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Nov. 19, 2001 -- Some of this week's stories:
Leading computer firms adopt Globus Toolkit
Hill named deputy ALD
'QuarkNet' helps bring physics to classrooms
Lab's open enrollment ends Nov. 21
Web patent searches free during trial
Deadlines change for Thanksgiving |
Twelve leading computer vendors and software providers in the U.S. and Japan have announced they will use and support the Globus Toolkit developed by Argonne and the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute (ISI).
The Globus Toolkit is an open-architecture, open-source set of protocols, services and tools that address central problems in Grid computing -- the secure, scalable and coordinated sharing and use of resources in dynamic, multi-institutional "virtual organizations." Argonne and ISI have been working on the Globus approach to grids for six years.
Grid computing is a technology that uses the Internet as basic wiring to let people share computing, storage, data, programs, and other resources, just like the electric power grid allows people and energy companies to share generators of all kinds. The goal is to allow anyone with a computer to effectively integrate instruments, displays and computational and information resources over a variety of computer platforms.
The announcement makes the Globus Toolkit the de-facto international standard in the burgeoning field of grid computing. Globus scientists and corporate representatives made the announcement at the SC 2001 high-performance networking and computing convention in Denver Nov. 12.
Eight firms, including Compaq, Cray, SGI, Sun Microsystems and Veridian from the United States, and Fujitsu, Hitachi and NEC in Japan, will adopt the Globus Toolkit and develop an optimized form of it for their platforms, as their preferred path toward secure, distributed, multi-vendor, Grid computing.
Three other American companies -- Entropia, IBM, and Microsoft -- simultaneously announced deepening of commitments previously made. Platform Computing Inc. announced Nov. 7 that it will collaborate with Globus to provide a commercially supported version of the Globus Toolkit.
Spokesmen for the companies involved used phrases like "megatrend for information technology in this century," "potential to bring Grid computing to millions" and "powerful … tremendous advances in computer power and flexibility" to describe the potential of Grid computing and the Globus Toolkit.
"We're very excited to see this breadth of support for the Globus Toolkit," said Ian Foster, Globus Project lead at Argonne and the University of Chicago. "We see this as just the first step towards broad industrial adoption of Grid technologies -- and better support for the numerous existing users in the research and education space."
"Today marks a giant step forward," said Carl Kesselman, director of the ISI Center for Grid Technologies, "not just for Globus but for Grid computing, which I believe is an essential tool for the science, engineering, and business needs of the future."
Said Steven Tuecke, Globus Toolkit lead architect at Argonne, "The Globus Toolkit provides many of the basic protocols and services required to enable reliable and secure interoperation of Grid systems, whether within an international scientific collaboration or a company."
Grid concepts and the Globus Toolkit have seen widespread adoption over the past two years in research and education, with dozens of major projects worldwide applying these concepts and technologies to challenging problems in scientific and technical computing.
David Hill has been appointed deputy associate laboratory director, a new position created by Yoon Chang, associate laboratory director for engineering research.
Hill will assist Chang in a broad range of programmatic responsibilities and technical integration, focusing on activities in advanced reactor development. The new position will help Argonne contribute to an expanded role for nuclear energy in U.S. energy policy.
Hill has served as the Reactor Analysis and Engineering division director since 2000, after the merger of the Reactor Analysis and Reactor Engineering divisions. Before the merger, Hill was director of the Reactor Engineering Division.
Among other duties, Hill directed Argonne's International Nuclear Safety Center from 1996 to 2000. The center maintains a database of important information on power plants worldwide and carries out joint research that helps to develop safety infrastructures in the countries of the former Soviet Union.
During the same period, Hill chaired Argonne's Nuclear Safety Review Committee. In addition, he won the University of Chicago's Distinguished Performance Award in 1993 for his innovative approach to developing a probabilistic risk assessment for Argonne's Integral Fast Reactor prototype.
For many students attending high school, physics classes generally teach the more readily understood Newtonian mechanics and largely ignore much of modern discoveries, such as quantum theory. But Argonne has joined a program called QuarkNet that helps teachers broaden their physics curriculums.
This summer Jeff Rylander, a physics teacher at Maine East High School in Park Ridge, Ill., sought to understand physics at a deeper level, especially in high-energy physics, and the devices physicists use to conduct experiments. He also wanted to base more of his teaching on student inquiry.
"Although high-energy physics is rarely covered in high school, it is often a subject that students are interested in learning about," said Rylander. "I feel that I need to become better versed in all areas of physics in order to more effectively give my students a well rounded introduction to the discipline."
Learning for the classroom
The concept of QuarkNet arose from discussions among particle physicists at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva, Switzerland. The program's five-year funding began in 1999 through support from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy and participating research groups and experiments.
