Accidents and incidents like these cause suffering, reduced quality of life and fewer opportunities for the individuals directly affected and those who depend on them. -- Robert Rosner, Argonne Director

Jan. 30, 2006 -- Some of this week's stories:

Injury toll shared by worker, family, laboratory

By Robert Rosner, Argonne Director

At East Tennessee Technology Park (formerly Oak Ridge National Laboratory's K-25 Facility), a worker fell 35 feet, breaking an arm and a leg. At Savannah River National Laboratory, an employee was badly burned in a flash fire in a lab. At Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, interlocks on laser safety systems were deliberately disabled. All these incidents occurred in just the past few weeks.

Accidents and incidents like these cause suffering, loss of income, increased health care expenditures, reduced quality of life and fewer opportunities for the individuals directly affected and those who depend on them. We all know a person who has injured his or her back and never truly recovered. It takes just a fraction of a second for a laser to cause permanent blindness. The Savannah River employee received burns that may require painful skin grafts and rehabilitation, and could be scarred for life.

Incidents like these also have major consequences to the facilities involved. It can lead to the perception that laboratory management does not take safety of its employees seriously, especially when safety has to be the foremost priority. Productivity of the work group goes down while the injured employee recovers. Injury claims increase insurance premiums — a cost shared by all employees.

Injuries and safety lapses can affect a laboratory in other ways as well. Due to the contract competition, Argonne is under a microscope — an ultra-high-powered electron microscope. Any incident, no matter how small, can get magnified into a public relations crisis, affecting our excellent reputation and our standing as a good neighbor in nearby communities. And the current emphasis on safety will not lessen when the contract competition is over; far from it. As I mentioned in my coffee talks across the lab, the U.S. Department of Energy is going to reduce our safety targets drastically in 2007 so that safety requirements will become more stringent. If anything, safety will become even more important in the future.

Given all these factors, additional improvement to our already good safety record isn't an option — it's mandatory. And it all begins with an individual employee asking a simple question: Is this as safe as it can be? If you have any doubts, if you see or even suspect a dangerous condition, stop work immediately and notify your ESH representative.

The R&D work of the laboratory is vitally important to the nation, but it can wait until the proper procedures and precautions for the safety of our workers have been followed to the letter.

Contract competition update: draft RFP under review

By Robert Rosner, Argonne Director

Since issuance of the Draft Request for Proposal (RFP) Jan. 3, a small group of Argonne technical and management personnel — supported by The University of Chicago — have been reviewing the draft to gain a solid understanding of competition requirements and U.S. Department of Energy focus areas. In addition to building understanding, these individuals prepared questions and clarification requests, and these information requests were submitted to the DOE Source Evaluation Board (SEB) Jan. 23. Our competition management team looks forward to receiving the SEB's response to our questions over the next month or two.

As part of our draft RFP analysis, several members of the Argonne management team prepared for the comments workshop, which was held Jan. 26 at Fermilab. We also prepared for the one-on-one meeting being held this week. All of these analysis activities will help our proposal team to develop a highly responsive set of strategies and approaches designed to deliver results that exceed DOE's expectations for the new contract.

Nearly 20 Argonne senior technical and management personnel are working with University of Chicago personnel to develop competition strategies that address all draft RFP requirements and DOE competition initiatives. In these early stages of proposal development, Argonne staff are working after hours and on weekends on the effort. The Argonne management team remains focused on the day-to-day management and operations of the laboratory and safe performance of our science and operations missions.

While many aspects of our approach for developing the proposal are considered competition-sensitive, I will share news about our proposal development efforts and progress over the next several months.

Stine to lead PME division

Gail Stine has been named director of the Project Management and Engineering (PME) division.

PME was formed in August 2005 to improve the integration and delivery of projects on site. PME is responsible for site planning and construction projects, and serves as a resource for implementation of project management at the laboratory.

Stine's previous position was business director at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division (IHDIV), where she was responsible for a facility infrastructure of more than 1,600 buildings. As one of the laboratory's two senior civilians, Stine directed a workforce of more than 1,500 employees, including 800 scientists and engineers and annual operations of approximately $500 million.

Stine's Navy career began in 1985 as a branch manager in the Indian Head Division's Test and Evaluation Department. She also served as program manager of IHDIV's gun ammunition, environmental and demilitarization programs. In 1995, Stine was promoted to director of the Applied Analytical Division, where she directed the performance and development of characterization tests for chemical and mechanical properties on a wide range of explosives, propellants and igniter materials. In 2000, Stine advanced to head of the Energetics Evaluation Department, overseeing the IHDIV's destructive and nondestructive test and analysis required for the evaluation of ordnance and propulsion systems.

