These seals of the State of Illinois and the U.S. Department of Energy were set into the cornerstone for the Center for Nanoscale Materials by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (left), U.S. Congresswoman Judy Biggert and Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman. Photo by George Joch.

May 23, 2005 -- Some of this week's stories:

Cornerstone dedicated for 'a national asset'

Dignitaries turned out in force May 6 to help dedicate the cornerstone for the new Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne.

Among the VIPs participating in the dedication ceremony were U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel L. Bodman, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert and Raymond L. Orbach, director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

"This nanoscience center will be a national asset that will help define the future of science and technology for all of us," Bodman said. "We fully expect the fields of energy, medicine, information technology and homeland security to be touched — if not transformed — by the work that will take place here. That is why we are making such a substantial investment, both in facilities such as this and in nanoscale research in general."

Blagojevich stressed the importance of DOE and State of Illinois partnership in basic research at the nanoscale with strong potential for industrial and commercial applications.

"This facility will provide the foundation of fundamental science," Blagojevich said. "The steps taken here will lead to revolutionary applications such as nanosize probes to target disease cell by cell, powerful solar cells and other applications we can't even imagine today."

Orbach said, "Argonne's Center for Nanoscale Materials is one of five Nanoscale Science Research Centers, which represent the DOE Office of Science's singular contribution to the National Nanotechnology Initiative. When constructed, these centers will provide U.S. researchers with opportunities unmatched anywhere else in the world."

The center will support basic research and the development of advanced instrumentation to create novel materials that provide new insights at the nanoscale level. The existence of the center, with its centralized facilities, controlled environments, technical support and scientific staff, will enable researchers to excel and significantly extend their reach, according to Eric Isaacs, director of Argonne's Center for Nanoscale Materials.

"It is hard to imagine an industry that will not be impacted by nanoscience," Isaacs said. "We must first learn to synthesize the nanosized building blocks and then assemble them into something useful, such as massively parallel memory chips or advanced solar cells."

The Center for Nanoscale Materials is a partnership between the Department of Energy and the State of Illinois as part of DOE's Nanoscale Science Research Center program. Projected to cost $72 million and occupying 85,000 square feet, the center will attract hundreds of researchers and scientists per year to Argonne when it opens in 2007.

The nanoscale refers to sizes of one-billionth of a meter, or about 70,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Materials this small can exhibit entirely different thermal, electric and magnetic properties from bulk material. Nanoscale materials could form the basis of new technologies.

Researchers at the center will work at the leading edge of science and technology to develop capabilities and knowledge that complement those of industry. The challenges involve fabricating and exploring novel nanoscale materials and, ultimately, employing unique synthesis and characterization methods to control and tailor nanoscale phenomena. The unique capabilities of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne play a key role.

Employee survey to begin May 23

Beginning Monday, May 23, laboratory management will ask all employees to participate in an employee opinion survey. The results of this survey will enable the laboratory to better assess its strengths as well as areas for improvement and will help gauge how well actions the laboratory is already taking are addressing issues previously identified.

The survey will be available online at www.isrsurveys.net/argonne. The password is Argonne. The survey can be completed in less than 20 minutes; each employee's individual input is important and will be kept confidential.

Employees who do not have access to a computer can obtain paper copies of the survey from their division offices. Paper copies should be completed and deposited in the "ISR Survey Return Box" in the Human Resources Lobby, Building 201.

Management will analyze the survey results and prepare action plans. The survey findings and related action plans will be discussed with employees through their division management and will be posted on the Web.

Volunteers needed for July 9 picnic

Argonne's annual employee picnic will be held Saturday, July 9, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Argonne Park. Volunteers are vital to the picnic's success, and several are needed to run games and other activities.

All volunteers will receive a T-shirt. For a list of ways volunteers can assist at the picnic, a signup sheet and contact information, see the Argonne Club Web site. Volunteers need not be employees; family, friends and neighbors are welcome to participate.

Survey leads to additional options at cafeteria

By Dave Jacqué

Food quality, service and variety scored high marks in the recent survey of patrons at the Building 213 Cafeteria, said Guckenheimer Director of Operations Mike Cullen. In coming months the concessionaire will put additional effort into food specials and services designed to increase the "price value" of the cafeteria's offerings.

