Some of this week's stories

Norman Augustine to speak on engineering

The talk will begin at 3 p.m. in the APS Conference Center Auditorium, Building 402 at Argonne-East.

Augustine is chairman of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Red Cross and president of the Boy Scouts of America.

He has been undersecretary and assistant secretary of the Army, and assistant director of defense research and engineering for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Augustine won the Department of Defense's highest civilian decoration, the Distinguished Service Medal, four times. He has been awarded many other medals and awards.

He is co-author of "The Defense Revolution" and author of "Augustine's Laws," which has been printed in four languages.

The colloquium is part of "Partners in Progress: Science, Technology and Society," a series of speeches in honor of Argonne's 50th anniversary.

`Chain Reaction' returns

According to assistant location manager Larry Byrne, shooting will be done outdoors on April 2 and 3, weather permitting. Scenes will be filmed in the 360 area, and are expected to feature the landing of a helicopter containing "federal agents." Exact sites will be determined following an aviation safety review of the shooting plans.

Employees should be able to watch the filming from a location to be designated later; more details are expected in next week's issue of Argonne News.

Following completion of the outdoor scenes, filming will continue indoors on a closed set.

The film, directed by Andrew Davis, features actors Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, and Fred Ward. Scenes including actor Morgan Freeman have been completed, and he is not expected to return to Argonne for the April filming.

Argonne at 50:
Computers make molecules easy to "see"

Thirty years ago, Science magazine reported what was at the time an amazing advance in computer research -- Argonne computers had been programmed to draw a representation of the electron structure and orbits of molecules containing two atoms.

Three decades later, Argonne's computers continue to make dramatic advances in the interpretation of scientific data. Researchers now can walk around inside room-sized, 3-D color representations of molecules with thousands of atoms. One important goal of their work is a better understanding of diseases such as arthritis, AIDS and Alzheimer's.

"Modern visualization techniques allow us to actually interact with the molecule," said computer scientist David Levine (MCS). "We can stop a computation whenever we want and move around inside the image to see what is really happening. Standing inside a molecule really adds perspective."

Pre-CAVE computer drawings

The research problem described in the 1966 Science article by Arnold C. Wahl, a former member of Argonne's Chemistry Division, remains a challenge to computer scientists today. Wahl explained that large electronic computers permit increasingly complex calculations.

Scientists "involved in large-scale computational efforts," Wahl wrote, "are often swamped by our own computer output and are able to competently analyze only a small fraction of the potentially useful information ... generated."

"However, the advances and refinements ... in computing will have limited value," he continued, "if they can be described only in complex mathematical language or in terms of vast, undigestible (and often misleading) numerical tables."

To increase the value of computer data, Wahl and Argonne's Applied Mathematics Division staff in 1966 programmed an Argonne computer to draw models of molecules of boron, carbon, fluorine, hydrogen, lithium and nitrogen. Researchers were able to compare "pictures" of these two-atom molecules rather than numbers in complex tables.

Programming a computer to display data visually and thus communicate directly with one of the human's most sensitive senses greatly increases the interplay between man and computer, Wahl reported in the 1966 article.

Three decades later, Argonne remains a top computer research facility in the field known as "scientific visualization."

A current Argonne molecular scientific visualization project investigates the way some proteins form string-like molecules called amyloid formations. These formations, which can cause blockages in cells and interfere with cell metabolism, are linked to Alzheimer's disease, adult onset diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.

Researchers are concentrating on two molecules -- one with 250 atoms and a larger protein with 1,500 atoms -- to see how these string-like amyloid formations grow. "We hope to provide a starting point for developing pharmaceuticals for these diseases," said biophysicist Fred Stevens. "With increased computing power," Stevens added, "the entire development, or self-assembly, process involving tens of thousands of atoms may be understood one day."

Argonne researchers see their data as hologram-like images in a 10-foot-square room called a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment (CAVE). Inside the CAVE, scientists can change the field of vision and examine objects from all possible angles.

An IBM Scalable POWERparallel computer works in tandem with a sophisticated graphics computer to generate realistic 3-D images. The IBM computer performs thousands, sometimes millions, of calculations for each simulation step, and communicates the information to the graphics computer 20 times per second to update the CAVE visualization.

