. After more than 30 years of service, he took an early retirement and began teaching chemistry at Loyola University, where he now serves as an emeritus professor.

In 1973, he received the Argonne University Association Distinguished Scientist Award. He returned to Argonne as a special-term appointee in the mid-eighties.

"Up to now, I've relied on having a high interest in and enthusiasm for science," Ferraro said.

Ferraro's achievements are in the use of spectroscopy in separation chemistry, the study of materials under extremely high pressure and the investigation of the far infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum — which he said was previously ignored. He also spent a few years working with superconductors. No matter what work he did, the chief exploration technique was always spectroscopy.

In October, he will travel to Portland, Ore., to receive the fellowship at the Federation of Analytical and Spectroscopy Society's annual meeting.

From left are Sandra Painter (coach), Clay Ramel, Jeffrey Narkis and Sam Frank. Not pictured: Calder Coalson.

Roosevelt team takes
2nd place at nationals

A team of students from Roosevelt Middle School, River Forest, took second place for stock class model cars (cars made directly from a fuel cell kit, with limited modifications), in the model hydrogen fuel cell stock competition at the National Middle School Science Bowl. The Roosevelt team earned the opportunity to compete at the national level after winning first place in the Regional Middle School Science Bowl sponsored by Argonne this spring. They were among the 20 entries in the National Middle School Science Bowl from around the United States. The contest is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and General Motors and hosted at the Colorado School of Mines by DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Junior Achievement representative to visit

Representatives from Junior Achievement will be available at Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria Tuesday, Aug. 17, from 11:15 a.m. until 1 p.m. to answer questions and provide information about the program.

Junior Achievement helps educate and inspire students about the world of work, economics and the free enterprise system.

HR classes

Human Resources has scheduled the following classes in August at Argonne-East:

"Managing Effective Teams" (HR359) — Wednesday, Aug. 11, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Building 212, Room A157.

"Situational Leadership" (HR360) — Wednesday, Aug. 25, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Building 201, Room 190. Register by Wednesday, Aug. 11.

To enroll, contact a Training Management System representative, or visit the HR Web site. For more information, call Betty Iwan (HR) at ext. 2-3410.

On-site sign-up offered for College of DuPage fall classes

Registration for College Of DuPage Fall classes will be offered at Argonne-East Tuesday, Aug. 17, from 2-4 p.m.

College representatives will be available in Building 201, Room 190, to register students for fall 2004 classes. Employees must bring completed and approved Educational Assistance forms (ANL89). Call Betty Iwan at ext. 2-3410 for information. A course catalog is online.

Badges must be displayed at all times

Badges and site-access media must be displayed above the waist in plain view at all times while on the Argonne site.

This is a required component of the current U.S. Department of Energy security condition measures.

Retirement vendors to visit

Argonne's retirement vendors will send representatives to Argonne-East during August to meet individually with employees and answer questions about retirement plans and retirement plan assets.

To schedule an appointment with these representatives, call the number listed. Appointments are for one-half hour each.

Fidelity — Tuesday, Aug. 10, and Tuesday, Aug. 24. Call the appointment desk at (800) 642-7131.

TIAA-CREF — Thursday, Aug. 12, and Friday, Aug. 13. Call the appointment desk at (800) 842-2005 or visit www.tiaa-cref.com.

Prudential — Wednesday, Aug. 4, and Wednesday, Aug. 18 (morning sessions only). Call Cheryl at (847) 619-3519.

Questions about Social Security can be answered

A representative from the Social Security Administration will be available at Argonne-East's Human Resources Office Wednesday, Aug. 18, from 8 a.m. to noon.

The representative can take applications for replacement Social Security cards, corrected cards due to name change, lost or stolen cards, help with earnings posting problems and answer general questions about Social Security.

To schedule a meeting, call ext. 2-2989.

County seeks help for trail user count

DuPage County and the Chicago Area Transportation Study are looking for volunteers to help count bicyclists, joggers and other users of the county's trail system.

On Saturday, Aug. 14, volunteers will record when a person passes various locations on the trail system. The county will provide forms and supplies; volunteers provide a lawn chair and a few hours of their time. The data collected can help support grant applications and other funding requests to expand the county's trails and bikeways.

For more information, contact Deborah Fagan, county chief planner and trail system coordinator, at Deborah.Fagan@ dupageco.org or (630) 407-6883. Additional information is online.