Empire State Development Corp's Marisa Lago Visits Brookhaven, Discusses BNL/NYS Initiatives
February 9, 2009
Steven Dierker and Marisa Lago at the National Synchrotron Light Source
On January 22, Marisa Lago, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), with other key ESDC staff, visited BNL to learn about Lab facilities and research, especially work involving collaborations with New York State (NYS).
Lago, who joined NYS government in September 2008 after a career in federal and municipal government and in the financial services industry, has complete oversight of economic development initiatives throughout the State. In naming her to this ESDC position last August, Governor David Paterson, who characterized ESDC as "a critical partner in bringing new business to New York and growing the successful companies that generate jobs and revenue for our State," expected her appointment to "bring new vitality to our economic development mission."
Lab Director Sam Aronson and DOE's Brookhaven Site Office (BHSO) Manager Michael Holland welcomed Lago, ESDC's Andrea Lohneiss, and Barry Greenspan to BNL. Lago and her staff were also greeted by Deputy Director of Science & Technology Doon Gibbs, Deputy Director of Operations Michael Bebon, Associate Lab Director for Basic Energy Sciences Jim Misewich, Assistant Director for Community, Education, Government & Public Affairs Marge Lynch, BHSO's Business Management Division Director Robert Gordon, and BNL's Manager of Energy Management Mark Toscano.
Steven Vigdor and Marisa Lago look at a PHENIX image at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider.
After an overview of research and NYS initiatives and tour of the Center for Functional Nanomaterials, the group visited the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) to meet Steven Dierker, Associate Director for Light Sources, and Chi-Chang Kao, NSLS Chair and Director of the future Joint Photon Sciences Institute (JPSI). JPSI, which is supported by NYS, will serve as an intellectual center for development and application of the photon sciences and a gateway for users of the future NSLS-II. As the brightest synchrotron light source in the world, NSLS-II will enable advances in fields such as materials design and function, energy - including alternative energy innovations - health, and drug design.
The group next stopped at the PHENIX experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), where Steven Vigdor, Associate Director for Nuclear & Particle Physics; Derek Lowenstein, Collider-Accelerator Department Chair; and PHENIX scientists explained some of the renowned discoveries made at RHIC, the world's premier heavy ion and polarized proton collider, where more than a thousand scientists and users pursue research on the fundamentals of the nucleus and the origins of the universe.
New York Blue, the Stony Brook/BNL supercomputer, was the last stop on the tour. Support from the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology, & Innovation (NYSTAR) has enabled research using New York Blue in fields from genomics to climate science. James Davenport, Director of BNL's Computational Science Center, explained that New York Blue is part of the New York Center for Computation Sciences. Ranked as the 28th fastest supercomputer by Top 500, New York Blue has had about 200 users since its installment in 2007 - including global climate researchers and Intel finalist Christine Shrock.
Concluded Aronson, "Ms. Lago expressed great interest in the Lab's research facilities and activities, especially as they relate to New York State efforts in alternative energy. This was an important visit as we look to continue to build our relationship with the State."
2009-1090 | INT/EXT | Newsroom
