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An edited transcript of Argonne Director Hermann Grunder's State of the Laboratory address is now available online.
Twenty-nine employees were honored with Director's Awards for 1999 and 2000 during the State of the Laboratory Address June 28.
Director's Award winners receive a plaque and $1,000. Awards are given to individuals or teams whose accomplishments are judged most significant among all Pacesetter Award winners during the previous year.
Pacesetters are awarded for extraordinary effort in meeting or exceeding difficult deadlines or demands of a technical, administrative or sponsor-related nature. Pacesetters are also awarded for innovations, discoveries, program development and cost-cutting suggestions.
1999 Director's Award winners are:
Zhonghou Cai, Sean P. Frigo, Barry Lai, Daniel
G. Legnini, Ian McNulty, Russell L. Otto, Brian J. Tieman,
and Greg E. Wiemerslage (all XFD) in recognition of
their extraordinary effort, dedication, and success in
developing techniques for high resolution X-ray
microscopy at the Advanced Photon Source. They applied
these methods to a diverse array of problems of current
interest to the scientific and industrial communities.
Dwight R. Diercks, Jeffrey E. Franklin, and Saurin Majumdar (all ET)
for successfully developing a model to predict the
behavior of the electrosleeve during severe accidents and
performing experiments to validate the model. (An electrosleeve is a
sleeve made of nanocrystalline nickel that is used to
repair stress cracks in reactor water pipes.) The
predictions of the model and the test results played a critical
role in the evaluation and eventual approval of the
process by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(USNRC). Argonne's contribution has been recognized in letters
of commendation from the Directors of the USNRC Offices of Nuclear
Regulatory Research and Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
Phillip J. Finck (TD) for his extraordinary effort
in the preparation of a comprehensive road map for
technology development for the national Accelerator
Transmutation of Waste program. His work will form the
basis for work performed by all of the national laboratories
and partners for the duration of this planned large project.
Keith Trychta (PFS-WMO) for his outstanding work in planning,
managing and executing the replacement of sludge pumps at
the laboratory's Sanitary Wastewater Treatment Plant.
This will result in an additional annual cost savings of
approximately $12,000 due to increased efficiencies
in managing the sludge.
Henry Belch, Robert W. Connatser, Lynette Jirik,
and David J. Leach (all IPNS) for extraordinary effort in
constructing the new IPNS Quasi-Elastic Neutron
Spectrometer Upgrade Instrument.
The 2000 Director's Award winners are:
Jin Wang (APS), Christopher Powell (APS),
Ramesh Poola (ES) and Sreenath Gupta (ES) for opening up
a new field for engine and spray research with the potential to establish
Argonne as the leader in this area.
Ramesh Poola and Raj Sekar (both ES) for
developing a procedure that resulted in the simultaneous
reduction of particulates and nitrogen oxides during
the combustion process in a diesel engine.
Mark C. Hash (CMT) for outstanding innovation
and effort in developing and perfecting the
pressureless consolidation method for the glass-bonded sodalite
ceramic waste form, an alternative to hot isostatic pressing
that eliminates the need for high-pressure equipment.
David H. Banks, Lynnie D. Johnson, Leroy Moore
and Gregory D. Owens (all PFS-DR) for extraordinary
effort in assisting the Site Services Department in
accomplishing the Building 369 project. Their dedication and
efforts were critical to the timely completion of the project.
Jennifer A. Linton (MSD) for extraordinary
effort in making the Basic Energy Sciences Synchrotron
Radiation Center bending magnet routinely available
to BESSRC users.
More prizes have been added to the Argonne Combined Appeal (ACA) annual raffle: A $100 gift certificate for the Kerry Piper Pub in Willowbrook, a gift certificate from United Limousine Service and Rand McNally map products.
Tickets are on sale daily during lunch in Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria through Friday, July 13. Tickets are 50 cents each or 12 for $5. Tickets will also be available from ACA steering committee members, ACA coordinators and at the Argonne-East employee picnic Saturday, July 14.
"Bucket" hats are also being sold to raise funds for the Argonne Combined Appeal. Hats are embroidered with the Argonne logo and available in olive, stone and denim for $10 each. Hats are available from steering committee members, at the Building 213 Cafeteria at lunchtime, and will be sold at the Argonne-East employee picnic July 14.
Other raffle prizes include tickets to Second City in Chicago, gift certificates to area restaurants, and passes to Tivoli Theatre performances. Other prizes include gift certificates from Walgreen's and Sure Fire Auto Parts and a $50 U.S. Savings Bond.
The raffle drawing will be held at the Argonne-East employee picnic, Saturday, July 14. Winners do not need to be present to win.
