Some of this week's stories

Argonne scientists win
five R&D 100 awards

* One invention, CERAMICRETE, is a ceramic binder solidifying radioactive hazardous and wastes. It also has applications in manufacturing nonflammable structural materials. Invented by Argonne scientists Arun S. Wagh and Dileep Singh (both ET), it can be manufactured at low cost because it is made at room temperature and does not need high-temperature sintering or other treatment.

* The "Photorefractive Liquid Crystal Optical Processor," invented by Argonne scientists Gary P. Wiederrecht and Michael R. Wasielewski (both CHM), uses a new liquid-crystalline composite material for holographic applications, such as optical image storage and processing. It has shown dramatically better performance at lower cost compared to other devices.

* For the textile industry, Argonne developed a system that detect flaws in fabric as it is woven. The automated system resides on the loom and makes no physical contact with the fabric. The system can improve fabric quality and save tens of thousands of yards of fabric lost with current, off-line manual-inspection methods. The inventors are Nachappa Gopalsami, Sasan Bakhtiari, Apostolos C. Raptis and Kaveh Razazian (all ET).

* "Empore Rad Disks" -- developed jointly by Argonne, 3M Corp., St. Paul, Minn., and IBC Advanced Technologies, Inc., American Fork, Utah -- are a new technology that separates radioactive isotopes from water and other solutions, even when high concentrations of other chemicals are also present. They greatly reduce the time and cost of measuring radioisotope concentrations and reduce the amount of waste generated by the laboratory. The inventors are Mitchell D. Erickson (ER), Kent A. Orlandini (ER) and Lesa L. Smith (CMT) of Argonne; Gary L Goken, Keith M. Hoffman, Jamie S. Meilahn, David C. Seely and Wolfgang H. Strehlow of 3M; and Ronald L. Bruening and Steven R. Izatt of IBC.

* The "Magnetic Flux Imaging System" -- invented jointly by Argonne, Phase Metrics, San Diego, and the Institute of Solid State Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow -- allows scientists to make images of magnetic fields in superconductors, materials that carry electricity with no energy loss when cooled to near absolute zero. The instrument is being used to pinpoint the location of flaws in superconducting wire and to improve its performance. The inventors are Ulrich Welp and George W. Crabtree (both MSD), V. K. Vlasko-Vlasov and V. I. Nikitienko of the Institute for Solid State Physics, and Carlos Duran of Phase Metrics.

Eastman: Lab's future depends on
customer focus, 'telling our story'

"And I think it's a good match for my experience and interests, "he added. "When I first read the University of Chicago search committee's description of the person they wanted for director," he recalled with a laugh, "I thought, `Wait a minute! They're describing me!'"

Eastman's long-standing interest in and contributions to national science and technology policy are reflected in his active participation in the National Academy of Science and the National Research Council over the years. He was co-chair and principal author of the NAS's 1984 Seitz-Eastman committee report, which helped make the yet-to-be-built Advanced Photon Source the nation's highest priority for major materials research facilities.

"My first task at Argonne," he said, "will be to become familiar with all aspects of the laboratory." For his first 75 days, he plans to spend about half of his time visiting and hearing from all programmatic and support divisions to learn about their activities and plans.

Eastman sees Argonne and other DOE national laboratories as offering unique capabilities. A realist, however, he acknowledges that the same tough budget competition will confront all government-funded organizations during the next few years.

"The DOE labs play important national roles in security, energy, the environment, basic research, and national user facilities," he said. "Four of those five missions apply strongly to Argonne. And the multidisciplinary nature of labs like Argonne gives us a competitive advantage over many other research institutions, because we can focus many different talents and points of view on a problem."

There are various areas of research at Argonne that are outstanding and hold promise for future growth. Among them are the Advanced Photon Source, the electrorefining technology for DOE spent nuclear fuel, the computational biology program, the advanced parallel computing programs, and the laboratory's many programs that are developing new technologies to address the nation's environmental concerns.

Still, Eastman expects national laboratory budgets overall to decline somewhat in real, inflation-adjusted dollars over the next few years. "To compete in this climate," he said, "Argonne will need strategies, R&D skills, and business processes that are best-of-class. We should be able to maintain an essentially constant size by working constantly to increase our productivity and efficiency."

A key to developing more successful strategies and business processes, he said, is to become very customer-oriented - a truth he learned during his long career in many positions at IBM. "We need to know both the emerging needs of customers and the value that our services and products can add, as well as who the end users of our services and products are and what makes our offerings valuable to them," Eastman said. "And like all the DOE labs, we need to do a better job of telling our story, so our customers know who we are and how much we do for them." Eastman said he plans to work with DOE and the directors of the other DOE labs "to help all of us be more effective and tell our stories better."

Eastman to speak
on vision for ANL

David S. Ayres (HEP), Uthamalingam (Balu) Balachandran (ET), John K. Bates (CMT), Michael D. Borland, Glenn A. Decker, Stephen V. Milton and Marion M. White (all APS) will receive the awards, the highest honor the university awards to Argonne employees.

WIST steering panel seeks new members

Winning IMPACT suggestion
should help reduce back injuries

Deidrichsen's IMPACT submission explained that a common complaint at the laboratory arises from removing items from the bottom of gurneys. The gurneys are about four feet deep, making it difficult to remove an item from the bottom without risking back strain.

A common practice, tipping the gurney, made it somewhat less risky to reach items in the bottom but risked damaging the cargo.

Deidrichsen suggested purchasing a new type of gurney with a more ergonomic design.

After a review by the Plant Facilities and Services and Environment, Safety and Health divisions, three-sided gurneys are now being purchased. Employees are also using new procedures for loading and unloading gurneys.

