DIAMOND COATING -- This “microtip” array has been coated with ultrananocrystalline diamond with technology developed at Argonne. The technology will be commercialized through Advanced Diamond Technologies, a startup company partially owned by Argonne and by the University of Chicago. The tips are about five microns (millionths of a meter) across.

Diamond is a startup firm’s best friend

By Rich Greb

Argonne is moving forward to commercialize its technologies related to ultrananocrystalline diamond™ (UNCD™) through Advanced Diamond Technologies (ADT), a start up company partially owned by Argonne and by the University of Chicago.

Argonne has agreed to option all its UNCD technologies to ADT for a specified time period, while ADT seeks private capital to develop and move the technology into commercial use.

Ultrananocrystalline diamond is a form of carbon that can be deposited on a wide variety of surfaces in thin layers measured in nanometers (billionths of a meter). It is the hardest coating known and has an extraordinarily low coefficient of friction and surface adhesion. Among many possible applications are low-friction coatings for moving parts in engines that will need to be replaced far less often than traditional components.

UNCD is a superb electrical insulator but can be made to be highly conductive, and this conductivity can be tuned. It is chemically inert and compatible with biological tissues, traits that have led to promising research into prosthetic implants for the eye and other bio-systems.

While the formation of start-up companies owned by universities and other laboratories is not new, ADT is a first for Argonne, establishing a new paradigm for technology transfer at the laboratory.

“UNCD is a platform technology with numerous potential beneficial applications in such areas as medicine, transportation and industrial production,” said Stephen D. Ban, director of Argonne’s Office of Technology Transfer (OTT). “We decided more value can be captured by establishing a company than licensing individual patents piecemeal.”

Parts of the technology received a 2003 R&D 100 award.

The result of a joint effort between Argonne’s OTT and the University of Chicago’s UCTech, ADT was incorporated in December 2002, and DOE approved final details of the approach and option plan at the end of May.

At present, the company is seeking investment capital from venture funds, an effort being led by the Illinois Technical Enterprise Center (ITEC) at Argonne. ITEC is a joint project supported by the State of Illinois and the University of Chicago to aid in stimulating economic activity by commercializing and applying new technology to create new companies and jobs. There are several ITEC centers around the state, each at a location that develops promising technologies.

“One of the goals of the national laboratories is to provide benefits to industry and the public by moving discoveries into everyday use,” said Ban. “Spinning off a company brings in private funds to take the risks of commercial development. Such development leads to benefits for everyone, and demonstrates the value of using tax dollars to support our early-stage scientific research.”

More information about ADT is available online.

OSHA team to conduct audit at Argonne-East

A U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) team will conduct a “wall-to-wall walk-through” of the Argonne-East through July 18 as part of a compliance audit mandated by Congress.

Members of Congress and others have recognized that there may be advantages for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science laboratories to move from self-regulation of environment, safety and health to external regulation by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and OSHA. NRC and OSHA compliance audits at the Office of Science laboratories will help DOE determine the cost of transferring regulation.

Argonne-East was the first laboratory to undergo the NRC compliance audit, in mid-May and early June.

The NRC audit team found no need for significant new programs or modifications to facilities. Audit findings mainly focused on refining existing programs and practices.

“The NRC team was very impressed with the cooperation and helpful nature afforded it by the laboratory and Argonne Area Office personnel,” said Argonne Director Hermann Grunder. “I am most appreciative of everyone’s efforts in supporting this effort.”

Argonne-East is the second laboratory to undergo an OSHA compliance audit. Already, division environment, safety and health coordinators, working with line colleagues and others, have submitted more than 1,600 files and 350 megabytes of documents to OSHA in preparation for the audit -- ahead of schedule.

OSHA team leaders conducted a “scoping visit” June 16-17 to familiarize themselves with Argonne-East’s layout, work activities and people. They met with Argonne and DOE management, union representatives, ESH coordinators and toured six buildings.

Argonne employees should be flexible and cooperative in their interactions with the OSHA team, Grunder said.

“This will go a long way in helping to build on the positive perception of the laboratory,” he said. “Our responsiveness will support our safety policy and will further our positive image. We are not only judged on our science performance but on many other performance factors as well, including safety, security and environmental performance. Your contributions to our success are certainly expected, but it is also greatly appreciated.”

Additional information, including the OSHA audit schedule, is available online.

