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Nov. 30, 1998 -- Some of this week's stories
GUSTO supercomputer demonstration wins
'best of show'
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A team of Argonne scientists and their collaborators received theHigh-Performance Computing Challenge "best of show" award at the Supercomputing '98 conference for their work on innovative wide-area applications using the GUSTO high-performance distributed grid testbed.
GUSTO (Globus Ubiquitous Supercomputing Testbed Organization) is a prototype for future computational grids that will link supercomputers, scientific instruments, virtual reality environments and data archives. It uses software developed by the Globus project, a multi-institutional collaborative project centered at Argonne and the University of Southern California's Information Science Institute.
One of the award-winning demonstrations on the GUSTO testbed was real-time, collaborative analysis of data from a microtomographic beamline at Argonne's Advanced Photon Source (APS). At the beamline, a team led by Derrick Mancini and Ian McNulty (both XFD) used high-brilliance X-rays to probe the three-dimensional structure of a tiny micromachinery part.
Data were collected in real time from the APS, reconstructed on the newSGI Origin2000 supercomputer at Argonne's Mathematics and Computer Science Division, then displayed both at the APS and on an ImmersaDesk virtual reality environment at the Supercomputing '98 convention site in Orlando, Fla. High-speed networks allowed scientists at the two sites to discuss the data.
"The results were stunning," said Ian Foster (MCS), team leader of the Globus project at Argonne. "Normally, beamline users travel long distances to use a beamline and then have to wait hours or days to analyze their data. We were showing reconstructed images remotely just 10 minutes after data collection started. The implications for more effective use of this unique scientific instrument are tremendous."
Other applications showcased on the GUSTO testbed included high-throughput computing for quantum "Monte Carlo" physics calculations and a record-setting distributed interactive simulation using multiple supercomputers. Scientists at Caltech and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign participated in these applications, and numerous other organi- zations contributed computer time.
"Collaboration is the key to our success," said Foster. As evidence, he noted that three of the other eight finalists in the HPC Challenge competition also used Globus components.
Globus research is supported by DARPA, DOE, NASA, and NSF. Work on real-time analysis of APS data is supported by DOE's Mathematical, Information, and Computational Sciences grand challenge program.
Argonne will join forces with Northwestern University, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and five major chemical companies to create a "virtual institute" to study the environmental applications of catalytic chemistry.
Investigators of the Institute for Environmental Catalysis (IEC) will study the catalytic oxidation of organic compounds to determine ways to reduce the formation of pollutants and make it easier to remove them from waste streams.
Catalysts generally accelerate the rate of chemical reactions, allowing products to be formed or wastes to be broken down more readily and using less energy. Catalytic converters in cars, for example, contain small beads coated with metals that change pollutants like carbon monoxide into less harmful carbon dioxide and water.
"We'll be trying to develop 'green' chemistry approaches and determine the fate of chemicals in the environment," said Marion Thurnauer, director of Argonne'sChemistry Division, "We're looking forward to interacting with other scientists from Northwestern, Pacific Northwest and the chemical companies."
The private-sector companies include Allied Signal, Dow Chemical, Engelhard Corp., Union Carbide and UOP Research Center.
The institute will be funded through a five-year, $7.9 million grant from theNational Science Foundation and theU.S. Department of Energy. Federal funds will be augmented by an additional $4.8 million in cost-sharing from the State of Illinois and Northwestern. DOE also awarded $1 million to Argonne for its collaboration in the institute.
The IEC is one of three Environmental Molecular Science Institutes (EMSIs) created by the National Science Foundation and DOE. The agencies set aside $21.4 million over five years to establish the institutes. NSF and DOE hope the institutes will be national models for collaborative research.
Altogether, the new institute brings together some 50 senior researchers with backgrounds in chemistry, chemical and environmental engineering and materials science.
Institute researchers are expected to make heavy use of Argonne'sAdvanced Photon Source, which is capable of producing the world's most brilliant X-ray beams.
Chemist Edmund A. (Ed) Huff has received the 1998 Kenneth J. Jensen Award of the Chemical Technology Division'sAnalytical Chemistry Laboratory.
The Jensen Award, established in 1996, honors one of the charter members of Argonne's Analytical Chemistry Laboratory. It recognizes outstanding work by current Argonne employees.
Huff specializes in atomic-emission spectroscopy with emphasis on applying Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) to determine the identity and concentration of chemical elements present. He is also noted for his work in chemical separations using ion-exchange and extraction methods. Analysis of data from Huff's ICP-AES laboratory have supported a large number of Argonne programs in materials science, nuclear technology, separations science, geoscience, process development, and other areas.