This experiment is only one of the scientific visualization projects at Argonne. Others study questions in astrophysics, disk brake design, weather modeling, casting processes for auto and aircraft parts, emission systems for commercial boilers and incinerators, magnet operation in Argonne's new Advanced Photon Source, and the visualization of medical data using computer tomography scans of human organs. -- Evelyn Brown

Last few tickets for Junior Wells
go on sale the week of March 25

Wells will bring his eight-piece band to Argonne-East's Building 213 cafeteria at 8 p.m., Friday, March 29. The concert is sponsored by Arts at Argonne.

Tickets are $10 and go on sale in Argonne-East's Building 213 cafeteria the week March 25 from noon to 1 p.m.

Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door before the performance.

Argonne Combined Appeal
committee members wanted

The committee evaluates the annual campaign and develops plans to conduct the fund drive more effectively. The group also works to foster greater employee awareness of and participation in the campaign.

The steering committee meets once a month, March through December, and has six subcommittees: agency qualifications; agency tours and exhibits; coordinator training; data base and awards integrity and fundraising and publicity. Members are invited to sign up for at least two subcommittees. All subcommittees meet on an as-needed basis.

To make this year's campaign more effective, the committee would like to have a representative from each division. A union representative and representation from scientific divisions is encouraged.

Interested individuals should contact their division director or department head before Friday, March 29.

April 11 conference
to focus on quality

The general session begins at 1 p.m. in Argonne East's Building 362. Technical sessions will be held from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. An evening session, including a social hour and dinner, will be held at the Building 213 cafeteria beginning at 5:45 p.m.

Argonne, DOE and New Brunswick Laboratory employees are invited to attend the general and technical sessions free of charge. Reservations for the dinner and evening session are $12 per person.

The fee for other attendees is $50 per person for the entire day, including dinner and the evening session.

To register for the conference, call ext. 2-5700 before April 5.

The conference is sponsored by Argonne's Environment, Safety and Health/QualityAssurance Oversight Office and the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC).

Tornado season arrives

Tornadoes can form at any time of the year, but most of the state's annual average of 25-30 tornadoes occur in March, April and May. Argonne-East has suffered minor damage several times over the years. The most recent sighting at Argonne-East, a funnel cloud just south of the 300 area, occurred in 1993. In 1994, a funnel cloud was seen near 75th Street and Plainfield Road in nearby Darien.

Severe weather procedures are signaled by:

* A tornado watch, which means conditions are right for tornadoes to form. When a watch issued by the National Weather Service covers the Argonne-East area, an alert tone is sounded on the site-wide address system, followed by an announcement.

Employees using hazardous materials may be required to secure those substances for the duration of the watch. Those using classified documents should be prepared to lock them up in the event of a warning. Occupants of trailers should move to a permanent building.

* A tornado warning, which means a twister has been sighted in the area or detected by radar. Outdoor sirens will sound and a sitewide announcement will direct employees to head immediately for designated tornado shelters areas and stay there until an all-clear announcement.

Automobiles are poor protection against tornadoes, and employees should not attempt to leave the site during a tornado warning.

* A public address sytem will alert employees in Argonne-East's Building 213 cafeteria if a tornado warning is issued during lunch service hours. Marriott employees will direct cafeteria patrons to shelter areas.

IAEA official to speak
on global nuclear safety

Morris will describe the components of a global nuclear safety culture, including non-binding safety standards of the 1960s and 1970s. He will also cover binding international legal agreements drawn up in response to Three Mile Island and Chernobyl nuclear accidents and the current growth of international expert reviews and advisory services.

Rosen has served the IAEA in several capacities since 1973, including a year as a safety expert in the Republic of Korea during the formative stage of the Korean nuclear power program. He had a leading role in formulating the IAEA's response to the Chernobyl accident.

Off-site visitors should call Rosemary Stanton at (708) 252-4114 no later than 11 a.m. March 28 for clearance to enter the site.

The lecture is sponsored by Argonne in cooperation with the IAEA.

