Argonne’s Human Resources Director Carol Quinn (left) accepts the Diversity and Multiculturalism Award from Robin Robinson of FOX News, Chicago.

Aug. 1, 2005 -- Some of this week's stories:

Emergency response software licensed

By Catherine Foster

All Hazards Management, LLC, of Denver, Colorado has obtained worldwide exclusive rights to the Sync Matrix technology portfolio, a unique toolset of emergency preparedness software and systematic, structured services developed at Argonne.

This toolset enables the development of completely integrated, coordinated and synchronized emergency plans. Sync Matrix visually displays information to enable first responders to deliver an impeccably executed, multi-jurisdictional response to a terrorist attack or natural emergency of any source. 

It is the first and only systems-based application developed to address the complexities of planning and testing emergency responses by multiple agencies, disciplines and jurisdictions.

The program supports the development of any number of emergency plans, from hurricanes, tornados, forest fires, chemical spills, etc., to any type of homeland defense emergency scenario. Sync Matrix is the first systems-based application developed to address the complex problem of planning and integrating responses to emergencies, particularly those involving different teams or agencies.

For example, if County A evacuates to County B, what needs to be done to accommodate evacuees? How many shelters will be needed? How long will it take to erect them? What traffic control is needed on the evacuation routes?

Sync Matrix helps planners and responders think through these types of problems.

"Today, nearly all emergency responses require the coordination of federal, state, regional, local and volunteer resources executing a unified response to effectively handle a crisis," explained Paul Hewett, one of the inventors from Argonne's Center for Integrated Emergency Preparedness (CIEP) within the Decision and Information Sciences Division. 

"As the complexity of emergency response planning increases," adds Jacques Mitrani, co-inventor in Argonne's CIEP, "it becomes nearly impossible for an incident commander to understand and coordinate the response like clockwork."

"We're proud to be working with Argonne to make this unique technology available to emergency response entities worldwide," said Duane Habeck, president of All Hazards Management, LLC. "Whether the emergency response involves natural disasters such as fires, earthquakes or tornados, or homeland security threats such as chemical, biological, radiological, agricultural agents or cyber attacks, the Sync Matrix software will improve response, minimize risk and save lives." 

All Hazards Management plans to incorporate Sync Matrix with its existing proprietary software to produce a comprehensive suite of emergency preparedness software unlike any in the market today.

Sync Matrix was developed by Argonne researchers for the U.S. Army in support of the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program and was later adopted by the Department of Homeland Security's Office for Domestic Preparedness as part of the Urban Areas Security Initiative.

The $5.5 million dollar license agreement and three-year research agreement was facilitated through Argonne's Office of Technology Transfer. The agreement culminates work that began in 2003, when the Illinois Technology Enterprise Center at Argonne (Argonne ITEC) targeted Sync Matrix as a high-potential candidate for commercialization.

Argonne honored for diversity, multiculturalism

Argonne won the Diversity and Multiculturalism Best Practices award — one of the top 10 "Elite" awards of Chicago's Best and Brightest Companies to Work For — presented by the National Association for Business Resources. The awards recognize companies that use innovative practices and tools in human resources activities.

The Diversity and Multiculturalism Best Practices award focuses on the "extent to which the organization is open and inclusive to people of differing human qualities, promotes a tolerant work environment, and considers diversity and multiculturalism to be a competitive advantage."  

"This is good news for Argonne and recognition of the laboratory's efforts to leverage the talents of all our employees by supporting diversity," said Carol Quinn, Argonne `s director of human resources.  "It is one more acknowledgement that Argonne is truly an `Employer of Choice.'"   

The full list of top 10 Elite winners and their categories are:

Communication — Banco Popular North America

Community Initiatives — Foote Cone & Belding

Compensation and Benefits — Diamond Cluster International, Inc

Diversity and Multiculturalism — Argonne National Laboratory

Employee Education and Development — General Growth Properties, Inc

Employee Engagement and Commitment — Griffin, Kubik, Stephens, & Thompson, Inc

Recognition and Retention — HarleyEllis

Recruitment and Selection — VW Credit, Inc.