In recent years, he has conducted compositional analysis of superconducting ceramics, analysis of test samples from advanced wasteform studies and simulated nuclear reactor accidents, and supported development of pyrometallurgical processes for treating nuclear fuel.
Jensen led the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory's chemical analysis group from 1975 until his retirement, and continued to perform consulting work with the laboratory until his death in 1994 -- after 50 years of service.
The Argonne Choral Group marks its 17th season with two performances at Argonne-East on Thursday, Dec. 10.
Under the direction of Harry Bell (PFS), the group will sing holiday favorites in the Building 213 Cafeteria at noon and in the lobby of Building 201 at 2 p.m.
Tickets for Breakfast with Santa, Argonne Club'sannual holiday event, go on sale Monday, Nov. 30, in Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria at 11:30 a.m. Remaining tickets will be sold from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. through Friday, Dec. 4.
Each child who wishes to visit Santa will need a ticket. Tickets are $1 each and will be color-coded for three sessions: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Breakfast with Santa will be held Saturday, Dec. 5, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria. All Argonne and DOE employees and their families are welcome.
Santa and Mrs. Claus will be on hand to take gift requests from children of Argonne and DOE employees. Other attractions include balloon-twisting clowns, face painting and a story teller.
Free cookies and juice will be available, compliments of the Argonne Club.
Marriott will sell pancakes and sausage for breakfast from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.; hot dogs and fries will be sold from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Volunteers are need to help at the event. Call Jeff Goetzen (ASD) at ext. 2-9608 for more information.
The Argonne Arts and Crafts Club will hold its annual Christmas Arts and Crafts Fair on Friday, Dec. 4 in Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria, Dining Rooms A and B.
Shopping hours will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Seasonal decorations including wreaths, wall hangings and ornaments will be available, along with hand-made Christmas presents and a separate table for Beanie Babies.
A new World Wide Web page allows Argonne employees to check the availability of meeting rooms in Building 201 and reserve a room with a few clicks of a mouse.
TheConference Room Scheduler works best with Internet Explorer 4.0, but functions with Netscape Navigator 4.0 as well as later versions of both browsers.
First-time users will need to establish a password and user name (which are returned immediately via e-mail). No password is needed to simply check the availability of a room.
For more information on the conference scheduler, call Georgiana Larson (OCF) at ext. 2-6840.
ITD has created a Web site featuring Argonne software at or near the "shrink-wrap" stage and ready for licensing.
The "Software Shop" provides one-stop shopping for private firms, government agencies and others looking for software that can be adapted to their needs.
The site also gives Argonne scientists and engineers a single Web site to learn about "home-grown" software that could be useful in their research.
A link to the Software Shop can be found on the Industrial Technology Development Division home page.
To list software in the Software Shop, contact Software Licensing Coordinator Paul Betten (ITD) at ext. 2-4962 or send e-mail tobetten@anl.gov.
Employees who develop software need to submit an abstract to the Department of Energy's Energy Science and Technology Software Center. For more information, go to the ITD Web site and click "Internal Information."
The laboratory's retirement vendors will have representatives at Argonne-East to answer questions about retirement plans or retirement plan assets.
To schedule a half-hour appointment with these representatives, call the number listed below.
| Vendor | Day | For Appointments, call: |
| Fidelity | Wednesday, Dec. 9,
and Thursday, Dec. 10 |
Appointment Desk
(800) 642-7131 |
| TIAA-CREF | Wednesday, Dec. 16,
and Thursday, Dec. 17 |
Appointment Desk
(800) 842-2005 |
The Argonne Guest House Restaurant will hold a three-day Beaujolais Nouveau Celebration Dec. 2-4 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Chef Chris Kaminski will prepare a special dinner on all three nights, with entrees like grilled tenderloin of beef accented with crawfish, mushrooms and brandy; seared breast of duck with fig and sun-dried cherry sauce; and tri-color rigatoni with lamb ragu.
Beaujolais Nouveau will be available for $3.50 a glass or $10 for a bottle.
According to wine experts, 1998 is one of the red wine's better years. It has "a fruity bouquet" and "tastes mainly of red fruits, although opinions differ on whether blackberries, raspberries or even crushed raspberries predominate."
Reservations are accepted, but not necessary. To make reservations, call 5-2008 or (630) 739-6000.