The raffle supports the ACA, which gives Argonne employees an opportunity to contribute to the Metropolitan Chicago United Way/Crusade of Mercy, United Way Will County and many other agencies.
For more information on the Combined Appeal, or to locate steering committee members or coordinators, see the ACA home page.
Argonne high-temperature superconductivity research recently received international recognition with the publication of two papers in a recent issue of the science journal Nature.
Argonne is home to the nation's largest program to develop practical applications for high-temperature superconductors -- materials that carry electricity with no energy loss when cooled to a few hundred degrees below zero.
After high-temperature superconductivity was discovered in 1986, Argonne quickly became one of the world's leaders in experimental and theoretical investigations of specific compounds and general issues important for applications and fundamental physics of novel materials.
One research group examined a new superconducting material, magnesium diboride, which has the highest known superconducting temperature for a non-copper oxide material. The other, looking at the more traditional copper oxide superconductor, has discovered new behavior in the material during the superconducting process.
The papers appeared in the May 24 issue of Nature. In the first paper, Argonne researchers David Hinks, Helmut Claus and James D. Jorgenson (all MSD) have taken key measurements to help understand the superconducting properties of magnesium diboride, MgB2, which becomes superconducting at 39 degrees Kelvin (about minus 400 degrees F).
Isotope-effect measurements, in which atoms are substituted by isotopes of different masses to systematically change the vibration frequencies of the atoms, are one of the fundamental tests of the nature of the superconducting mechanism in a material. This is because superconductivity is due to the interaction of the atomic vibrations and the conduction electrons to form a zero resistance state. Changing the atoms' mass will change their vibration frequency which will, in turn, change the superconducting transition temperature (the temperature below which the material is a superconductor). Replacing an atom with a heavier atom will cause the transition temperature to decrease. In conventional superconductors, the total isotope-effect coefficient, which is related to the change in transition temperature when both the boron and magnesium atoms are replaced by different mass isotopes, can be readily calculated.
However, the researchers found that the transition temperature did not change as much as the simple calculations would predict, leading to a total isotope-effect coefficient much lower than expected. Understanding the reduced total isotope effect may help explain the reasons for this material's high transition temperature.
In the other paper, Argonne researchers Wai-Kwong Kwok, Ulrich Welp and George Crabtree (all MSD) worked with an international team of colleagues from the chemistry department at the University of California at Berkeley, the Département de Recherche Fondamentale sur la Matière Condensée, Service de Physique, Magnétisme et Supraconductivité, Grenoble, France, and Physik-Institut der Universität Zürich, Switzerland.
The team collaborated on an examination of a superconductor's "vortex state," a collection of magnetic field lines that can arrange themselves into an ordered lattice structure or "melt" through a phase transition into a randomly oriented structure, similar to the melting of atomic solids.
Vortices -- magnetic field lines each surrounded by circulating supercurrents, much like wind currents in tornadoes -- form when magnetic fields penetrate into the superconductor. In defect-free superconductors, these vortices arrange themselves into a triangular or square lattice at low temperatures, similar to an atomic crystal or solid.
In high-temperature superconductors, however, the vortex solid melts into a random liquid of vortex lines at high temperatures, just as ice melts into water.
Since the motion of these vortices controls the superconductor's effective current-carrying capability and zero-resistance state, the understanding of the various vortex states in the presence of material defects, high magnetic fields and high temperatures are of great interest to materials scientists.
In high magnetic fields, the phase transition line that separates the vortex solid from the liquid terminates in the vicinity of a so-called "critical point." Neither the nature of the melting nor the phase diagram in the vicinity of the critical point has been well established.
In the Nature paper, the researchers present the first experimental evidence of a new second-order transition within the liquid state near the critical point. This second-order transition has two unusual features: First, it connects two liquid phases, a low temperature vortex liquid phase characterized by a vortex line tension and a high-temperature phase without line tension. Second, the high-temperature phase is the more symmetric one. These results provide experimental validation of theoretical predictions as well as new evidence to assist researchers in developing superconducting materials.
The Argonne-East employee picnic will be held Saturday, July 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Argonne Park.
The picnic, sponsored by the Argonne Club and Argonne Credit Union, will feature music, hayrides, a 30-foot climbing wall, a dunk tank and other amusements.
A number of activities will be available for children, including a petting zoo and a castle maze.
Sodexho Marriott will have food available for purchase.
Employees are needed to staff the booths and rides. For more information, call Stan Reinke (ECT), president of the Argonne Club, at ext. 2-6957. Volunteers will receive a T-shirt for their efforts.