Of the 208 cafeteria patrons who responded to the survey, 89 percent considered the cafeteria's service to be "good" or "excellent." Food quality was rated "good or excellent" by 84 percent. Food variety also received high marks at 64 percent, and all had improved over the previous year's survey. When asked about "value for the price," however, only 33 percent marked one of the top two ratings.

"I think we offer a pretty good value," Cullen said. "One of our goals will be to increase the value for the money for our customers."

Cullen acknowledged that the cafeteria's prices were higher than area fast-food outlets, but said the cafeteria offered higher quality and larger portions. Given restraints on pay scales built into Guckenheimer's contract with the laboratory — cafeteria staff receive more benefits than their golden-arches counterparts, for example — prices can't be lowered, he said.

What Guckenheimer can offer, Cullen said, is more budget specials, reduced portions and additional options (see related story below).

"You may have noticed the new smoker we've acquired," Cullen said. "We'll be offering a new barbecue menu and outdoor seating during the summer months."

The summer will increase the frequency that "Road to Romaine" tossed-to-order salads are offered. Guckenheimer is also examining vegetable plate combinations. The menu at the coffee kiosk in Building 201 may be expanded.

Meeting space

The cafeteria's main dining room is also open for meetings without reservations during the morning hours, Cullen said. The recent addition of a Wi-Fi network adds to the cafeteria's utility for meetings "or just a quiet place to work away from the phone for a while." Coffee, juice and cold breakfast items are available until 10:30 a.m. each weekday, he added.

Additional services are under consideration, such as an employee "concierge" service that would offer photofinishing, dry-cleaning dropoff and pickup, and package and envelope shipping and receiving. A sundry store offering packaged candy, snacks, souvenirs and other items is also under discussion.

Cafeteria adds wireless network, daily specials

To mark the installation of Wi-Fi (wireless computer networking) in the Building 213 Cafeteria, Guckenheimer Enterprises, Inc. has invited Argonne site occupants to use the cafeteria area for meetings and offers free regular house coffee refills.

Guckenheimer has also enhanced the menu:

• Daily specials at $3.99 or less are now available at various food stations in the servery.
• Fresh vegetables and side dishes are available at the hot entrée station, and a vegetarian option has been added to every station.
• The salad bar has been upgraded with additional varieties of salads.
• A cup of soup and a half a sandwich is now available for those who prefer smaller portions.
• "Ready to order" eggs and other hot breakfast items are available until 9 a.m. daily. Other cold breakfast items such as sweet rolls, cereal, muffins, yogurt, coffee and juices are available until 10:30 a.m.

Employees are encouraged to recommend additional enhancements; contact cafeteria manager Peter Berman at ext. 2-5225 or cafe08321@ earthlink.com.

1st smoker cookout set for May 25

A "spring fling barbecue and smoker cookout" will be held during lunch hours Wednesday, May 25, at the Building 213 Cafeteria.

The cost will be $6.50 per person, which includes an entree, two side dishes and a beverage.

Entrees will include slow-smoked barbecue ribs, orange-and-herb-rubbed turkey breast, cold smoked salmon, with red Carolina, bourbon, and spiced mango barbecue sauces.

Mixed greens with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and assorted dressings will be available as side dishes, along with grilled corn with garlic butter and chives, grilled asparagus with lemon, smoky sweet baked beans, creamy cole slaw or traditional potato salad.

For dessert, tropical fruit salad with pineapple, mango, and papaya; vanilla ice cream topped with strawberries or warm chocolate sauce and whipped cream will be offered. Lemonade or strawberry and kiwi punch will be available, along with 16-ounce fountain beverages.

Friday forum features Foley

The First Friday Forum will meet Friday, May 27, at noon in the Building 208, Conference Room A138. The speaker will be Alan Foley, associate laboratory director for applied science and technology and national security, who will discuss research directions in his area.

The First Friday Forum is an informal gathering of Argonne women usually held on the first Friday of each month. The group explores career and gender issues related to women. Meetings are open to all Argonne and U.S. Department of Energy employees.

