Argonne scientists receive distinguished performance awards

ARGONNE, Ill. (June 16, 2005) — Five scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have received the 2005 University of Chicago Board of Governors for Argonne Distinguished Performance Award, which recognizes outstanding scientific or technical achievements or a distinguished record of achievements.

The University of Chicago operates the laboratory for the Department of Energy. The awards were presented at a recent ceremony held at Argonne. Award winners are: Michael Billone, Stephen Choi, Julius Jellinek, Wah-Keat Lee and Jin Wang.

• Michael Billone of Argonne 's Energy Technology Division has been a valued contributor to several U.S. Department of Energy programs in both fusion and fission reactor development. In 2003, he led a team of engineers and technicians to complete the first in-cell tests to simulate the effects of a hypothetical loss-of-coolant accident on high-burnup reactor fuel. This achievement and the data it generated have won the praise of program managers at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Electric Power Research Institute and have brought international recognition to Argonne. The data developed are important for understanding the potential impacts of higher fuel burnup on cladding integrity. Follow-on studies may make possible revisions of the regulations on fuel behavior that will provide an improved process for the licensing of new, better performing, cladding materials.

• Stephen Choi of the laboratory's Energy Technology Division was recognized for pioneering scientific achievements and outstanding leadership in nanofluid research. Nanofluids are a new class of heat transfer fluid engineered by dispersing nanometer-size solid particles in traditional heat transfer fluids. Experiments conducted by Choi's group demonstrated that nanofluids conduct heat much faster than scientists had predicted possible at very low volume fractions of nanoparticles. This unexpected result represents a fundamental discovery in basic heat transfer. Choi also directed a theoretical study that led to the discovery of the mechanisms behind this anomalous thermal behavior. Nanotechnology-based fluids have potential applications ranging from transportation to electronics and photonics.

• Julius Jellinek of Argonne 's Chemistry Division is a world leader in the area of atomic and molecular clusters, the scientific basis for the whole field of nanoscale materials.  His most notable contributions include his studies of cluster chemical reactivity; explorations of the size-evolution of structural, dynamical, and electronic properties of one- and two-component metal clusters; and investigations of thermal stability, phases, and phase transitions in finite systems. His work has spanned a broad range of important, fundamental topics with implications for other fields.

• Jin Wang and Wah-Keat Lee of the lab's Experimental Facilities Division are being honored for their success in using X-rays in a wide range of research. Wang is a world-renowned expert in the application of X-ray scattering to a variety of materials science problems. He is best known for his research into the dynamics of fuel sprays, where he applied an innovative research approach and achieved unique results. Lee, after many years of developing successful high-heat load X-ray optics, switched fields and became an expert in phase contrast X-ray imaging. The results of his "in-vivo" imaging of breathing insects have been acclaimed worldwide.

Wang and Lee currently collaborate on projects that use their combined expertise to great effect. They have developed a technique using phase-contrast methods to make images using the Advanced Photon Source with exposure times on the order of submicroseconds. The technique has many possible applications, and is expected to have a significant impact on a variety of scientific areas.

Argonne National Laboratory brings the world's brightest scientists and engineers together to find exciting and creative new solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America 's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

For more information, please contact Steve McGregor (630/252-5580 or media@anl.gov) at Argonne.