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Argonne-East will open as usual Tuesday, Dec. 12. Official reports indicate that major roads leading to Argonne have been cleared of yesterday's heavy snow.
An ultra-efficient, environmentally friendly electric car has come a bit closer to the showroom thanks to a licensing agreement for a catalyst developed at Argonne.
Argonne and Süd-Chemie Inc. (formerly United Catalysts Inc.) have signed a licensing agreement under which Süd-Chemie Inc. will manufacture and distribute a partial oxidation catalyst developed and patented by Argonne. The catalyst forms the heart of a component that will allow fuel-cell-powered cars to run on conventional fuel.
Michael Krumpelt, Shabbir Ahmed, and their co-workers in the Chemical Technology Division developed this catalyst for use in the fuel processor of an automotive fuel cell system. It efficiently converts a wide variety of hydrocarbon fuels, including methanol, natural gas, and gasoline, into a hydrogen-rich gas that can be used by fuel cells. The catalyst also has excellent resistance to sulfur in the fuel, a property essential for reliable, long-term operation of the processor. Fuel cells use a source material like hydrogen to create electricity.
The partial oxidation catalyst also makes use of the fuel processor more attractive for other fuel cell applications, such as power for residential buildings and remote locations. Depending upon the commercial success of fuel cells, the worldwide market for such a catalyst could be as high as a half billion dollars per year within 10 years.
The Chemical Technology Division has been at the forefront of fuel cell research for more than 20 years, drawing on multiple disciplines to create and improve materials and designs for a wide variety of fuel cell types and applications.
Süd-Chemie Inc. has been the leading developer and manufacturer of catalysts for the production of hydrogen from hydrocarbons for over 50 years.
From the inception of the fuel cell industry, Süd-Chemie has been a major supplier of catalysts used in fuel cell processors.
Argonne's licensing partnership with Süd-Chemie Inc. is the most recent of more than 600 such arrangements over the past 10 years.
The agreement is also expected to open the door to further cooperative research efforts, leading to the possible development of the next generation of fuel processor catalysts.
The catalyst invented by the Argonne researchers was made possible by support from the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Advanced Automotive Technologies.
An adult holiday party will be held Thursday, Dec. 14, from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria.
Music will be provided by Mary's DJ Service. Refreshments will be available for purchase from Sodexho Marriott Services.
There will be a $2 cover charge at the door.
The Christmas-New Year closing at both Argonne-East and Argonne-West begins Friday, Dec. 22, and continues through Monday, Jan. 1.
Only employees required to properly maintain the laboratory's facilities will be scheduled to work.
Paychecks: Monthly paid checks will be distributed
or deposited on Thursday, Dec. 21.
Biweekly paid employees will receive their payroll checks or deposits for the two weeks ending Sunday, Dec. 1, on Thursday, Dec. 21, based on actual time cards submitted to the Payroll Department. The deadline for all time cards, including those of employees who are expected to work on the weekend, will be Friday, Dec. 15. Pay for any adjustments, such as overtime, not included on Dec. 17 time cards will be made on the next regularly scheduled pay date: Friday, Jan. 12, 2001.
There will be no early pickups of Dec. 21 paychecks. Accordingly, employees who will not be available to pick up their checks on Dec. 21 are encouraged to call the Paymaster's Office at ext. 2-6893 to have their checks mailed to their home addresses.
Employees reporting sick leave on the Dec. 17 time card in excess of established laboratory and bargaining agreements must submit their physician statements to the Medical Department by Thursday, Dec. 14. Managers and supervisors of these employees will also need to submit an ANL-10 form (Sick Leave Form Bi-Weekly) to the Medical Department by that date.
Site access at Argonne-East: North Gate will be
open 24 hours a day through the holiday break. West Gate
will be closed Dec. 25 and Jan. 1, but will otherwise operate
on its normal schedule -- 6:15 a.m. to 7:10 p.m. on
weekdays. East Gate will be closed Friday, Dec. 22 through
Monday, Jan. 1.
The Argonne Information Center (AIC) will be closed through the holiday break. Security should be advised of visitors expected during this period. Call ext. 2-5755 by Thursday, Dec. 21.