Employees from other countries
invited to `culture shock' presentation

A panel of persons who have made cross-cultural transitions will share their own stories and insights about making the most of the experiences.

To reserve a place, phone Audrey Taylor at ext. 2-2813, fax at ext. 2-4755, or mail to MD-201. Please include name, phone and fax number, number of persons attending. There is no charge for this event.

The luncheon is sponsored by Argonne's Employee Assistance Program in conjunction with the Newcomers Assistance Office.

PSI to award
2 scholarships

Winners will be selected from among trainees in Human Resources' Certified Professional Secretaries program. Selection criteria include grade point average, community activities, college intentions and interviews.

The scholarships will be awarded at the secretaries' breakfast on Wednesday, April 24, which is Professional Secretaries Day.

DOE web site is clearinghouse
for training and development

The page's URL is Return to Index

Training offered
in `Vellum 3D'

The class, to be held in April, will cover the software's essentials, tools and commands, sheets, views and models, parametrics and tips, tricks and techniques.

For group reservations, call (708) 658-7109.

Monday, March 25

Joint Chemistry and Materials Science Divisions Seminar: "Optical and Electronic Properties of Passivated Silicon Nanocrystals" by Lloyd L. Chase, Materials Science & Technology Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. 1:30 p.m., Bldg. 200, Conference Room J183.

Materials Science Division Seminar: "High-Pressure Structural Transformations Via Ab-Initio Simulations" by Sandro Scandolo SISSA/ISAS, Trieste, Italy. 2 p.m., Bldg. 223, Conference Room L119.

Physics Division Seminar: "Radioactive Beam Experiments Using the Leuven-Le-Neuve-Edinburgh Detector Array LEDA" by Phil Woods, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. 3:30 p.m., Bldg. 203, Conference Room R150.

Tuesday, March 26

Energy Technology Division Seminar: "Insoluble Particles/Melt-Interface Studies in Composites Under Normal and Micro-Gravity Environment" by Brij K. Dhindaw, University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa. 10:30 a.m., Bldg. 212, Conference Room A157.

Physics Division Theoretical Physics Seminar: "Spin Observables for Vector Meson Photoproduction" by Frank Tabakin, University of Pittsburgh, Pa. 3 p.m., Bldg. 203, Conference Room B221.

Spring 1996 ACCA Biology Seminar Series: "Heavy Metal Toxicology and Metabolism" by David Petering, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. 7 p.m., Bldg. 223 Auditorium.

Thursday, March 28

Materials Science Division Seminar: "Local ac Magnetic Response in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 Single Crystals" by Nikolai Morozov, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. 11 a.m., Bldg. 223, Conference Room S105.

Friday, March 29

Joint Chemistry and Materials Science Divisions Seminar: "Electron Transfer and (maybe) Molecular Electronics" by Mark Ratner, Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. 11 a.m., Bldg. 200, Conference Room J183.

Physics Colloquium: "An Incomplete History of the Argonne Physics Division" by Lowell Bollinger, (PHY). 11 a.m., Bldg. 203 Auditorium.

OTD/Engineering Research and ANL Retirees Applied Engineering Seminar: "Reorganization of the Electric Power Industry -- Its Future Operation Under Competitive Free Market Conditions" by Fred Olds, former Senior Editor of Power Engineering. Noon, Bldg. 201, Conference 190 A & B. Bring your lunch.

Monday, April 1

Chemistry Division Monday Morning Seminar Series: "Reflections on Chlorophyll and Photosynthesis Research in the Chemistry Division [50th Anniversary]" by Joseph J. Katz, (CHM), 3:30 p.m., Bldg. 200 Auditorium.

Story ideas, comments and suggestions are welcome. The Argonne News office is in Building 201, room 2Q-02 (OPA-201). The fax number is ext. 2-5274. Send E-mail to Argonne News editor Dave Jacque.

Seminar listings: Send by inter-office mail to Evie Fagan, Building 201, room 2U-09 (OPA-201). Fax to ext. 2-5274, or send by E-mail.

Classified ads: Please limit ads to 25 words. Send by inter-office mail to Evelyn Fagan, Building 201, room 2U-09 (OPA-201). A drop box is located at the Argonne News office.

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