Staff and non-staff retirement plan interest rates for the third quarter of 2001 are:
| Vendor | Rate | Contributions From | Through |
| TIAA Traditional | 7.00% | 7/1/01 -- 9/30/01 | 2/28/02 |
| TIAA Supplemental | 6.50% | 7/1/01 -- 9/30/01 | 2/28/02 |
| Lincoln National (Old Account) | 3.50% | 7/1/01 -- 9/30/01 | 9/30/01 |
| Lincoln National (No Load) | 5.55% | 7/1/01 -- 9/30/01 | 9/30/01 |
| Prudential Fixed Interest* | 6.16% | 7/1/01 -- 6/30/02 | 6/30/02 |
| Prudential Guaranteed | 5.25% | 7/1/01 -- 9/30/01 | 12/31/02 |
(*Only available to non-staff participants)
President George W. Bush intends to nominate Brookhaven National Laboratory Director John H. Marburger III to director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
As head of OSTP, Marburger will serve as a source of scientific and technological analysis and judgment for the president.
Marburger is president of Brookhaven Science Associates. He is presently on a leave of absence from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he served as president and professor from 1980 to 1994.
A representative from MetLife will be available at Argonne-East Tuesday, July 10, and Tuesday, July 24, to meet with individual employees and provide insurance comparisons and quotes for the "METPAY" group automobile and homeowners insurance program.
To schedule an appointment, call Craig Riddick at (630) 810-0346, ext. 143. Employees should fax their auto policy renewal statements to (630) 810-1628 before their appointments.
A Russian language class will begin Wednesday, July 11, offering Argonne-East employees beginning and intermediate instruction in reading, writing and speaking.
The course, offered by Human Resources, will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays. The beginning class starts at 10:30 a.m., and the intermediate class starts at 9 a.m. Both classes will be held in Building 208, Room A262.
Employees interested in enrolling should contact a Training Management System representative.
Call Betty Iwan at ext. 2-3410 for more information or visit the Argonnet at www.anl.gov/OPA/argonnet/ and click "Onsite training courses (HR)" under the "Education and Training" heading.
Service Awards for June include:
40 Years
Judith M. Beumer (MCS), Thomas E. Kasprzyk (HEP), Francis Markun (CMT), Algirdas Paugys (UPD), Donald J. Piatak (IPNS), Stanley J. Rudnick (TD), Clark Gary Schlesselman (ECT).
35 Years
Jon C. Beitel (RAE), Eddie C. Gay (CMT), Mary Ellen Hennebry (EST), Patricia A. Krueger (OPS), Gordon D. Muma (FAC).
30 Years
Linda M. Graf (IPD), Sharon K. Janning (FAC), Dorthea L. Wagar (ECT).
25 Years
Geraldine D. Agerton (PFS), Kenneth D. Albert (PFS), Andrew P. Bracken (OSS), Ronald L. Gilbert (PFS), Glenn Harmon (PFS), Ruth A. Hill (HEP), James F. Lucas (PFS), Kenneth J. Madritsch (PFS), Bryant R. Messenger (RPS), Sofia L. Napora (CMT), Douglas James Schwartzenberger (FAC), Leland H. Sprouse, Jr. (ESH).
20 Years
Ronald S. Noble (PFS), W. Elane Streets (CMT), Constantine P. Tzanos (RAE), Venkateswara R. Veluri (ESH), Thomas D. Veselka (DIS).
15 Years
Thomas K. Begeske (PFS), David W. Leibfritz (ASD), Ronda L. Orasco (OSS), Candace M. Rose (ER), Kaylyne Weatherston (NT).
10 Years
Scott Benes (ASD), Val G. Cooper (FAC), Noel R. Duckwitz (FAC), Loretta Fagiano (PFS), Nahum Friedman (AOD), Travis A. Hall (FAC), Akemi Hanus (PFS), Rhea J. Hickman (RPS), Marianne Jakusz (OTT), Mark Kedzie (PHY), Jesse L. Kirby (FAC), Raymond Klann (TD), Michael M. Michlik (NT), Joseph T. Mitchell (ENT), Thomas Mullen (PHY ), Tracy Rogness (OTD), Andrew Stevens (AOD), Cynthia Sullivan (HR), Troy L. Wright (RPS), Irma Zepeda (CMT).
5 Years
Daniel Abraham (CMT), M. Jeanie Bingham (RPS), Timothy T. Cundiff (HEP), Rafael Gomez (AOD), Bertold M. Kraessig (CHM), Anthony W. McCormick (MSD), Daniel Rosenmann (MSD), Audrey S. Senffner (OTD), Michael A. Skwarek (ECT), Jon A. Zadra (DIS).
