 |
|||
| ARGONNE HOME PAGE | ARGONNE INTRANET | NEWS HOME PAGE | BACK ISSUES |
| |
|||
| ARGONNE HOME PAGE | ARGONNE INTRANET | NEWS HOME PAGE | BACK ISSUES |
A reception for Hermann Grunder, who will become Argonne's director Nov. 1, will be held Friday, Sept. 22 in Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria, starting at 2:30 p.m.
All employees whose schedules permit are invited to attend. Refreshments will be served.
The Cafeteria will close at 12:30 p.m. on that day.
Shuttle service will begin at 2:15 p.m. at the East area, 300, 400, and 900 areas to transport employees to and from the Cafeteria. Buses will run continuously until 4:15 p.m. Buses will be marked by area.
Researchers at Argonne will join those at several other institutions to help plan and design a new national "virtual laboratory" aimed at reducing the impact of earthquakes on buildings and other structures.
The National Science Foundation has awarded the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) $300,000 to lead a national partnership of research centers, including Argonne, in planning and designing the NEESgrid, a national virtual laboratory for earthquake engineering. This "scoping study" funding, which is a part of the NSF's Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) project, could lead to a $10 million grant for the integration and building of the NEESgrid.
Joining NCSA in leading the development of the NEESgrid are Argonne's Mathematics and Computer Science Division, the Collaboratory for Research on Electronic Work at the University of Michigan, the Information Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California (USC), the Mid-America Earthquake Center at UIUC, and UIUC and USC's Civil Engineering departments. Argonne's Materials Science Division and the National Laboratory for Applied Network Research will also contribute to the NEESgrid efforts.
"The NEES vision is to improve the seismic design of buildings, bridges, utilities and other infrastructure in the United States," said Priscilla Nelson, NSF division director for civil and mechanical systems. "The payoff will be reducing the impacts of earthquakes, potentially saving money and lives."
The NEESgrid will be built on proven, existing grid technologies like the Globus toolkit developed by Argonne and USC, and it will allow researchers to seamlessly share data, experimental equipment and computational resources. It will serve three communities within earthquake engineering: tsunami research; structural engineering, which concerns the impact of seismic activity on buildings, bridges, and other structures; and geotechnical engineering, which concerns the interactions of seismic activity with subsurface soil and rock and with foundations and infrastructures.
The NEESgrid will feature "teleobservation" and "teleoperation" tools. Researchers will be able to control experimental tools -- a seismograph, camera, or even a robot -- at remote sites from their desktop workstations. They will have real-time, remote access to the information generated by those tools.
The NEESgrid's capabilities will also extend to those of a more traditional computational grid, linking supercomputers and high-end computing clusters, storage facilities, software repositories and databases.
Representatives from some of the charitable agencies supported by the Argonne Combined Appeal will be available to speak with Argonne employees on Tuesday, Sept. 26, and Thursday, Sept. 28, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the lobby of Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria
Agency staff will answer questions and explain how donations benefit their organizations.
Agencies scheduled are:
American Cancer Society -- Promotes the prevention and early
detection of cancer through public education, and
supports legislation designed to minimize cancer risk by
containing environmental hazards or removing barriers to
health care.
March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation -- A voluntary health
organization dedicated to preventing birth defects.
Little City Foundation -- Provides programs
and services throughout the Chicago area for more
than 400 children and adults with developmental
challenges such as mental retardation, cerebral palsy and
Down Syndrome.
FISH, Inc. -- Operates a food pantry and
clothing center for the Downers Grove area. Volunteers
provide transportation, financial assistance, shelter
and errand service for the elderly and shut-in.
American Heart Association -- Works to reduce disability and death
from cardiovascular diseases and stroke through
education, community programs and research.
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation -- Funds a
nationwide network of research centers supported entirely
with private donations, as well as provides programs at
care centers to enhance the lives of those with the disease.
Misericordia Heart of Mercy -- A home to more than 500 children and
adults with development disabilities and some physically
challenged individuals.
The Combined Appeal provides employees with a way to contribute to the Metropolitan Chicago United Way/Crusade of Mercy, United Way of Will County and 18 other charities. Employees will receive information on how to donate Sept. 25. More information is available on the ACA home page.
Ali Erdemir (ET) was recently selected for membership in Georgia Tech's Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni.
The Academy at Georgia Tech recognizes engineering alumni who have made significant contributions to the engineering profession and to society.
Erdemir's research in tribology -- the study of the friction, wear and lubrication of surfaces -- has been instrumental in advancements in mechanical engineering, materials science and nanotechnology.
Erdemir's research is directed toward developing new, ultra-hard materials and coatings that have very little surface friction.
One of Erdemir's recent successes is the discovery of an almost frictionless carbon film which could have a far-reaching impact on all kinds of mechanical systems. In controlled experiments, the material showed what could be the highest wear resistance and lowest coefficient of friction ever measured. Erdemir is now working on understanding the role of the coating process in precisely why the material exhibits its surface properties and molecular structure.
Along with chemistry and materials science researchers at Argonne, Erdemir has also studied the tribology of ultra-smooth, thin diamond films that are produced by new methods.
These films could be used to make components of microscopic machines, called micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). Using diamond could let the tiny machines work more efficiently and last longer, broadening the range of possible applications for them.