Universities, lab to share resources

By Rhianna Wisniewski

Argonne recently signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Northern Illinois University (NIU), Notre Dame University and the University of Idaho. The agreements recognize the wishes of Argonne and the universities to exchange staff and share resources and facilities and conduct collaborative research.

The alliance with NIU will help Argonne and the university carry out basic research in nanoscience. Both institutions hope to establish a long-term research program, which would include four joint appointments in theoretical nanomagnetism, self-assembly and in experimental electrochemical self-assembly and characterization, with a primary focus on advanced technologies.

“With this collaboration, our students stand at the research forefront of a technological revolution,” NIU President John Peters said. “We’re proud to be working closely with Argonne National laboratory, which has a rich history of brilliant research. Our two institutions have complementary goals and capabilities, and working together we can accomplish much more than we ever could have alone.”

The University of Notre Dame and Argonne will carry out basic and applied research in accelerator physics, advanced computation, nanoscience and environmental research.

Although this is the first time that Argonne and Notre Dame will collaborate on many of these topics, they have worked together before. According to Chris Reilly, director of the Argonne project on global climate change, Argonne and Notre Dame previously had an MOU in 1991 to conduct basic and applied research on environmental problems. From that time, Reilly explained, Argonne Environmental Research staff has worked jointly with staff from Notre Dame.

Although no research under the new agreements has yet begun, plans are underway.

Argonne and the University of Idaho will conduct basic research in nanoscience, infrastructure assurance, nuclear energy, transportation and other subjects.

There will be at least six joint appointments. Students in science and technology will participate in summer internships at Argonne and attend degree programs at UI during the academic year.

Globus project releases new toolkit software

Described as a milestone in the evolution of Grid computing, Globus Toolkit 3.0 (GT3) has been officially released. The software lets people share computing power, databases and other tools securely online across corporate, institutional and geographic boundaries without sacrificing local autonomy.

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.

Previous versions of the Globus Toolkit have become central to hundreds of science and engineering projects on the Grid, and the toolkit has been adopted for commercial offerings by major information technology companies. The toolkit’s open-source software and services have transformed the way online resources are shared across organizations.

GT3 is the first full-scale implementation of the Open Grid Services Infrastructure (OGSI) version 1.0, a new specification that the Globus Project played a key role in defining.

OGSI was developed to define Grid services that conform to a specific set of conventions. These services are protocols -- for example, extensible markup language, or XML -- that make it easier to develop interfaces that work on a wide variety of platforms. Grid services build on those protocols, enabling Globus Toolkit 3.0 to facilitate sharing of resources such as computers, instrumentation, data, storage and networks.

“We hope this will be remembered as the day Grid computing began to come of age,” said Ian Foster, MCS associate division director and professor of computer science at the University of Chicago. “GT3 is significant because it shows how OGSI can be used to implement Grid services for real-world applications using standard Web services tooling. The community of developers is expanding rapidly thanks to these standards. We believe GT3 provides the foundation for many new Grid applications.”

Foster is co-leader of the Globus Project with colleagues Carl Kesselman, research associate professor of computer science at the University of Southern California School of Engineering and director of the USC Information Sciences Institute’s Center for Grid Technologies, and Steve Tuecke, lead architect of the Globus Project at Argonne’s Distributed Systems Laboratory.

Partners of the Globus Project include the UK e-Science Program and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, both of which contributed to development of GT3. IBM and Platform Computing are also providing code for GT3. This combination of open source and open standards with industrial investment is spurring broad adoption by users seeking to share resources seamlessly across distributed organizations.

Globus Project sponsors include the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Microsoft and IBM.

“The Internet is about getting computers to talk together; Grid computing is about getting computers to work together,” said Tom Hawk, IBM’s general manager of Grid computing. “The introduction of the Globus Toolkit 3.0 with the Open Grid Services Architecture is an important step in moving Grid computing beyond the laboratories of academia and research and through the doors of commercial enterprises.”

The Globus Project is based at Argonne, the University of Southern California’s Information Sciences Institute and the University of Chicago. More information about the project and GT3 is online.

Summer school promotes nanoscience

By Megan Mills

Although Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials will not be completed until winter 2005-2006, the Division of Educational Programs has already begun training future center employees. The Nanoscience Research Summer School is now open to graduate students majoring in physics, chemistry, biology, materials science or related engineering fields.

“The program is a valuable way for graduate students to learn the latest in nanoscience and nanotechnology, and we hope they will consider Argonne for future employment,” said Director of Educational Programs Harold Myron.