Work-Life Balance — Crowe Chizek and Company LLC

"Best of the Best" Award — Ernst & Young, LLP

The Elite awards are designed to showcase the top companies in Chicago that represent industries as diverse as hospitality, manufacturing and not-for-profit. Sponsors of the program include the Chicago Sun-Times, DaimlerChrysler, the Management Association of Illinois, and Illinois Institute of Technology's Center for Research and Service.

The Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in Chicago is the NABR's way of recognizing successful and efficient companies.

The NABR is a newly formed organization that advocates and represents small and medium sized businesses throughout the United States. NABR specializes in providing businesses the benefits, programs, services, and assistance required to operate as efficiently and successfully as possible. Best practice solutions are available to members in the areas of human resources, healthcare, legal, transaction, compliance, marketing and office services.

'Terrorism 101' topic of lecture

A senior counterintelligence officer from the U.S. Department of Energy's Richland, Wash., Operations Office will present "Terrorism 101: The Threat We Face" from 1 - 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9, in Building 401, Conference Room A1100.

Mark Hanneman's talk will address such topics as the current terror situation, recent cases affecting the DOE laboratory complex, terrorist attack case studies and terrorist operational vulnerabilities.

This unclassified presentation is sponsored by Argonne's Office of Counterintelligence through the U.S. Department of Energy's Chicago Office of Counterintelligence. All interested Argonne employees whose schedules permit are invited to attend.

There is no need to pre-register for this lecture, but seating is limited in this conference room — plan on arriving early. For more information, call Don Lichay (SCD) at ext. 2-6191.

1st Friday Forum to meet Aug. 5

Rick Stevens, acting associate laboratory director of Physical, Biological and Computing Sciences, will speak at the First Friday Forum meeting Friday, Aug. 5, at noon in Building 221, Conference Room A216.

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.

Free software can cut reliance on Microsoft products

A new bundle of free, open-source software is now available to Argonne employees for installation on their work and home computers. The software, including word processing and e-mail applications, can greatly reduce the laboratory's licensing costs.

Argonne's contract with Microsoft has recently changed, resulting in a dramatic increase in the annual licensing price of the company's products. In response, a team of Argonne systems administrators and scientists assembled the Argonne Semi-Open Desktop as a means to save the money without losing any features of the popular, costly software commonplace on most employee's desktops. The Argonne Semi-Open Desktop replaces several proprietary software titles with free, open-source applications. The software bundle contains a Microsoft Office file-compatible office suite, a Photoshop file-compatible image editor, a Web browser, an e-mail client, PDF creation tools, and many more applications that can be installed easily onto existing computers.

There are many benefits to using open-source software. The programs can be easily downloaded, distributed and installed on all Argonne and personal computers without charge. There is no initial cost for the software or for future updates. There is no need to manage or renew licenses. Many packages are multi-platform: Users can run the same applications and work on the same documents using the Windows, Macintosh or Linux operating systems. Also, open-source software reduces Argonne's dependency on expensive, proprietary software products.

More details as well as instructions on how to obtain a free Argonne Semi-Open Desktop software CD can be found online.

Electrochemical Society honors CMT's Thackeray

Michael Thackeray of Argonne's Chemical Engineering Division is the recipient of the 2005 Research Award of the Battery Division of the Electrochemical Society.

Thackeray will receive the award during the Battery Division Luncheon and Business Meeting in October, when he will present an award address summarizing his career as a leading researcher in the field of lithium-ion batteries.

The award was established in 1958 to recognize outstanding contributions to the science and technology of primary and secondary cells and batteries and fuel cells. The award includes a prize of $1,000.