Stine is a recognized international expert in the field of propellant stability and compatibility. She served 10 years on a NATO panel of experts for munitions safety and suitability for service, and seven years as the Reactivity Panel chairman under the Joint Army-Navy-NASA-Air Force Subcommittee for Propellant Development and Characterization. In support of Desert Storm, she oversaw the development and deployment of the first mobile field laboratory for the testing of ordnance.

Stine has written 14 papers in professional publications. She is a member of the Acquisition Professional Community and Defense Leadership and Management Program. She has received numerous awards during her career, including the Navy Desert Storm/Shield Medal, Meritorious Unit Commendation for Operation Enduring Freedom, and two Meritorious Civilian Service Awards.

Arts at Argonne silent film festival to look at love

Arts at Argonne will host a showing of silent films Friday, Feb. 10, with live piano accompaniment by David Drazin, official film accompanist of the Gene Siskel Film Center at Chicago's Art Institute.

The evening's selection of films focuses on love, and most of the evening's offerings maintain a light-hearted tone. Stars include Dorothy Devore and Walter Hiers in "Hold Your Breath," and Roscoe Arbuckle and Mabel Normand in "Fatty and Mabel Adrift."

The program will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Building 402, the Advanced Photon Source Conference Center. Tickets are $5 and will be sold in the Building 213 Cafeteria the week of Feb. 6, and at the box office before the performance.

Arts at Argonne, the laboratory's fine-arts program, is supported in part by funding from the Illinois Arts Council.

Den Hartog named APS 'Supervisor of the Year'

By Kevin Trim

Patric Den Hartog (XFD) has been named Advanced Photon Source (APS) Supervisor of the Year. Hartog, who was honored at an APS all-hands meeting, supervises a group of 22 engineers and technicians responsible for the mechanical design and fabrication of apparatus to generate and transport high-intensity X-ray beams at the APS.

To be considered for the distinguished annual award, a candidate must first be nominated by his or her staff. A selection panel, comprising members of the APS Employee Advisory Committee, reviews all nominations and forwards its recommendation to the associate laboratory director for Scientific User Facilities, who ultimately selects the recipient .

"Over the years, I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with many of Argonne's outstanding people," Den Hartog said. "I am honored to receive this award as a reflection of the excellent work performed by the dedicated members of my group."

While presenting the award, J. Murray Gibson, associate laboratory director for Scientific User Facilities, listed several of Den Hartog's managerial qualities cited by his staff during the nomination process. Gibson said Den Hartog entrusts and delegates responsibilities; handles issues professionally; treats each employee fairly; encourages employees on technical skill development; has an open-door policy and is respected by employees. 

"Patric is an outstanding supervisor not only in the eyes of all the members of the group that nominated him," Gibson said, "but also from the management perspective because his group is productive and successful. He illustrates that good people skills are key to supervisory success. We had many other compelling nominations for this award, and we are lucky that we have so many good supervisors."

During his 29-year career at Argonne, Den Hartog has served in several management positions. He originally joined the laboratory as a Van de Graaff Accelerator Project Engineer within the Physics Division, and later served as the first Operations Manager of the Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator (ATLAS).

In 1990, Den Hartog accepted a position with Grumman Aerospace to supervise the installation and commissioning of the Continuous Wave Deuterium Demonstrator.

In 1994, Den Hartog joined Argonne's APS, serving as the deputy group leader of the insertion devices team, prior to being named to his current position.

"I see my role as that of a facilitator," Den Hartog said, "helping employees set their goals, providing them with the means to accomplish them, and then getting out of the way so they can achieve them."

The Supervisor of the Year Award will be expanded next year to include all of the divisions in Scientific User Facilities.

Sha honored for work on reactor safety, analysis

William T. Sha has won the highest award bestowed by the American Nuclear Society's Thermal Hydraulics Division.

The 2005 Technical Achievement Award recognizes Sha's many outstanding and unique contributions to the field of two-phase vapor and liquid flow and nuclear reactor design and safety analysis. Sha developed and applied novel porous media formulation and boundary-fitted coordinate transformation for rod bundles to analyze thermal hydraulic behavior and phenomena.

Both continuum and conventional porous media formulations are subsets of the novel porous media formulation, which is particularly suitable for computational fluid dynamics. The boundary-fitted coordinates transform complicated rod-bundle geometry into Cartesian coordinates with all rod boundaries coincident with computational grid lines. This is the most rigorous calculational method for rod bundles.