Interruptions possible
during phone upgrade

The transition to the new Private Branch Exchange, or PBX, telephone system will begin the weekend of May 28 and continue on the next three weekends. Phone system switchover activities will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday of the weekends of May 28-30, June 4-5, June 18-19 and June 25-26. Groups of buildings will be transferred to the new PBX node on each weekend; a detailed schedule is posted online.

As the cutover to the new system takes place, phones may be out of service for a few minutes. After the switchover, personal "abbreviated dial, auto dial and call forward all" destination numbers will need to be reprogrammed by users. Phone users should review and document these numbers before the switchover takes place.

After the cutover weekend, phone users should check their lines to make sure they can receive incoming and make outgoing calls, and check their phones' features.

Researchers to discuss results of LDRD projects

A mini-symposium on the results of laboratory-directed research and development (LDRD) research will be held Tuesday, May 24, from 2 - 3:45 p.m. in Building 201, Conference Rooms 190 A and B.

These mini-symposia give researchers a chance to hear short, 15-minute summaries of LDRD projects. The meeting is open to all whose schedules permit.

Projects to be discussed include:

• 2 p.m. -- "Evolution of the Hydrogen Infrastructure as a Complex Adaptive System" by Guenter Conzelmann (DIS)
• 2:15 p.m. -- "High-Throughput Analysis of Low Abundance Protein Constituents in Complex Biological Mixtures" by Carol Giometti (BIO)
• 2:30 p.m. -- "Simulations of Spin Wave Excitations in Magnetic Nanoparticles" by Marcos Grimsditch (MSD)
• 2:45 p.m. -- "ICP-OES Methods for Actinide Accountancy Measurements and Process Control in Spent Fuel Processing" by Susan Lopykinski (CMT)
• 3 p.m. -- "Functional Metalloproteomics" by David Glesne (BIO)
• 3:15 p.m. -- "Design of a Helium Loop with Controlled Impurity Control for Research on Materials with Application in VHTR" by Ken Natesan (ET)
• 3:30 p.m. -- "AMUSE Development Beyond Solvent Extraction and Into Hybrid Processing" by George Vandegrift (CMT)

Guest House Restaurant,
401 Grill post holiday hours

The Memorial Day Holiday will change the operating hours for Argonne's Guest House Restaurant and 401 Grill.

Guest House Restaurant

• Friday, May 27: normal hours
• Saturday, May 28, Sunday, May 29, Monday, May 30: closed

The restaurant's regular hours are: Monday through Friday: breakfast buffet: 6:45 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.; lunch: 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.; dinner: 5 - 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, breakfast is available from 7 - 11 a.m.

401 Grill

• Normal operating Hours on Friday, May 27, Saturday, May 28, and Sunday, May 29.
• Monday, May 30: noon to 6 p.m.

The grill's regular hours are Monday through Friday: lunch 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., dinner 4:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Holiday changes
Argonne News deadline

Due to the Memorial Day Holiday, all news items, seminar listings and classified ads for the Monday, June 6, issue of Argonne News must be received by Friday, May 27, at 5 p.m.

Physicists under 40 can compete for cash awards

Physics researchers under 40 can compete for more than $100,000 in cash awards in the Amazing Light Young Scholars Competition.

The competition is one part of a high-level international symposium "Amazing Light: Visions for Discovery" honoring Nobel Laureate Charles Townes, inventor of the laser. The symposium will be held Oct. 6-8, at the University of California, Berkeley.

The deadline for submitting entries is June 30; entries require a cover letter, abstract, short paper (2,500 words), and biosketch, submitted to young.scholars@metanexus.net.

All details for entering the competition, including judging criteria, are available online.

Eighteen finalists will be invited to the symposium to present their research. In addition to having all travel and conference expenses paid, nine will receive cash awards: three first prizes of $20,000, three second prizes of $10,000 and three third prizes of $5,000.

In Memoriam

John Chonko, former president of the Argonne Credit Union, has died at the age of 79. Chonko was the credit union's first full-time manager and CEO, hired in 1952. He helped build the credit union to a full-service financial institution with $162 million in assets and more than 12,000 members. He served as president for 39 years and retired in 1991.

Stanley A. Davis, a retired engineering division director with 14 years of service, died March 25. His wife Joanne survives him.