Thackeray was born and educated in South Africa. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1977 from the University of Cape Town and studied as a postdoctoral student at Oxford University. From 1973 to 1994, he was employed at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa, where he initiated his research on the structural and electrochemical properties of solid electrode and electrolyte materials for battery systems. He joined Argonne in 1994 and is currently a senior scientist and a group leader responsible for materials development in the Battery Department of Argonne's Electrochemical Technology Program in the Chemical Engineering Division.

His research has focused on the structural and electrochemical characterization of silver-iodide-based solid electrolytes, and the compositional and structural design of several transition-metal oxides, particularly manganese oxides, for rechargeable lithium battery applications. He has also spearheaded the research of a new class of intermetallic negative electrodes that operate by reversible lithium insertion/metal displacement reactions.

Thackeray has more than 160 research publications and holds 24 patents, some of which have led to the international commercialization of battery materials. In 2005, he was recognized on the commemorative wall at Africa's first internationally accredited science park (The Innovation Hub, South Africa) for contributions as a South African to world science and technology.

'Red Priest Group' to open music season

The Red Priest group will perform at Argonne's Building 402 Conference Center Saturday, Oct. 29, at 8 p.m.

The group performs largely from memory, which allows a greater level of freedom and interaction. The program is drawn from many baroque sources to create a wide range of moods and colors.

The concert is open to the public. Visitors who are U.S. citizens need photo identification to enter the site, and should call to register before the concert. Non-U.S. citizens must register before the event by calling (630) 252-3751 during business hours.

Sponsored by Arts at Argonne, the program is partially supported by the University of Chicago and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

Admission is $25. To order tickets, call ext. 2-3751. Remaining tickets will be available the week of Oct. 24 in the Building 213 Cafeteria between noon and 1 p.m.

Arts at Argonne will hold four more concerts in the 2005 _ 2006 Chamber Music series:

Arnaldo Cohen, pianist, will perform Saturday, Nov. 19

Adaskin String Trio with Thomas Gallant, oboe, performs Sunday, Feb. 26

St. Lawrence String Quartet will perform Saturday, March 25

Martin Bruns, tenor, and Brian Zeger, piano, will perform Friday, April 22

7 proposals awarded Argonne-university seed grants

The University of Chicago's Board of Governors for Argonne has selected seven proposals for Collaborative Research Seed Grants for 2005.

Awardees come from three divisions of the university, the medical school, and six Argonne divisions. Five proposals are multidisciplinary; that is, they involve researchers from different disciplines, such as chemistry and biosciences, or anthropology and energy technology. The grant program is designed to support the development or continuation of collaborative projects between University of Chicago faculty and Argonne scientists.

"There were 62 proposals, all very strong, so the Board of Governors had a very difficult time narrowing the list to the final seven," said Thomas F. Rosenbaum, John T. Wilson distinguished service professor and vice president for research and for Argonne National Laboratory. "The awards and the proposals are a strong indication of the opportunities for mutually beneficial interactions between our two institutions."

Awardees are:

"Microfuidic Strategies for High-Throughput Crystallization of Membrane Proteins." Principal investigators are Rustem Ismagilov, University of Chicago Chemistry Department, and Philip Laible, Argonne Biosciences Division.

"Fundamental Electronic Processes and Rational Design of Novel Organic Photovoltaic Materials for Future Generation Solar Cells." Principal investigators are Luping Yu, University of Chicago Chemistry Department, and Lin Chen, Argonne Chemistry Division.

"Joint Institute on High Energy Collider Physics." Principal investigators are Henry Frisch, University of Chicago Physics Department, and Carlos Wagner, Argonne High Energy Physics Division.

"Use of the Advanced Photon Source to Identify Physiological and Functional Anomalies in Drosophila Models of Disease and Development." Principal investigators are Melina Hale, University of Chicago Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, and Wah-Keat Lee, Argonne Advanced Photon Source.

"The Making of Ancient Eurasia: Objects Within and Between the Social Worlds of the Caucasus, the Steppe and China." Principal investigators are Adam T. Smith, University of Chicago Department of Anthropology, and William Ellingson, Argonne Energy Technology Division.