Sha was instrumental in developing the pioneering COMMIX code, based on the novel porous media formulation, and BODYFIT code, based on the boundary-fitted coordinate transformation. BODYFIT was the first code to accurately model the complex geometry of a reactor's various systems in three dimensions.

The Technical Achievement Award is presented annually to a member of the Thermal Hydraulics Division in recognition of outstanding past or current technical achievement. It is based on a major contribution to the state of the art, an important publication, a major technical achievement or a sustained record of accomplishment and technical excellence.

Sha served at Argonne for more than 30 years, most recently as a senior nuclear scientist and director of the laboratory's Analytic Thermal Hydraulic Research Program and Multiphase Flow Research Institute. He also served as a special consultant to the laboratory director, developing theoretical and predictive methods for design and safety analysis of nuclear reactors. He retired from Argonne in 1997.

Sha is currently chairman of Sha and Associates, Inc., providing consulting services to the power industry and demonstrating technology based on his patented pressure control system. The system could save the power industry billions by increasing power plant efficiency.

Volunteers wanted for Science Bowl

Argonne's Division of Educational Programs will host the Chicago Regional Middle School Science Bowl Thursday, Feb. 9, at the Building 402 Conference Center. Volunteers are needed to serve as moderators, judges, timekeepers and score keepers.

The competition has been changed to a weekday so Argonne employees whose schedules permit can attend the competition — especially the semifinal and final rounds.

The preliminary rounds will begin promptly at 9:30 a.m., with the championship round ending at about 2:45 p.m.  Eight to 12 teams of four students are expected to attend.

Practice sessions for all volunteers will be conducted Tuesday, Jan.  31; Wednesday, Feb. 1; and Friday, Feb. 3.  Employees who would like to participate should call Lou Harnisch (DEP) at ext. 2-6925 or lharnisch@dep.anl.gov.

More information is online.

Scientists wanted to connect students to research

Argonne's Division of Educational Programs is looking for several scientists to conduct distance-learning presentation sessions between Argonne and Chicago Public Schools. Researchers can give students a "virtual tour," converse with students about themselves and their research, conduct demonstrations or relate research ideas. Sessions last about 20 minutes. Specific dates are available in February and March.

More information and examples of past conferences are online.

For more information, contact Lou Harnisch at ext. 2-6925 or lharnisch@dep.anl.gov.

Electronics Technology plans Feb. 8 open house

Part of the former CIS Electronics Department has relocated and retooled. The newly formed Electronics Technology Department is now a part of the Welding and Sheet Metal Services section within TSD's Central Shops. All employees are welcome to attend an open house Wednesday, Feb. 8, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the department's new facility: Building 363, Room I122.

The department translates clients' concepts into working hardware, using state-of-the-art components and the latest fabrication methods to deliver top-quality products within schedule and cost constraints.

The Electronics Technology Department can meet needs for specialized electronic equipment and fabrication services; services are still available on a cost-recovery basis. Feel free to bring projects and ideas for feedback. Refreshments will be served.

For more information, contact the Electronics Technology Department at ext. 2-6988 (Rich Voogd) or ext. 2-6304 (Michael Anthony).

Martin Luther King III speaks on 'Dream Deferred'

In honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Martin Luther King III addressed Argonne and Department of Energy employees in a speech titled "The Dream Deferred."

Speaking to a full house at the Advanced Photon Source auditorium on Jan. 13, King told the audience that while elements of his father's dream have been achieved, there are other aspects of his vision that have not become reality.

There are masses of people who still struggle in their daily lives, King said, including the 36 million Americans who live in poverty and the 45 million Americans with no health insurance. He noted that at the time of his death, his father had begun a campaign to help poor people of all color. "He talked about economic empowerment and redistribution of wealth and property."

"All over America there is poverty," King said, "but we put blinders on and pretend it doesn't exist." In order to fully achieve his father's vision of an equal opportunity nation, King believes poverty must be eradicated. To do so requires leadership, education and community.

"We may still need to give some a fish, but we also must reinstate programs that teach people how to fish so they can feed their families," King said. "For everyone in this nation, we need to work for decent jobs, health care, housing and education. No one can do this for us but us. We're all going to have to roll up our sleeves and say I want to make a difference in my community."

Martin Luther King III is the eldest son of the late Dr. King and Coretta Scott King. He is a human rights advocate, a community activist and a political leader. He currently serves as president and CEO of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, based in Atlanta. His talk was sponsored by Argonne and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Lindblom Math and Science Academy, Chicago, is looking for volunteers to serve as advisors to the school's robotics competition team.