The school, which runs from Aug. 3-10, will offer lectures regarding principles of nanofabrication including chemical and bio-self-assembly and electron-beam lithography. The students will learn to characterize new kinds of nanocomposite materials through seminars and hands-on experimentation. The school’s scientific directors, Leo Ocola (XFD), Xiao-Min Lin (MSD), Millicent Firestone (MSD) and Axel Hoffman (MSD), reflect the interdisciplinary nature of nanoscience.

“The school was launched as a way to feature Argonne nanoscience to graduate students and faculty from around the country,” said Myron. “Since the Center for Nanoscale Materials will be a user facility, this program is an excellent way to promote usership.”

As a new research and user facility of the U.S. Department of Energy, the center’s main goal is to fabricate advanced nanoscale materials. Argonne hopes to encourage the development of nanomaterial-based products and expand the basic science of nanotechnology.

Grunder to signal start of annual run, walk

Argonne Director Hermann Grunder will drop the flag to begin the Argonne Running Club’s annual Director’s Run at noon Wednesday, July 23, at the Advanced Photon Source Gallery.

The Director’s Run includes a five-kilometer run and a two-mile walk. Refreshments will be available after the run. All employees are welcome to attend.

For more information on the run, contact Karl Grimm at ext. 2-6721. More information about the Argonne Running Club is online.

5th ‘RIAfest’ planned for July 19

By Jennifer Wisz

This year’s RIAfest, featuring rock and blues music, is themed “Bambi vs. Tibodeau.” RIAfest -- for “Rock In Argonne,” not the proposed Rare Isotope Accelerator -- will be held July 19, from noon to 9 p.m at Argonne Park.

“Tibodeau is what we call the great white deer of Argonne,” said Eric Lindert, a member of the ATLAS operations group at Argonne and who has done audio recording, video, laser show and concert production for 17 years. “To me, Tibodeau is the embodiment of the lab’s integrity.”

Lindert said RIAfest will start with children’s groups earlier in the afternoon, followed by the more experienced performers and will end with a jam performance with the most versatile musicians. Among the bands expected to perform are Big Eddy Springs Blues Band, Straight Pepper Diet, Za and Stool.

Argonne employees and guests are encouraged to bring grills, soft drinks and food. Beer will be available for purchase. No glass bottles are allowed.

For more information or for information on scheduling a band, contact Eric Lindert or Alex Deriy (both PHY) at ext. 2-4115 or lindert@phy. anl.gov and alexderiy@ yahoo.com. Photos and video from previous RIAfests are online.

SERVICE AWARDS

Service Awards for July include:

45 Years

Norbert W. Golchert (EQO), Leonard Leibowitz (CMT).

40 Years

Harry R. Bell (PFS), Glen L. Chapman (CMT), Ronald J. DeLand (CIS).

35 Years

Robert C. Kendall (PFS), K. Natesan (ET), Sally L. Peters (OCF), Wayne M. Smith (PFS).

30 Years

Gary L. Batte (NPS), Ronald L. Jones (FAC), Shirley A. Scott (NE), Darlene J. Tonelli (CIS).

25 Years

Delbert L. Bowers (CMT), Henry A. Houser, III (FAC), James C. Polacek (FAC), Eugene A. Rackow (MCS), Margaret K. Singh (ES), Jo K. Young (CIS).

20 Years

Judy A. Benigno (OPA), Mary L. Gomora (OCF), Nghe Thi Nguyen (OCF), Clifford R. Pitts, Jr. (ASD), Hsien-Hau Wang (MSD).

15 Years

Louis A. Bumb (ENT), Paul C. Messina (MCS), Jesus Morales (PFS), Janice T. Sejut (OCF), Phillip K. Strickhorn (PHY).

10 Years

Janice Adams (PFS), Kurt Alford (CMT), Steven J. Betenhausen (PFS), Hugh Wheeler (PFS).

5 Years

Francesco De Carlo (XFD), Paul F. Fischer (MCS), Nicole J. Green (CMT), Jamie Hase (OCF), Douglas L. Hudson (CIS), Mark S. Jaski (ASD), Mary L. Kmak (OTT), Troy J. Kraupp (ENT), Greg K. Krumdick (ES), Gerald F. Olsen (ENT), Joseph A. Pomykala, Jr. (ES), Donna J. Shaw (ERA), Linda A. Walker (NPS).