"Radiophage: A New Generation of Radiotracer for Molecular Imaging." Principal investigators are Chin-tu Chen, University of Chicago Department of Radiology, and Liaohai Chen, Argonne Biosciences Division.

"Proposal to Develop a Novel Atom Counter for Applications in Cosmochemistry and Geochemistry." Principal investigators are Andrew M. Davis, University of Chicago Department of Geophysical Sciences, and Zheng-Tian Lu, Argonne Physics Division.

August to bring road, parking lot improvements

Road and parking-lot improvements will soon get under way at Argonne, beginning with parking-lot striping and crosswalk marking, and moving to a short stretch of road on the south end of the site that will be closed at times during the project.

Weather permitting, striping work will be performed during the weekends of Aug. 6-7 and Aug. 13-14 in the large parking lot south of Building 203, the lots north of Buildings 222 and 205, and near the Laboratory and Office Modules 431, 432, 433, 434, 435 and 436 at the Advanced Photon Source. Some fading crosswalks will also be striped to improve safety. These parking lots will be closed on the weekends to provide open access for the contractor.

"Employees who use these lots on the weekends need to find alternate parking places," said project engineer, Phil Rash, "and cars that have been parked in these lots for long terms need to be moved."

A short stretch of roadway and parking area near Building 366 will also be repaired and resurfaced in late August (see map). Periodic closures are expected for the roadway between Building 367 and Building 368. Detour routes will be marked.

The resurfacing will reduce the dust generated by the by traffic in the area, Rash said. The work includes storm sewer additions that will improve drainage.

Grief is topic of phone seminar

"The Journey through Grief" will be the subject of a one-hour telephone seminar by CIGNA Behavioral Health Employee Assistance Program Wednesday, Aug. 10.

The talk will begin at 1 p.m. Employees can pre-register online or two hours prior to the event by calling (888) 253-4037 and entering passcode number 861767.

Receiving dock changes hours

Starting Monday, Aug. 1, the Receiving Dock will change its hours of operation to 8:15 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 - 4 p.m. The T-run delivery schedule will be adjusted to ensure timely delivery of packages.

For more information, contact Michael Bubulka (PFS-MAT) at ext. 2-4939.

HR classes

To enroll, contact a Training Management System representative and complete the online enrollment form. Call Betty Iwan at ext. 2-3410 for more information.

"Presentation Skills" (HR284) — Thursday, Aug. 11, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Building 202, Conference Room B169. Employees will learn to increase their effectiveness and confidence as presenters.

"Situational Leadership" (HR360) — Wednesday, Aug. 17, 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., Building 201, Conference Room 190. Employees will participate in a leadership self-assessment, explore four leadership styles and directive behaviors, and apply the concepts to their own work situation. Register by Monday, Aug. 1. Cost is $190.

Retirement vendors to visit Argonne

The laboratory's retirement vendors will send representatives to Argonne during August. To schedule an appointment, call the number listed.

Fidelity — Tuesday, Aug. 2, and Tuesday, Aug. 23. Call the appointment desk at (800) 642-7131.

TIAA-CREF — Tuesday, Aug. 2, and Wednesday, Aug. 3. Call the appointment desk at (800) 842-2005 or www.tiaa-cref.org/moc.

Prudential — Wednesday, Aug. 3, and Wednesday, Aug. 17 (morning only). Call Cheryl at the appointment desk at (630) 285-8876.

Management message

'ICE' can help first responders in emergency

By Gary Winner , Emergency Management Officer

By now, most Argonne employees have updated their emergency contact information using the "Personal Info" section of Inside Argonne. (If you haven't, please take a few moments to do so at www.inside.anl.gov.) But there's another way to make sure your contacts are notified when you're off-site.

It's called "ICE." It originated in Britain and received a lot of attention in the wake of the July 7 bombings in London. Many of those injured in the attacks had their emergency contacts listed on their cell phones under ICE, for "in case of emergency." This allowed emergency responders or hospital staff to contact family members even if the victim was unconcious.

