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Special report: President Bush visits Argonne-East; photo feature online
The first connection in what will become the TeraGrid network, the fastest dedicated optical research network in the world, now links Argonne with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the StarLight facility on Northwestern University's Chicago campus.
The two 10-gigabit-per-second connections came online with the activation of the State of Illinois' I-WIRE project. The event positions Illinois as the leader in providing the bandwidth needed to support high-performance information infrastructures, or grids.
I-WIRE (Illinois Wired/Wireless Infrastructure for Research and Education) is a fiber optic data network funded by the state of Illinois to connect research institutions in the state, including Argonne, NCSA, University of Illinois campuses in Chicago and Urbana-Champaign, the University of Chicago, the Illinois Institute of Technology, and Northwestern University.
I-WIRE also connects to StarLight, a global experimental optical network exchange facility, to the Metropolitan Research and Education Network, and to the Illinois Century Network, which provides Internet access to more than 5,600 Illinois schools, libraries, and other public institutions.
By late summer, the NCSA-StarLight-Argonne links will be upgraded to at least 30 gigagbits per second (Gb/s) as part of the National Science Foundation's TeraGrid project. The TeraGrid will be the largest, most comprehensive computing infrastructure ever created for scientific research. It will link more than 16 teraflops of computing power, more than 1,000 terabytes (1 petabyte) of storage, and advanced visualization environments, all integrated as a grid system.
TeraGrid sites include NCSA, Argonne, the San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California, San Diego, the Center for Advanced Computing Research at the California Institute of Technology, and the recently added Pittsburgh Supercomputer Center.
Through a partnership with Qwest Communications, the TeraGrid sites will connect to a central backbone network running at 40 Gb/s between StarLight and the major Internet hub in Los Angeles.
At 40 Gb/s, the TeraGrid network will operate at four times the capacity of today's fastest networks for research and education. Only a very few of these networks operate at even 10 Gb/s.
"Through I-WIRE, we have taken the first step in deploying the network that will connect the TeraGrid sites, creating an unparalleled national capability for computational scientists," said Charlie Catlett (MCS), principal investigator for the I-WIRE project, and executive director for the TeraGrid project. "At the same time, I-WIRE creates opportunities for many projects, both via what we have recently deployed and also through planned experiments with more advanced systems capable of transmitting multiple terabits per second."
"The development of I-WIRE keeps Illinois at the forefront of optical networks," said Illinois Gov. George H. Ryan. "The state's investment in this type of high-performance computing network allows TeraGrid and other projects to benefit not only Illinois but the world in research opportunities."
Three technologies developed or co-developed at Argonne are among the winners of this year's R&D 100 awards, given annually by R&D magazine to the "100 most significant technical products of the year."
Argonne's winning technologies are:
Globus Toolkit™
Smart Sensor Developer Kit
Advanced electrodeionization for
product desalting
'De facto standard'
The Globus Toolkit is an open architecture, open-source set of software services and libraries that support computational "grids," allowing computers far apart to work on the same problem at the same time.
The toolkit is central to distributed computing, one of the hottest topics in information technology. The New York Times recently called the Globus software the "de facto standard" for grid computing.
The Globus Project is led by Ian Foster and Steve Tuecke (both MCS) of Argonne and Carl Kesselman of the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute.
Smart Sensor
The Smart Sensor Developer Kit provides the first-ever user-configurable, active microsensor technology that can be easily and cheaply incorporated into a wide range of instruments for many applications.
The multi-agent chemical microsensor employs films consisting of nanometer-sized particles that induce highly sensitive, measurable reactions when exposed to sampled gaseous chemicals.
To date, the technology has been commercialized in intelligent fire detectors, an "electronic nose" to sniff out termite infestations and a personal monitor that can detect chemical agents and other hazardous materials.
Developers are Michael Vogt and Laura Skubal (both ES), former Argonne employee Erika Shoemaker and John Ziegler of General Atomics Corp., San Diego, Calif.
Sodium-free
A new technology designed by Argonne and EDSEP, Inc., offers a cleaner, cheaper and smarter approach to removing unwanted salt and other byproducts from finished products.
Removing low concentrations of salt impurities from their products is an energy-intensive and costly step in the chemical, agriprocessing, water conditioning and environmental remediation industries. The new electrodeionization process developed by Argonne and EDSEP combines the selectivity of the current commercial technology _ ion exchange columns _ with the efficiency of electrodialysis.
The Argonne/EDSEP process matches the performance of the current commercial ion exchange technology, while reducing chemical use by approximately 90 percent, reducing waste streams by more than half, and limiting product loss to less than 0.1 percent.
Developers are Michael Henry, Paula Moon, Yupo Lin, Carl Landahl, James R. Frank, and Seth Snyder (all ES), Shih-Perng Tsai, formerly of Argonne, and Rathin Datta and Dennis Burke of EDSEP, Inc., Mount Prospect, Ill.
The R&D 100 awards, sponsored by R&D magazine, will be presented Oct. 16 during ceremonies at Navy Pier in Chicago.
— Catherine Foster
Kathy Vanoskey (HR) won the grand prize of $400 cash in this year's Argonne Combined Appeal raffle drawing, held at the Argonne-East employee picnic July 13.
"I am going to Disney World," said Vanoskey. "I have a vacation scheduled for later in the summer and the prize money will be put to good use."
The Combined Appeal raffle and hat sales raised $3,843, nearly 25 percent more than last year's total of $3,081. The money raised will pay for the administration of the Combined Appeal Campaign, which will run from Oct. 1- 31.
Other winners of major prizes were:
K. Larsen (DIS) — Traverso's in
Naperville "Dinner for Two" gift certificate.