During the break, employees can contact the protective force at ext. 2-5730 to register a visitor.
Deliveries, shipments: No deliveries can be
accepted at the laboratory during the holiday break.
Commercial package delivery companies will hold all shipments
until Tuesday, Jan. 2.
Employees expecting shipments to arrive during the break should make arrangements to have the items delivered off site. Federal Express will collect items in on-site drop boxes once a day, except for Christmas day and New Year's day, when there will be no pickup. For more information, call ext. 2-2934 or ext. 2-2930.
The World Travel Partners-BTI (WTPBTI)
on-site travel office in Argonne-East's Building 201 and
Argonne-West's Building 710 will be closed Dec. 22-Jan. 1.
Business travelers with trips scheduled during the
holiday break or immediately after the laboratory reopens should
pick up their tickets and travel packets before 5 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 21.
To make arrangements or change travel arrangements during the holiday break, business travelers should call WTPBTI at (800) 355-8313, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST.
On weekends, Monday, Dec. 25, Monday, Jan. 1, and after 5 p.m., call (877) 898-4806. Employees should identify themselves as Argonne business travelers.
Travel authorizations for trips starting Dec. 22 through Jan. 1 should be submitted to the Travel Office by noon Thursday, Dec. 21. "Verbal approvals" should be avoided on Dec. 21.
Argonne Credit Union offices at both sites will
be closed Dec. 22, 25, 29 and Jan. 1. At Argonne-East,
the credit union will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Dec.
20, and will open a half-hour early, at 7:30 a.m., and
close at 5 p.m.. Dec. 21. The Argonne-West office will be
open for regular hours on Dec. 21: 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m., 2
p.m.-3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria and the
Argonne-West Cafeteria will be closed Friday, Dec.
21, through Sunday, Jan. 1.
Guest House: The Guest house restaurant will be
open for lunch Friday, Dec. 22; food service will end at 1:30
p.m. The restaurant will be closed Dec. 23-Jan. 1. It will
reopen for lunch Jan. 2.
The 5 to 9 Grill will be closed Dec. 22-Jan. 1.
The Guest House front desk will close at 5 p.m. Dec. 22 and will reopen Jan. 2 at 7 a.m.
The Dec. 18 issue of Argonne News will be the last of 2000.
The Argonne News Web site will be updated Thursday, Jan. 4 and 11. The first paper issue of 2001 will be dated Monday, Jan. 15.
"Maria Goeppert Mayer would be proud of the accomplishments Argonne's Women in Science and Technology (WIST) have made in their first decade," said Toni Joseph, director of DOE's office of Laboratory Policy, at the Ten-Year Anniversary Celebration of the WIST program at Argonne.
Mayer was an early Argonne researcher who shared the 1963 Nobel Prize in Physics for her work at Argonne on nucleic structure. She was also a strong proponent of women's rights in science. At the Nov. 17 celebration at the Argonne Information Center, Joseph shared some stories about Mayer that were passed along by one of Mayer's students, Mildred Dresselhaus, director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.
Joseph congratulated Argonne on its groundbreak-ing work in this area -- Argonne was the first national laboratory to create a group to promote the success of women in scientific and technical positions at the laboratory and elsewhere. She encouraged lab managers and WIST to continue its work to stay ahead of the other laboratories.
Science and technology laboratories are denying themselves new perspectives and important contributions by not recruiting and retaining women and minorities, Argonne Director Hermann Grunder noted in his opening remarks. He pledged to work to include more women and minorities in the lab.
"Women now hold 10 percent of the scientific positions at Argonne, basically the same as 50 years ago," said WIST Program Initiator, Maryka Bhattacharyya (BIO) at the celebration. But now there are more women working in management positions and serving on important committees at the laboratory than in the past, she said.
Bhattacharyya counted among the group's contributions the annual Science Careers in Search of Women Conference, Graduate School Mentoring Day, First Friday Forum and career guidance booklets. In January, WIST will begin a multimedia lecture series, "Saturday Science at Argonne," seeking to encourage high-school students -- especially girls and minorities -- to consider science or engineering as a career choice and to advance scientific curiosity in young people. (Details on this program will appear in a future issue of Argonne News.) WIST is also reviewing its first decade and developing a plan to improve the group's effectiveness in the future.