I encourage Argonne employees who carry cell phones to follow this good practice from across the pond. Take a few moments to enter emergency contact information under a new entry named "ICE." For more than one contact, name the entries ICE1, ICE2, ICE3, etc.

Preparedness is one of the best ways to reduce the consequences of an emergency situation. Although our chances of being involved in a terrorism incident are small, the ICE number can assist first responders in any number of situations, from a heart attack to a natural disaster.

Argonne, Fermilab team up to recycle computers

In an average month Argonne sends more than 9,000 pounds of PCs, monitors and printers to Fermilab for recycling. Electronic equipment often contains lead and other hazardous materials that can make traditional disposal or recycling methods difficult and costly. Argonne's electronics recycling program ensures environmental safety and cuts costs.

Argonne joined Fermilab's current "e-cycling program" for several reasons. Storage space is limited, the previous program was costly and Fermilab benefits from the volume discount and lower shipping costs. Tim Carothers (OCF) and Michael Bubulka (PFS) work to get the shipments to Fermilab. There are no extra transportation costs; electronics to be recycled can be piggybacked onto regularly scheduled mail runs from Argonne to Fermilab.

The recycler, Interconn, breaks the equipment down into its original components. Recyclers can then sell the components as raw materials, and the excess is recycled completely — none of it ends up in a landfill.

Call Gregg Kulma (EQO) at ext. 2-9147 for more information about e-cycling or other Pollution Prevention/Waste Minimization opportunities.

In Memoriam

Inventor of the `artificial kidney'

Former Argonne physicist Finley Warren Markley, the inventor of the hemodialyzer — "the artificial kidney" — died July 19 at 73 after battling leukemia and Parkinson's disease.

Markley was credited with more than 100 patents on inventions of various products. Perhaps his best known, the hemodialyzer, was developed at Argonne during the late 1960s. He received one of Argonne's first R&D 100 Awards in 1970 for the invention. He worked at Argonne from 1959 to 1973.

Markley later worked at medical companies and at Fermilab as an engineering physicist. He created specialized scientific equipment usually made of resins or plastics, including plastic scintillators, which are used to detect charged particles.

Service Awards

Service Awards for July include:

40 Years

Paul A. Eident (CHM), James A. Lewellen (CIS), Armando Travelli (NE).

35 Years

Richard L. McDaniel (ET), Thomas G. Worlton (IPNS).

30 Years

Judith M. Gerches (PFS), Douglas L. Sisterson (DIS), Marian F. Williams (PBC).

25 Years

Richard D. Doctor (ES), Jerry E. Hunt (CHM), Mary A. Nunez (TSD), John J. Tatar (DIS).

15 Years

Richard A. Benn (BIO), Joseph M. Bonczalski (PFS), Robert G. Bourne (TSD), Margaret Clemmons (TSD), Jerome L. Gaston (NE), Jay Goatley (PFS), Louis H. Harnisch (DEP), James E. Hensley (EA), James F. Jakubowski (OCF), Anthony Juscius (EQO), Romas Senkevicius (TSD).

10 Years

Sasan Bakhtiari (ET), William Horsthemke (DIS), Derrick C. Mancini (XFD), Henry Ng (ES), Simei Yan (PBC).

5 Years

Victor Comello (TSD), Stephen J. Corcoran (BIO), Michael A. Doll (CIS), Sunaree Hamilton (DEP), Andrew S. Hebden (CMT), Roy J. Holt (PHY), Mark A. Jannush (PFS), Michael D. Kaminski (CMT), Patricia C. McUmber (ASD), Leslie C. Nichols (PFS), Paul F. Niquette (AOD), Raymond D. Peterson (PFS), David M. Roth (PFS), Michael E. Samsa (DIS), Christopher J. Sawatski (ASD), Michelle S. Schikora (OCF), William J. Sweetie (SCD), Hong Zheng (MSD).