Rylander was selected as the lead teacher for the QuarkNet program at Argonne.
Before he could teach high-energy physics to his students, Rylander had to obtain an on-the-job understanding of physics experiments. Rylander worked with Hal Spinka, Dave Underwood, Bob Cadman and Tom Kasprzyk of Argonne's High Energy Physics Division, term appointee Keith Krueger and undergraduates Meghan Gagliardi and Mike Bates. They spent 10 weeks building and calibrating a subdetector within the STAR detector of Brookhaven National Laboratory's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, the world's newest and biggest particle accelerator for studies in nuclear physics.
The STAR detector will search for answers to some of the most basic questions about the properties of matter and the universe's evolution.
A New Way of Teaching
Rylander, Spinka and Bob Wagner (HEP) will plan activities for 10 other high school physics teachers who will come to Argonne next summer. Rylander and the other participating teachers will receive college credit from Aurora University for their efforts.
"We believe this program will have something for both the experienced physics teacher and the novice alike," said Rylander, who has taught physics for 11 years.
During the school year, Rylander will teach his students some of the concepts and experiments he worked with while at Argonne.
Eventually, Rylander hopes QuarkNet will involve 100,000 students from 600 U.S. high schools in Web-based analysis of real data, collaboration with other students worldwide, remote control of television cameras in experimental areas and visits to the experiments.
In the Chicago metropolitan area, four research organizations have participated in QuarkNet: Argonne, Fermilab, the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois-Chicago.
Now entering its third year, QuarkNet has established an average of 12 program centers each year and expects to see another 24 centers join during the next two years.
-- Jeff Evans
Argonne's annual open enrollment period will be held Nov. 5- 21. During this time, employees can change their medical plans and enroll in or change flexible spending accounts.
All open enrollment changes will take place online. Computers will be available in Argonne-East's Building 201 for those who do not have regular access to the Internet. Computers will be available through Wednesday, Nov. 21.
UNICARE HMO will be eliminated as a provider in 2002. Employees enrolled in UNICARE will have to enroll in a new medical plan during open enrollment.
Contact HR at ext. 2-2991 for more information.
Argonne employees will be able to perform online searches of the world's top patent collections during a 30-day free trial of the Delphion System beginning Friday, Nov. 16.
The Argonne Legal Department and the Argonne Library System are jointly hosting the trial of Delphion's web-based "Patent Office Solution." The system allows users to search patent collections of the United States, Europe, Japan, World Intellectual Property Organization, INPADOC and Derwent.
Complete patent information, including some images, is included in the trial service. The Delphion trial is available through the Argonne Information Management system. For assistance in searching the Delphion System, contact any Argonne librarian. For information about subscribing to the Delphion System via an Argonne group purchase, contact Elsie Quaite-Randall in the Legal Department at ext. 2-1346.
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, seminar listings and classified ads for the Monday, Nov. 25, issue of Argonne News must be received by 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16.
A Social Security representative will be available at Argonne-East Human Resources Wednesday, Dec. 19, from 8 a.m. to noon.
The representative can:
Enroll employees in Social Security.
Take applications for new Social
Security cards, whether they are replacements, original cards for newborns or changes due to
marriage.
Help with earnings posting problems.
Answer general questions about Social
Security.
To schedule a meeting, call Fran Perri (HR) at ext. 2-2989.
Registration for Joliet Junior College Spring classes will be offered at Argonne-East Monday, Nov. 19, from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
College representatives will be available in the Human Resources offices in Building 201 (1B-04) to register students for Spring 2002 classes. Employees must bring completed and approved Educational Assistance forms (ANL-89) to register.
Call Betty Iwan (HR) at ext. 2-3410 for more information.
NEW ARRIVALS
A son, Patrick Joseph, born Sept. 15 to Kim and Tom Beilfus (IPNS); a son, Samuel Jon, born Aug. 18 to Colleen and Jon Hiller (MSD); a son, Romir Goetz Venkataraman Schwoerer, born July 12 to Markus Schwoerer-Bohning and Chitra Venkataraman (UPD); a daughter, Abbey Jane, born Oct. 17 to Jill and Devin Dodge (PFS-WMO); twins, Cassidy Alyse and Braydon Kyle, born July 29 to Dawn and Rick Fringley (ANL-W).
Proud grandparents: a granddaughter, Taylor Ann, born Oct. 16 to George and Jeanne Riley (PFS-SEC); a granddaughter, Grace Cecilia, born Sept. 27 to Ron Whitfield (DIS); a granddaughter, Eliza Marise, born Oct. 7 to Kay Ingle (DIS); a granddaughter, Stephanie Michelle, born Oct. 5 to first-time grandparents James (PFS-DR) and Cathy Derry (OSS-SMP).
