Some of this week's stories

Argonne, private firms aim at
better lasers for auto welding

Spurred by a growing interest in using aluminum alloys in automotive applications, the project aims to develop faster, more precise methods for laser welding of aluminum and other highly reflective and conductive metals.

Laser welding uses an intense laser beam to produce strong welds with minimal distortion at high processing speeds. The joint research project could improve the quality and lower the cost of manufacturing aluminum automotive components.

Partners in the project are Argonne, Laser Mechanisms, Inc., Farmington Hills, Mich.; Spawr Industries, Inc., Lake Havasu City, Ariz; and U.S. Laser Corporation, Wyckoff, N.J..

"With the availability of beam shaping and delivery optics, such as transmissive optics, reflective optics, and fiber optics, the processing of parts with complex geometry is possible," said Argonne engineer Keng Leong (TD).

These features of laser beam material processing are ideal for many automotive applications, particularly in the high-speed welding of components, he said.

Experts in laser beam delivery systems, aluminum alloy properties, and factory welding processes, the industrial companies will develop three separate beam delivery systems for aluminum alloy welding.

Argonne will test the systems' power levels, beam intensities, and processing speeds at its laser processing laboratory using a range of alloy samples.

The joint project is being conducted under a one-year cooperative research and development agreement.

The Laboratory Technology Research Program in the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Research is contributing $100,000 to support Argonne's efforts and the consortium made up of the three companies is providing $85,000. The project supports the DOE-industry Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles.

Argonne is the star
in 'Chain Reaction'

The action movie stars Keanu Reeves and Morgan Freeman. It opened nationwide Friday, Aug. 2.

Reeves plays Eddie Kasalivich, a brilliant-but-unorthodox machinist for a University of Chicago research project aimed at finding a cheap, nonpolluting source of energy using water. Kasalivich makes a breakthrough that helps create an inexhaustible energy supply using lasers, sound waves and apparently, intense looks of concern.

But before the results can be released to the world and wreak havoc on oil industry stocks, the visionary scientist who pioneered the concept is killed and the project blown up, along with about half of the south side of Chicago. Kasalivich is framed, and the chase sequences begin.

Much of the movie's action occurs in the Zero-Gradient Synchrotron ring room and tunnels and the former Continuous Wave Deuterium Demonstrator laboratory. Several other areas are backdrops for scenes and will be instantly recognizable, including Building 364 and Eastgate.

In addition to scenes at Argonne, many institutions in and near Chicago are used as locations, including the Field Museum, the Museum of Science and Industry and Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin.

Many Argonne employees who participated as extras in the film won't be disappointed. But some others will be, especially those who spent a cold morning trudging up the ramp to Building 364, then running back down again -- all for about three-quarters of a second of screen time.

The movie is not particularly violent by Arnold Schwarzenegger standards, and the brilliant-but-unorthodox machinist and the brilliant-but-orthodox physicist-love-interest (played by Rachel Weisz) never even kiss.

Argonne employees will want to stick around to the very end of the credits to see one of the best scenes in the movie.

Laboratory employees get
'Chain Reaction' discount

Employees showing their Argonne badges at the box office can see "Chain Reaction" for the matinee price of $4.25 instead of the regular rate of $7.50.

The theater is at 1620-75th Street, in the mall on the northwest corner of the intersection of 75th Street and Lemont Road.

Motorola chairman
Robert Galvin to speak

The colloquium will begin at 3 p.m. in the APS Conference Center Auditorium, Argonne-East's Building 402. The colloquium is the latest in the "Partners in Progress: Science, Technology and Society" series in honor of Argonne's 50th anniversary.

Galvin is chairman of the executive committee of Motorola, Inc. He chaired the task force established by Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary to examine options for change in DOE's 10 major laboratories. The result was "Alternative Futures for the Department of Energy National Laboratories" -- The Galvin Report.

Galvin was elected to the National Business Hall of Fame, and received the National Medal of Technology in 1991.

Under Galvin's direction, Motorola has set the standard for quality managment among U.S. businesses for the past decade.

'I am determined that Argonne will
be among the leaders': Eastman

As coincidence would have it, this awards ceremony is my first opportunity as laboratory director to speak to a lab-wide audience. I could not be more happy about that, because the attributes we honor today - distinguished performance, superior service, and outstanding scholarship - are among the key factors that underlay Argonne's future.

The more that Argonne as a team can emulate the individual performance we recognize this afternoon, the brighter that future will be.

I would like to take just a few minutes to tell you why I believe that is so.