For the past 14 years, Erdemir has been a scientist in the Energy Technology Division at Argonne. Before that, he was a post-doctoral fellow in the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech, where he also completed his master's and doctoral degrees. Last year, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers honored Erdemir with its Innovative Research Award. Among his many other honors, Erdemir has two R&D 100 Awards from R&D magazine, the Edmond E. Bisson award from the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE), and the Argonne Director's Award. Some of Erdemir's earlier work on the low-friction properties of boric acid earned him the Al Sonntag Award from STLE.
Erdemir will chair the annual meeting of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers in May, 2001, one of the largest tribology research conferences in the world.
-- Scott Jenkins
ECT will discontinue its VMS computer service Sunday, Oct. 1. ANLVMS, ECT's Alpha 2100 OpenVMS system, will be decommissioned on this date.
In recent years, use of the VMS service has decreased as powerful desktops became the norm. Also, ANLVMS does not comply with Argonne's password security policy.
In mid July, ECT first notified its VMS user community via e-mail of the service's failure to adhere to this policy.
Users were encouraged to transfer files from ANLVMS using techniques described at http://www.anl.gov/ECT/network/VMS/vms.htm.
ECT's local area dialup service (252-8700) also fails to comply with the "no clear text password" policy and will be discontinued at the same time.
Questions or comments should be directed to Barry Miller at btmiller@anl.gov or ext. 2-6808.
Maurice Goldhaber will present "A Student at the Cavendish Laboratory in the 1930s" at a Director's Special Colloquium Thursday, Sept. 28, in the Advanced Photon Source Conference Center, Building 402. Goldhaber's talk will begin at 3 p.m.
Goldhaber is director emeritus of Brookhaven National Laboratory. Together with James Chadwick from the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University, Goldhaber was the first to accurately measure the mass of the neutron, a fundamental particle found in atomic nuclei.
All employees whose schedules permit are invited to attend the colloquium.
"Research Opportunities at the Advanced Photon Source" will be the topic of the next First Friday Forum meeting Friday, Oct. 6.
Liz Stefanski of the APS associate laboratory director's office will present the talk. The one-hour meeting begins at noon in Argonne-East's Building 201, Room 190. Those attending the program are invited to bring their lunches. Non-employees are welcome; U.S. citizens can request a gate pass by contacting Tracy Rogness (OTD) at (630) 252-3321 or rogness@anl.gov.
More information on Argonne's Women in Science and Technology Program, and First Friday Forum, see the WIST Web site.
Long-term management of DOE legacy waste sites will be the topic of a seminar Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 10 a.m. in Argonne East's Building 402, Room A1100.
Thomas Leschine of the University of Washington will discuss the recently published report of the National Research Council Committee on Long-Term Institutional Management of U.S. Department of Energy Legacy Waste Sites. The NRC report concludes that "effective long-term stewardship will likely be difficult to achieve."
Argonne's Elizabeth Hocking (EAD) served as a consultant to the NRC committee.
Jack Ditmars (EAD), Argonne's coordinator of science and technology for environmental stewardship, will hold informal discussions about Argonne's long-term stewardship activities.
The NRC document can also be viewed at http://books.nap.edu/catalog/9949.html.
Human Resources will sponsor an "Adult/Elder Fair" Wednesday, Sept. 27, from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria.
The fair will showcase local and state-wide organizations that provide information, care and assistance to the elderly: the American Association of Retired Persons, Illinois Secretary of State Elder Programs, Good Samaritan Hospital, Rush Personal Services, DuPage Senior Citizens Council and the Illinois Attorney General's office.
A raffle will be held, with the drawing set for 2 p.m. Winners need not be present. Prizes are:
First Prize: a blood pressure monitor
Second Prize: Thera Spa Turbo Massager
Third, fourth and fifth prize: movie tickets for
Loews theaters.
Dining hours at the Guest House Restaurant at Argonne-East have been extended. While breakfast and lunch hours remain the same, the dining room now is open for dinner Monday through Friday until 9 p.m. Dinner was previously served only until 8 p.m.
To accommodate weekend guests, the restaurant will now be serving a limited menu on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 8 p.m.
The restaurant's daily menu is at http://epics.aps. anl.gov/travel/agh-lunch-menu.html
Argonne's Wednesday Night Men's Bowling League has room for individual bowlers and teams.
The league bowls at 6 p.m. at Suburbanite Bowl, Westmont. For information, call John Arnish (EA) at ext. 2-4983.
A representative from MetLife will visit Argonne-East Tuesdays, Oct. 10, 17 and 24, to meet with employees individually for insurance comparisons and quotes for the "METPAY" group automobile and homeowners insurance program.
To schedule an appointment with the MetLife representative, call Craig Riddick at (630) 810-0346, ext. 143. Before each meeting, Argonne employees should fax their auto policy renewal statements to (630) 810-1628.
The METPAY program is voluntary and is underwritten by MetLife Auto & Home. Participants can obtain group automobile and homeowners coverage at rates not available for similar policies purchased through the individual insurance market.
A variety of fast food will be available at the new grill in the Advanced Photon Source Gallery Area starting Sept. 25. The grill will be open evenings from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The menu will include hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, Italian sausage, Italian beef, chili dogs and chili. All orders will be served with French fries.
A grand opening will be held Monday, Oct. 2.
