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January 09 Issue - Employee Monthly Magazine SpotlightThriving on 24/7 science
Don Brown, instrument scientist for the Spectrometer for Materials Research at Temperature and Stress, makes final adjustments before the beam is available to the Lujan Neutron Scattering Center. Photo by Robb Kramer
Don Brown of Structure/Property Relations (MST-8) thrives on the intensity of his work. When the beam is on at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) and he's running an experiment, coming to work for him is "an adrenaline rush." Brown is the instrument scientist on SMARTS, the spectrometer for materials research at temperature and stress, which uses neutron diffraction techniques to probe metals and structural materials. Users come from around the world to work on SMARTS and, on average, a new experiment starts every three days, with Brown relishing the pressure and the variety of his work. With the time constraints and cost of accelerator operations, all instruments at LANSCE, including SMARTS, run on a 24/7 schedule while up. "I just perform well when there is a deadline," explained Brown, "and I'm always doing new science." Brown is quick to point out that SMARTS is a team operation, which includes Bjšrn Clausen of the Lujan Center at LANSCE and Thomas Sisneros and Saurabh Kabra of MST-8. The core team is suplemented by a constant flux of students. "The user program at LANSCE is perfect [for students]," Brown said. "If someone is assertive and gets involved in things, you can kick start a career here." Which is exactly what Brown did. "Right from the outset Don came at it with a whole lot of energy," said MST-8 Deputy Group Leader Mark Bourke, who built the SMARTS instrument before recruiting Brown and turning it over to him to run. As a graduate student Brown, who earned his doctorate in physics from Pennsylvania State University, conducted experiments at facilities similar to LANSCE in the United States, United Kingdom, and France and knew he wanted to run a beam line at a world-class facility. "He saw the other side of it, the user side," said Bourke. "Don is certainly someone who understands what [user] needs are, respects them, and if they are prepared to invest the time on the instrument, he will give them a huge amount of his time to maximize their experiments." --Editor's note: This is an excerpt from an article by Karen Kippen that was published in the October issue of MSTeNEWS (int.lanl.gov/orgs/mst/files/enews08/october08enews.pdf (internal only)). Other Headlines
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