M. Gomora (OCF-ACT) — Kerry
Pieper, $50 gift certificate.
C. Fox (BIO) — Theatre of Western
Springs, four tickets.
R. Ambrose (PFS-MAT) — "60 minute
Live Reptile Show" by Rich Crowley
J. Mroz (PFS-CS) — Glen Eagles
Country Club, foursome with cart.
J. Lewellen (ECT-EE) — Wal-Mart,
Darien, $25 gift certificate.
M. Gomora (OCF) — Sure-Fire Auto
Parts, Lemont, $25 gift certificate.
The complete list of ACA raffle winners is online.
The Argonne Club is offering tickets to a Joliet Jackhammers minor-league baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 20.
The Jackhammers will face the Sioux Falls Canaries, with the first pitch at 7:05 p.m. General admission is $1.50; box seats are $8. Hot dogs will be available for $1.50. After the game, kids can run the bases.
Tickets are limited. For tickets or more information contact Todd Hayden, president of the Argonne Club, at tahayden@anl.gov or call ext. 2-6143.
A brown bag lunch presentation on the art of public speaking will be given by Jill Morgenthaler (ECT) at noon on Tuesday, July 30, in Argonne-East's Building 203 Auditorium.
Morgenthaler's talk, "Know Your Audience," will share some of her secrets of successful speaking. She will help those in attendance learn to speak to groups of all ages, large crowds, read body language and determine the mood of an audience.
Morgenthaler, a member of the Argonne Toastmasters, has won several local and regional awards for her speeches.
The free talk is open to all employees.
The Exchange Club will move to one of the Building 213 Cafeteria Dining Rooms for a short time while the the lower level of Building 617 is remodeled, starting Aug. 1.
The Exchange Club, open on Thursdays each week, gives Argonne-East employees a place to enjoy an after-work beverage and conversation with their friends and co-workers. Hours are from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Sylvester James Gates Jr., will present "A Real Y2K Challenge: Einstein's Biggest Blunder vs. Superstring/M-Theory" at a Director's Special Colloquium Thursday, Aug. 1, starting at 3 p.m. in Argonne-East's Building 402 Conference Center.
The cosmological constant — a fudge factor that Albert Einstein called his "biggest blunder" — appears to have been observed in nature, posing a severe challenge to current theories of the basic construction of the universe. Gates' talk will be an accessible discussion of how these recent observations affect the physics of the new millennium.
Toll is professor of physics and director of the University of Maryland's Center for String and Particle Theory. His research centers on the mathematical properties and realizations of supersym-metry in quantum and classical theories of particles, fields and strings.
He is co-author of one book, 12 book chapters and more than 100 research papers.
Service Awards for July include:
45 Years
Alice M. Essling (CMT).
40 Years
David L. Rink (ET).
35 Years
Marilyn J. Bohen (ECT), John G. Jorgensen (ENT), Connie S. Markiewicz (OCF), McLouis J. Robinet (EQO).
30 Years
Arlen R. Brunsvold (RAE), Steven C. Pieper (PHY), Arthur E. Wright (RAE).
25 Years
Paula J. Hassert (OCF), Michael A. Morrissey (RPS), Adrian M. Tentner (RAE).
20 Years
Donald L. Barnett (PHY), Robert L. Burnham (RPS), Dorothy M. Christiansen (RPS), Rodney W. East (AOD), Lawrence G. Hill (DIS), Wade P. Smout (RPS), Alan R. White (HEP).
15 Years
Renato Chiarizia (CHM), Roger Dejus (XFD), Robert A. Erck (ET), David J. LePoire (EA).
10 Years
Thomas Barkalow (EQO), Kurt D. Boerste (XFD), James P. Butler (EA), Bruce Epperson (ECT), Ronald J. Erwin (PFS), Horst Friedsam (ASD), Stephan L. Ginell (BIO), Thomas Gutowski (PFS), Karen Hansen (RPS), Vladimir Koritarov (DIS), John Logue (PFS), Rimantas Ray Pencyla (PFS), Robert Wright (ASD), Julianne M. Wulf (MCS), Randall Zabel (AOD).
5 Years
Scott Aase (CMT), Paul A. Fenter (ER), Robert J. Finch (CMT), Eric A. Lindert (PHY), Michael J. Monczynski III (ECT), Geoffery Pile (ASD), Kevin J. Quigley (CMT).
Durward D. Banister, a retired custodial foreman with 37 years of service in the Plant Facilities and Services Division, died April 22. His wife, June, survives him.
Gerald Dewey, a retired senior technician with 35 years of service in the Reactor Engineering Division, died June 30. His wife, Barbara, survives him.
Ely M. Gelbard, a retired senior physicist with 26 years of service in the Reactor Analysis Division, died April 18. His wife, Helen, survives him.
George T. Goldfuss, a retired engineering assistant with 25 years of service in the Reactor Analysis and Engineering Division, died April 25. His children, John, Thomas, Carol Spencer, and Joan Tordai, survive him.
Roy R. Herron, a retired installations supervisor with 30 years of service in the Plant Facilities and Services Division, died May 9. His wife, Mary Ellen, survives him.
Arthur A. Houda, a retired instrument maker with 28 years of service in Central Shops, died June 23. His wife, Anna, survives him.
Marie T. Kalcic, a retired graphic clerk senior with 34 years of service in the Media Services Division, died April 24. Her sister, Diane Kalcic, survives her.
Stella Lavalais, a chief postal clerk with 28 years of service in the Plant Facilities and Services Division, died April 1. Her husband, Raymond, survives her.