Argonne is a well-equipped, well-staffed scientific and technological R&D laboratory, with a broad spectrum of abilities ... and an equally broad menu of opportunities and challenges in its mission areas of Energy, Environment, and Science. That we have the potential to meet our challenges and capitalize on those opportunities is a tribute to your collective talents and effort - and a tribute to the leadership of Alan Schriesheim.

However, meeting these challenges in the years ahead will require more from each of us. "More" not so much in the sense of working harder, but rather in the sense of working smarter. Because in this environment -- in this "R&D marketplace" where we find ourselves today -- the competition for available financial resources is going to intensify.

Some R&D centers will survive those market pressures and enter the 21st Century smarter and stronger than they ever believed they could be. And some likely won't. I am determined that Argonne will be among the leaders. And I am committed to making it so.

After 30-plus years with IBM, I know something about R&D in highly competitive markets. And I know something about what organizations must do -- and must not do -- to successfully participate in such environments.

Today is not the forum to talk about this in any detail. However, I would like to give you a brief overview of three general requirements for sustained success.

First, we at Argonne must be excellent in our science and technology skills, in our business processes, and in our resulting research services and products. In other words, be excellent in quality, and productivity, and value. To do this at all, we must have the best people and they must have competitive facilities and processes. To do this consistently, and be able to prove it, we must know and implement the measures-of-success for every project and activity we undertake.

While excellence in quality and productivity are key requirements, they alone are not enough.

Second, we have to focus on satisfying our customers, stakeholders, and end-users. That means we must continuously think the way they think, and provide services and goods that meet or exceed their expectations.

To achieve this high degree of customer satisfaction, we not only have to know what we are doing and how to do it. We also have to know why we are doing it, for whom we are doing it, and what value they will derive from our having done it.

Third, we must be effective in marketing in a broad sense, and thereby expand our customer base. Namely, we need to provide value to the widest range of customers or beneficiaries possible.

Argonne's market includes not only our traditional DOE customers, but also companies, universities, and other government agencies. And let us remember our indirect customers and end-users -- the citizens, communities, and officials on whose good- will and support we depend. Of course, our ultimate end-user is society itself.

Argonne's output -- that is, what we market -- is this laboratory's science and technical and business knowledge, as delivered by Argonne people and Argonne facilities across a spectrum of service or product classes ranging from fundamental science to advanced R&D and consulting. Among our various customer groups, we build Argonne awareness through front-end and back-end marketing -- front-end marketing defines new opportunities and brings new customers and projects to the lab; back-end marketing provides increased value for traditional customers, and value for new customers using existing services and products.

In this marketing, success requires that we understand and be able to explain what value can be provided and why Argonne is the best possible place to do the research or project under discussion.

Argonne, Argonne people, and Argonne value are not as well-known today among many potential customers as we could be and should be. We need to continuously work to improve that.

Doing the marketing job well requires that we support and promote not only Argonne but also the DOE laboratory system, DOE itself, the University of Chicago, and other partners in our programs. As President Kennedy was fond of saying, all boats rise with the tide. The more we enhance the visibility and reputation of these larger entities of which we are a part, the more we enhance our own visibility and reputation.

So to sum up these three general requirements for sustained success:

* We must have excellent skills producing quality results using best-in-class processes;

* We must provide value to our stakeholders and customers, with a focus on customer satisfaction; and

* We must broaden the base of customers and end-users who can benefit from Argonne value.

In the weeks and months ahead, I look forward to working with the Argonne team to further enhance our strategies and programs by addressing these requirements and others -- which will enable us to seize and implement new opportunities to improve our performance and reputation, and thus lead this lab forward.

APS's Moncton wins
national safety award

The award, which recognizes management excellence in promoting the advancement of safety, was one of eight presented at the association's 25th Anniversary Celebration on June 14.

The citation accompanying the award reads: "The award is based on your proactive approach to contractor safety management at the APS site. Your project has been a textbook example of how to manage a project properly from all aspects of construction management. The safety program left an indelible mark on the Chicago area construction community. The many contractors and subcontractors who have initiated or upgraded their safety programs to meet your high standards are now realizing the manifold benefits of doing so -- well beyond the direct financial opportunity to work at your site."

Federal assistance
available for flood victims

To apply, call (800) 462-9029. For TDD service, call (800) 462-7585. The lines are staffed from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week.

Applicants should be prepared to provide name, permanent address, phone number, type of insurance coverage if any and information to help substantiate losses.

Argonne's area code
officially changes to 630

When calling Argonne-East from any other area code, dial 1 + area code 630 + seven-digit number. Calls placed within area code 630 will be completed by dialing only the seven-digit number.