A team of Lindblom students, staff, industry mentors and volunteers will meet through Tuesday, Feb. 21, to design, engineer, build and program a robot based on a global challenge.

The team will compete in the Chicago and Milwaukee regional tournaments the last two weekends in March.

To volunteer, call Pat Canaday (C&PA) at ext. 2-5562 or patcanaday@anl.gov.

AABC hosts art, culture exhibit

The African American Black club (AABC) will hold an art and culture exhibit from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2, and Friday, Feb. 3, in the Building 213 Cafeteria lobby.

The exhibit will feature African dolls, sterling silver, clothing, artwork and collectibles.

For more information, contact Reginald Alley (ASD) at ext. 2-2766.

Tai Chi Club seeks new members

The Argonne Tai Chi Club welcomes employees to try Tai Chi, a type of moving meditation. The club focuses on health and stress relief.

Classes are held Mondays from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Building 208 Library.

For more information, contact Mark Kamiya (EQO) at ext. 2-2704 or mkamiya@anl.gov.

Girls can apply for engineering conference

Applications are now being accepted for middle-school-aged girls interested in participating in Argonne's Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (IGED2006).

The laboratory will host girls from 6th, 7th and 8th grades Thursday, Feb. 23, for a full day of lab tours, hands-on activities and discussions about the world of science and engineering. A special lunch with women scientists and engineers will let students ask questions and discuss careers.

More information and registration materials can be found online. Space is limited; early application is encouraged. A lottery system will be used to accept applicants. The deadline for applying is Friday, Feb. 3.

Battery recycling keeps toxic heavy metals at bay

In 2005, Argonne employees placed 4,100 pounds of batteries in designated buckets throughout the laboratory.

The batteries are collected and stored by John Herman (WMO) until they are shipped to the battery reprocessing facility that recovers metals for reuse. The program is supported by Waste Management Operations and the Argonne Pollution Prevention/Waste Minimization Program.

The Argonne battery collection program accepts alkaline, lead, lithium, zinc-carbon, nickel, nickel cadmium and silver oxide/button-cell batteries. Battery terminals must be taped to comply with shipping regulations.

When disposed of incorrectly, heavy metals inside batteries may leak into the ground when the battery casing corrodes, contributing to soil and water pollution and endangering wildlife.

Outside of Argonne, only five percent of consumer rechargeable batteries are recycled. Argonne employees should contact their local municipalities or waste disposal companies for information on recycling batteries used at home. The Naperville Regional Household Hazardous Waste Facility, (630) 420-6700, and most Radio Shacks accept batteries for recycling. Contact your environmental compliance representative, building manager, or Gregg Kulma (ext. 2-9147) for more information.

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.

"Listening for the Right Information" (HR404) — Part of the Critical Conversation Series. Thursday, Feb. 2, 1 - 3 p.m., Building 201, Conference Room 190. This class covers approaches and techniques to enhance participants' ability to get information by encouraging information-sharing and promoting constructive relationships.

"Situational Leadership" (HR360) — Tuesday, Feb. 7, 9 a.m.- 4:30 p.m., Building 212, Conference Room A157. Register by Friday, Feb. 3. Employees will participate in a leadership self-assessment, explore four leadership styles and directive behaviors, and apply the concepts to their own work situation.

"Fitness for Duty" (HR226) — Monday, Feb. 13, 1 - 5 p.m., Building 202, Conference Room B159. Register by Friday, Feb. 3. This course provides supervisors with an awareness of their responsibilities and support they can receive from other Argonne groups when dealing with fitness for duty situations.

"The Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback" (HR397) — Part of the Critical Conversation Series. Thursday, Feb. 16, 1 - 3 p.m., Building 201, Conference Room 190. Participants will learn to develop productive and positive approaches that can increase confidence when giving or receiving feedback.

"Survival Skills Series: Managing Change for Opportunities" (HR409) — Wednesday, Feb. 22, 1:30 - 3:30 p.m., Building 401, Conference Room E1100. Adam Cohen (COO) and Murray Gibson (ALD-SUF) will discuss resilience in the face of change.

"Grant Writing Skills" (HR413) — Tuesday, Feb. 28, 10 a.m. - noon, Building 401, Conference Room E1100. Employees will learn to manage their time to be well prepared in advance and learn about consequences and obligations of a successful grantee.

"Excelling as a Highly Effective Team Leader" (HR359) — Wednesday, March 8, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., Building 401, Conference Room E1100-1200. Register by Wednesday, Feb. 8. Team leaders learn to coordinate, clarify and focus team members' efforts and provide feedback that encourages results.