The IMPACT program gives Argonne employees an opportunity to express concerns, voice problems and offer suggestions to improve health, safety, the environment, productivity and operations at the laboratory.

The names of employees whose suggestions are adopted are entered in a quarterly drawing for a savings bond. A plaque is awarded for suggestions which save significant costs, or result in marked improvements in productivity or environment, safety and health practices.

Employees having more than one significant suggestion adopted by the laboratory will receive a special medallion that can be displayed on the wood base of the award.

Adopted suggestions are reviewed each year and a "Greatest IMPACT" is selected. The winner receives a $500 savings bond.

Employee suggestions and concerns are handled directly by the IMPACT coordinator, who asks the person most experienced with the issue to provide a response or take necessary action. Suggestions can be made anonymously.

University faculty
can use IDs for access

University ID cards will be treated like visitor gate passes, said Security Administration Manager Ed Mickulas. Card holders can show their cards at the guard kiosks at site entrances and enter the site during daytime hours. From 7 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. and on weekends and holiday, University of Chicago faculty members will need an additional form of identification, such as a driver's license.

Northgate is open 24 hours. Westgate is open Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

OSHA evaluators return;
employees' input welcome

Employees with questions or concerns to share with the OSHA team should call Earl Cook at ext. 2-1174. Contacts with the OSHA team will be kept confidential.

Cafeteria
to close early

Regular service hours will resume Friday, July 26.

Lifeguard classes
offered at Argonne Pool

Successful completion of the class will certify individuals as American Red Cross lifeguards trained in standard first aid and CPR for professional rescuers.

Cost for the 12-class program is $75 per person. Classes are limited to 10 people. Minimum age is 15. Cost includes books and supplies. Cost for two classes of CPR training only is $25.

The class schedule is as follows:

Thursday, July 25	7 to 10 p.m.
Monday, July 29	7 to 10 p.m.
Tuesday, July 30	7 to 10 p.m.
Wednesday, July 31	7 to 10 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 1	7 to 10 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 3	8 to 11 a.m.
Sunday, Aug. 4	8 to 11 a.m.
Monday, Aug. 5	7 to 10 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 6	7 to 10 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug. 7	7 to 10 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 8	7 to 10 p.m.

For more information or to register, call ext. 2-7602.

Infant, preschool aquatics
offered at Argonne Pool

The program is for children 6 months to 3 years old and is designed to help them become comfortable in the water. It is not designed to teach children to swim.

The classes will teach parents ways to orient their children to the water and to supervise water activities safely. Parents and children will be in the water with the instructor.

For more information or to register, call ext. 2-7602.

On-site classes offered on
programmable controllers

The course is open to people who have completed the College of DuPage introductory course on programmable controllers, Electromechanical Technology 190 or have instructor consent. The six-week course will meet on-site from 4:30 p.m. and 8 pm. These sessions will be followed with four laboratory sessions at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellen.

Maximum course enrollment is 16. For registration materials, call Karen Kroczek (ESH-HP) at ext. 2-8764 by Aug. 2 . The course will cost about $250, including textbook and materials.

Monday, July 22

Energy Technology Division Seminar: "Oxide Ceramics Preparation by the Complex Sol-Gel Process" by A. Deptula, Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology, Warsaw, Poland. 9:45 a.m., Bldg. 212, Conference Room A157.

Chemistry Division Seminar: "Rare Earth-Doped Optical Microcavities" by Bernard Jacquier, Lyon University, France. 11 a.m., Bldg. 200, Conference J183.

Tuesday, July 23

Chemical Technology Division Seminar: "Selection of Criteria for Ceramic Oxygen Ion Conducting Membranes (CICM)" by B.C.H. Steele, Professor Emeritus, Imperial College, Department of Materials, London, England. 10:30 a.m., Bldg. 205, Y-Auditorium.

Thursday, July 25

Center for Mechanistic Biology & Biotechnology General Seminar: "Modified Transposons for Forward and Reverse Genetics in Arabidopsis" by Nina V. Fedoroff, Director, Biotechnology Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park. 3:30 p.m., Bldg. 202, Conference Room B169.

Friday, July 26

Chemistry Division Seminar: "Distance Determination Between Paramagnetic Species in Photosystems Using Pulsed EPR" by Asako Kawamori, Kwansei Gakuin University, Physics Department, Nishinomiya, Japan. 10:30 a.m., Bldg. 200, Conference Room J183.

Monday, July 29

Energy Technology Division Seminar: "A Block-Implicit Numerical Scheme for Thermally Driven and Swirling Flows" by Marcelo J.S. deLemos, Department of Energy, IEME/ITA/CTA, Brazil. 10:30 a.m., Bldg. 212, Conference Room A157.

Physics Division Seminar: "Structure of Nuclei at High Spin Around the Mass 80 Region" by Shashikumar Paul, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bombay, India. 3:30 p.m., Bldg. 203, Conference Room R150.

Tuesday, July 30

Chemical Technology Division Seminar: "Studies of the Synthesis and Stability of Zeolites Using Synchrotron Radiation Methods" by Neville N. Greaves, Head of Materials Science, CLRD Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington, United Kingdom. 10:30 a.m., Bldg. 205, Y-Auditorium.

Thursday, August 1

Chemistry Division Seminar: "Interesting Magnetism of Lithium (C211) Electride" by Kerry Reidy-Cedergren, Chemistry Department, Michigan State University, East Lansing. 11 a.m., Bldg. 200, Conference Room J183.

Friday, August 2

Chemistry Division Seminar: "Approaching Magnetic Field Effects in Biology Using The Radical Pair Mechanism" by Jeff Canfield, University of Illinois, Champaign. 11 a.m., Bldg. 200, Conference Room J183.

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