The cost of all calls will remain the same.

Most wireless services such as cellular phones and pagers with 708 numbers will keep the 708 area code.

630 includes DuPage County, the southern portion of Kane County, and the northern portions of Kendall and Will counties.

More information can be found at Ameritech's World Wide Web site.

Time grows short
for preparing
'Photo Fest' entries

This event is a juried show of all categories of photography with a special category "Arts in Science." Photo Fest is open to all Argonne, DOE-Chicago, and University of Chicago employees and their immediate families. Selected entries will be on display in the Building 201 lobby from Sept. 17 through Oct. 11. Images selected in the "Arts in Science" category will be displayed on Argonne's pages on the World Wide Web.

For more information call the Photo Fest Hotline (708) 252-4969.

Family seminar
to focus on
loss of loved ones

The seminar will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Building 203 Auditorium. It will be presented by the Family Institute faculty, an affiliate of Northwestern University.

Presenter Mary Hallberg, Ph.D., will examine the forces that keep us stuck in the turmoil and disruption of loss. Participants will learn new ways of feeling, thinking, and acting.

Hallberg is a doctoral candidate in counseling psychology at Northwestern and a senior fellow at the family institute. Her specialties include divorce, recoupling, and single men and women who are dealing with complicated intimate relationships in the 90's.

All Argonne and DOE employees and adult family members are welcome to attend. For more information on the Family Series, call (708) 733-4300.

The next seminar in the series will be "Parenting Adolescents In The 90's," Sept. 10.

New release of
PC virus protection
software available

Versions are available for DOS/Win3.x, Windows 95, Windows NT, and Novell servers. Current registered owners of the F-Prot software can upgrade for free (access password remains the same). Others can register to use F-Prot with ECT Account Services at ext. 2-5425 for $5 per copy.

World Wide Web browser "hot links" to the F-Prot software can be found at http://www.anl.gov/ECT/software/license.html.

For other useful computer security information, visit the Computer Protection home page.

Computer users to meet Aug. 6

The agenda includes the following topics:

* Update on CUG's future and officer transition process.

* Update on microfiche service

* Remarks by new director of ECT

* Changes in Argonne's computer security personnel

* Postmortem on recent central VAX outage

* Windows application binary interface under UNIX

* Passwords to be required for access to all ECT terminal servers

* ECT Windows NT plans

* ECT offers central Ethernet switching

The CUG usually meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 3 p.m. in Building 22, Conference Room A216. Meetings are open to all interested ANL and DOE employees.

Additional CUG information is available in newsgroup anl.committees.cug.

Combined appeal,
EQO add Web pages

* The Argonne Combined Appeal web pages contain general information about laboratory's annual fund-raising drive, the 1996 campaign, organizations supported by the drive and statistics from last year's effort.

The Argonne Combined Appeal campaign gives Argonne-East employees an opportunity to contribute to United Way/Crusade of Mercy, United Way of Will County and 18 other charities. The drive will be held during October.

* The new ESH/QA Oversight (EQO) home page contains contact personnel information, the Argonne Nuclear Safety Procedures Manual (NSPM) and the Argonne Quality Assurance Program Plan (QAPP).

HR offers software classes

* "Word 6.0: Wizards, Styles, Templates and Forms." Aug. 15, 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m..

* "Word 6.0: Mail Merge." Aug. 15, 1:30 p.m.- 4:30 p.m.

* "Excel Pivot Tables." Aug. 21, 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

* "Excel 5.0: Advanced Functions." Aug. 21, 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

* "Microsoft Tools Integration." Aug. 28, 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

* "Word 6.0: Advanced Format/Editing." Aug. 28, 1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

All classes are in Argonne-East's Building 362, Room E188. Register with a Training Management System representative. For more information, call Betty Iwan (HR) at ext. 2-3410.

Bus brings equipment
for metal sample preparation

Equipment on the bus will include abrasive wheel/diamond wheel cut-off machines; a mounting press; and grinding/polishing machines. All of the preparation equipment on the bus will be operational, and employees are invited to bring samples they want to section, mount and grind/polish.

For more information, call Struers representative Scott Nelson at (708) 524-2570.