ACHIEVEMENTS
Congratulations to Bernie Kestel (MSD) who received the Strathmore's Who's Who Honors 2001-2002 for demonstration of leadership and achievement. The son of Doug Longman (ES) ranked 11th in the National Archery competition. Wenyi Cai (UPD) won the poster contest at the 11th Users meeting for APS. Cyndi Salbego (UPD) received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Secience. Charley Yu (EAD) received an award from the National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) in recognition of his contribution to the Department of Energy's Biota Dose Assessment Committee (BDAC).
WEDDING/ENGAGEMENTS
Congratulations to Diane Blank (IPD) and Dennis Soave on their recent marriage. Chris Powell (UPD) and Jennifer on their September marriage. Rodney Guico (UPD) and Mina on their October marriage. Dawn King (EAD) and John Wilczek on their October marriage. Barbara Moreno (FAC) and John McCarthy on their September marriage. Kris Hunt (ENT) and Steve Dewey on their September marriage.
PROMOTIONS
Congratulations to Valentin Martinez (ET) who was promoted to senior clerk. Kelly Christiansen (RPS) who was promoted to security programs coordinator.
TRANSFERS
Good luck to Maria Gerches who transferred from TD to IPNS. Wah-Keat Lee who transferred from UPD to ESRF, France, for one year.
WELCOME
OCF-PRO welcomes Linda Maher, Bonnie Basiorka, Stephen Denny, Tina Valentino. IPD welcomes Christopher Coglianese, Roberta Gianpetro, Kenneth Kramer, Debra Ritchie, Suzanne Williams, Patricia Weikersheimer, Fanping Zhu. PFS-CU welcomes Thomas Henry. UPD welcomes Jinyuan Liu, Yuegang Zhang, Seong-Kyun Cheong, Meg Vigliocco-Hagen. DIS welcomes John Golkosky. EAD welcomes Geoffrey Warren, Lynda Dubrow, Lina Urquidi. NT welcomes Jill Chamberlain, Alejandro Ramirez-Serrano. RPS welcomes Calli Griffel, Derek White. FAC welcomes Sharon Orton. ERA welcomes Calvin Ozaki. PFS-MC welcomes Ronald Scott and Edward Lenckus. MSD welcomes Valentyn Novosad, Zhijun Guo, Dong-Joo Kim, Yong-Nam Kwon, Henry Lehmann, Bernad Kabius.
WELCOME BACK
Welcome back to Bakul Banerjee (UPD) who is returning from recent eye surgery.
FAREWELLS
Good luck to Rhiannon Ratkovich (OCF-PRO), John Boebinger (IPD), Andrew MacPhee (UPD), Eduardo Roa (UPD), Armon McPherson (UPD), Kevin Avery (RPS), Blaine Field (RPS), Morley "Skip" Wallace (NT), Diane Mansanarez (RPS), and Maxine Klossner (FAC) who have all left the laboratory.
CONDOLENCES
Our condolences to Ray Wittkamp (OCF-PRO) on the death of his mother-in-law; Don Piatak (IPNS) on the death of his mother; Chris Piatak (IPNS) on the death of his grandmother; Mary Ann Forys (IPD) on the death of her father; John Schneider (IPD) on the death of his father; Carol Wesolowski (IPD) on the death of her father-in-law; Steve Gain (PFS-MC) on the death of his grandmother; Joe Harmon (ET) on the death of his wife; Bill Vinikour (EAD) on the death of his father-in-law; Konnie Wescott (EAD) on the death of her grandmother; Carey Walton (ANL-W) on the death of her father.
CONTRIBUTORS
Thanks to this issue's contributors: Bonnie Baudino (ET), Judy Beumer (MCS), Pam Dalman (UPD), Gaylene Flores (ANL-W), Lori Greenwood (EAD), Sheila Jungman (MSD), Karen Kroczek (PFS), Cathy Nelson (IPD), Jo Ann Parnell (ES), Carolyn Peters (IPNS), Sally Peters (OCF-PRO), and Kathy Ruffatto (DIS).
Robert D. Baldwin (RAE) retired Oct. 31 with 36 years of service.
Michael J. Davis (EA) retired Oct. 5 with 22 years of service.
Sharon Fisher (ER) retired Oct. 5 with 22 years of service.
Dean R. Pedersen (RAE) retired Oct. 12 with 29 years of service.
Terry Scott (IPNS) retired Oct. 16 with 40 years of service.
David Tolle (ESH) retired Oct. 31 with 38 years of service.