The new WIST exhibit at the Argonne Information Center was officially opened as a part of the anniversary celebration. Two of the early forces behind WIST -- Laboratory Director Emeritus Alan Schriesheim and retired Deputy to the Laboratory Director Joseph Asbury -- returned for the event.
Delbert L. Bowers, group leader of the Instrumental Analysis Group in the Chemical Technology Division's Analytical Chemistry Laboratory, has received the 2000 Kenneth J. Jensen Award for Excellence.
The award, presented Nov. 20, honors one of the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory's charter members and recognizes the exceptional work of a current employee.
Bowers specializes in tritium determination methods and atomic emission spectroscopy, with emphasis on applying inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy to the characterization of radioactive analytical samples. Analytical results from Bowers' laboratory have supported a number of Argonne programs in materials science, waste processing, nuclear technology and process development.
He was an important contributor to the development of the Integral Fast Reactor program and its successor and spin-off programs.
Bowers served as an analytical consultant in the planning of work related to this program to ensure that representative process samples could be taken to determine the success of the experiment.
Over nearly 15 years, he analyzed close to 700 program samples from a complex set of experiments, a significant contribution to the development of a process database. This database became the foundation for the Electrometallurgical Technology Process, which has significant national importance for the treatment of spent nuclear fuel.
The Kenneth J. Jensen Award for Excellence was established in 1996. During his 50 years at Argonne, Jensen exemplified the laboratory's ideals of excellence through his dedication, cooperation and commitment to quality work.
Photo badges of Argonne-East temporary employees will be exchanged beginning Monday, Dec. 11.
Badge exchange will take place at the Badging Office
in Building 302, Room 205. Badges will be
exchanged alphabetically by last name:
New badges will be required to enter the site effective Jan. 15, 2001.
An old badge must be turned in to receive a new one. Temporary employees whose appointments will last at least one year, and who have been authorized by their division directors, may apply for a new vehicle sticker.
For more information on badges and vehicle stickers, call Ben Clement at ext. 2-5757.
Argonne's Center for Transportation Research is looking for employees who own a 1994 Ford Sable or Taurus to help assess the performance of different materials used in automobile bodies.
Argonne leased one of Ford's all-aluminum Sables in 1994 to test the performance of the car's body. Researchers would like to compare the appearance of regular steel-bodied production cars to photos of the aluminum car's finish. They may take photos of some of the nicks and other imperfections.
For more information, call Roy Cuenca (ES) at ext. 2-9175 or Linda Gaines (ES) at ext. 2-4919.
Sam's Club of Woodridge will host a special two-hour shopping event for Argonne employees and their families Sunday, Dec. 17, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
There will be demonstrations and prize raffles.
Sam's Club is at 7300 S. Woodward Ave. in Woodridge.
Service Awards for November include:
George W. Crabtree, (MSD), Fredric J. Martino, (CMT), Roger K. Smith, Jr., (ET), Zygmunt Tomczuk, (CMT), Donald L. Uhrin, (PFS).
Charles H. Batson, (TD), Doyle J. Fisher, (OD), Hazel A. Harris, (OCF), Anthony J. Policastro, (DIS).
Howard K. Geyer, (TD), Mary D. Knox, (DIS).
David L. Mull, (OD), Roberta T. Riel, (CMT).
Debbie J. Leasure, (PFS), Barbara A. Meurer, (XFD), Daniel F. Sarro, (IPD).
Carl E. Baily, (ED), Travis D. Blair, (PFS), Gary A. Engelstad, (OD), Maureen A. Finnerty, (NT), Joseph R. Kamely, (PFS), Dennis T. Kelly, (ECT), Scott D. Massow, (PFS), Frederick A. Monette, (EA), Lawrence M. Slaviero, (PFS), Joshua Jai-Ho Song, (ASD), Susan M. Underwood, (OCF), Rand S. Watson, (RPS), Eve A. Yates, (ESH).
James A. Corsolini, (IPD), Anthony Evans, (PFS), Sara M. Hahn, (XFD), Daniel P. O'Brien, (ECT).