M. J. G. Absil (DIS), Hinsdale South High School, Foreign Language Week, Feb. 5, 1996.

R. E. Combs (OTD), Forest Trail Jr. High School, Park Forest, Career Day, March 28, 1996.

R. A. Erck (ET), Thayer J. Hill Middle School, Naperville, Science Fair Judge, Jan. 31, 1996.

D. G. Ettinger (DEP), Saint Cletus School, La Grange, Science Fair Judge, Jan. 24, 1996.

P. A. Finn (CMT), Ebinger Grammar School, Chicago, "Fusion & Fission and Radioactivity in General," March 7, 1996.

S. C. Foster (OPA), Lewis University, Romeoville, "Public Relations As a Career," March 21, 1996.

J. S. Gaffney (ER), Moraine Valley Community College, District Wide Career Night, March 14, 1996.

J. P. Greene (PHY), Thayer J. Hill Middle School, Naperville, Science Fair Judge, Jan. 31, 1996; College of DuPage, Youth Science Competition Judge, March 30, 1996.

R. H. Huebner (OTD-APS), Oak Lawn Rotary Club, "Photons for the Future: The Advanced Photon Source," Feb. 26, 1996.

E. N. Kaufmann (OTD), Rotary Club of La Grange, "Argonne Today," March 29, 1996.

M. Kelly (CHM), Children's Museum, Navy Pier, Future Leaders Chicago Program, "Career Development," May 14, 1996.

T. M. Kilmer (PFS-FPE), The Society of Women Engineers, 1996 National Convention and Student Conference, Portland, Oregon, "How to Work a Career Fair," June 26, 1996.

A. B. Krisciunas (SPO), Retired Men's Roundtable, Hinsdale, "Argonne -- Your Neighbor of Fifty Years," May 23, 1996.

J. J. Laidler (CMT), Naperville Evening Kiwanis, "Argonne National Laboratory: Your Scientific Neighbor," Feb. 12, 1996.

W. D. McFall (HR), Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, Career Fest, April 26, 1996; The Society of Women Engineers, 1996 National Convention and Student Conference, Portland, Oregon, "How to Work a Career Fair," June 26, 1996.

C. J. Mertz (CMT), The Society of Women Engineers, 1996 National Convention and Student Conference, Portland, Oregon, "In-Situ Decontamination Technologies for Actinides and Fission Products in DOE Facilities," June 26, 1996.

J. E. Morgenthaler (OPA), North Elementary School, Careers for Youth, May 23, 1996; North Elementary School, Careers for Youth, May 24, 1996; James Monroe Public School, Career Day, June 5, 1996; Defense Information School, Ft. Meade, Maryland, "Environmental PR," June 21, 1996.

K. L. Nash (CHM), Moraine Valley Community College, District Wide Career Night, March 14, 1996.

L. H. Nunez (CMT), Hinsdale South High School, Foreign Language Week, Feb. 6, 1996.

M. C. Regalbuto (CMT), The Society of Women Engineers, 1996 National Convention and Student Conference, Portland, Oregon, "Use of Process Modeling to Design Cost Effective Cleanup Technologies," June 26, 1996.

M. A. Sodaro (EWM), Downers South High School, "Current Issues Regarding Radioactive Waste Disposal," May 17, 1996.

R. W. Tilbrook (RE), Frankfort Junior High School, "The History of CP-1, the Bomb and Nuclear Reactors," April 3, 1996.

L. R. Turner (ET), IEEE -- Inaugural Meeting of the Nuclear Plasma Society and Magnetic Society, Chicago Section, "Virtual Reality Visualization of 3-D Electromagnetic Fields," Jan. 25, 1996.

T. Wiencek (ET), Divine Providence Elementary School, Westchester, "Careers in Science," March 29, 1996.

Monday, Aug. 5

Physics Division Medium Energy Physics Seminar: "Polarized Deuterium Gas Target for the VEPP-3 Electron Storage Ring" by Yuri Shestakov, Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, Novosibirsk, Russia. 11 a.m., Bldg. 203, Conference Room R150.

Tuesday, Aug. 6

Special Experimental Facilities Division Seminar: "Properties of Confined Fluids" by Steve Granick, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. 1:30 p.m., Bldg. 401, Conference Room B2100.

Wednesday, Aug. 7

Industrial Technology Development Center Seminar: "Carbon Dioxide Separations Utilizing Facilitated Transport Membranes and Novel CO2 Absorbents" by Guido Pez, Chief Scientist, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc., Allentown, Pa. 9:45 a.m., Bldg. 362, Conference Room E188.

Tuesday, Aug. 13

Chemical Technology Division Seminar: "Applications of NMR to the Study of Zeolites" by G. Joe Ray, Senior Research Associate, Amoco Research Center, Naperville, Ill. 10:30 a.m., Bldg. 205, Y-Auditorium.

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