Ralph A. Esposito, a retired engineer technician with 19 years of service in RAS, died March 7. His children, Madeline Robertson and Richard, survive him.

Michael Marty, a retired instrument maker with 27 years of service in CS, died April 12. His wife, Geraldine, survives him.

John McKinley, a retired business manager with 28 years of service in LDO, died April 9. His daughter, Mary, survives him.

Rolland Perry, a retired associate physicist with 19 years of service in AD, died March 10. His children, Douglas, David, Kathleen Schade, and Diane Kapp, survive him.

Jerry L. Stringham, a retired chief technician II with 28 years of service in FO-AW, died April 3. His wife, Karen, survives him.

Eugene J. Wesolowski, a retired technician senior with 26 years of service in CMT, died April 12. His wife, Cindy, survives him.

Service Awards

Service Awards for May include:

30 Years

Catherine Flores (HR), George A. Grey (OCF), Bonnie K. Marchiniak (HR), William A. Ragland (OTT), Kenneth W. Shepard (PHY).

25 Years

Donald A. Hanson (DIS), Shen-Ling Tsai (OCF).

20 Years

Patricia K. Shoulders (ER).

15 Years

Steve W. Bengtson (PFS), Dennis Bugielski (OCF), Glenn L. Cherry (NE), James C. Cunnane (CMT), Glenn Decker (AOD), Anne M. Frankowski (OCF), Steven Hanuska (ASD), Glenn A. Harris (PFS), John E. Hyzer (HR), Linda L. Janca (CMT), Nancy F. Kieronski (OCF), Robert J. Krzebiot (CIS), Kevin K. Kufeldt (PFS), Barry Lai (XFD), Darlyn D. Mishur (OCF), Elizabeth A. O'Connor (OCF), Albert R. Simmons (PFS), Frank E. Skrzecz (HEP), Karen P. Smith (EA), Timothy J.P. Tess (EQO), Melanie M. Tompkins (DIS), Leslie A. Weltmeyer (AIP), Konstance L. Wescott (EA), James L. Willit (CMT).

10 Years

Steven M. Bormet (DIS), Richard A. Diviero (ASD), Daviid J. Gosztola (CHM), Carol A. Grebic (DIS), Sharon L. Juricic (OCF), Felicia M. King (ES), Loren A. Knoblich (ET), Marcia A. Konopa (RIA).

5 Years

Alan D. Adams (PFS), Selma W. Bjerkley (OCF), Jose M. Collazo (PFS), Lisa A. Gendeman (OCF), Sunggoo Samuel Joh (EQO), Susan M. Kuchta (OCF), Patrick M. McPartlin (ES), Daniel J. Newtoff (PFS), Esiquio Salazar, Jr. (NE), Wayne E. Sampson (PFS), Vikram N. Shah (ET).

3-on-3 hoops signup deadline is June 3

Sign-up has begun for the "Three on Three" basketball tournament season at Argonne.

The tournament is open to Argonne and U.S. Department of Energy employees of any skill level. Games are played at lunchtime at the outdoor basketball court in the 600 area. The tournament begins Monday, June 13.

Partial teams and individuals are welcome. Registration deadline is Friday, June 3.

For more information, rules and scheduling, contact Leon Reed (HEP) at ext. 2-4478.

CIS classes

Class descriptions, schedules and enrollment forms are available online. For information on enrollment, contact Diane Cavazos (CIS) at ext. 2-7153 or dkcavazos@anl.gov.

Unless otherwise noted, classes are held in Building 201, Room 167, are limited to eight participants, and cost $225.

• "Advanced Word 2003" (CIS124) — Wednesday, June 1, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
• "Advanced Excel 2003" (CIS127) — Thursday, June 2, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
• "Advanced Access 2003" (CIS130) — Friday, June 3, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
• "Introduction to PowerPoint 2003" (CIS131) — Monday, June 6, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
• "Advanced PowerPoint 2003" (CIS132) — Tuesday, June 7, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
• Beginning Unix (CIS564) — First session: Tuesday, June 21, 9 a.m. - noon. Second session: Thursday, June 23, 9 a.m. - noon. This class is free.
• "vi Editor in Unix" (CIS567) — Friday, June 24, 9 a.m. - noon. Free.