A Message from Donald DiMarzio

information from the Users' Executive Committee

April 24, 2018

Donald DiMarzio enlarge

Donald DiMarzio

Dear fellow CFN users:

On behalf of the CFN Users’ Executive Committee (UEC), I am pleased to report recent happenings since our last newsletter.

Federal Budget Developments

  • We have good news from Washington: The omnibus spending bill covers FY18 and includes increases in DOE Basic Energy Sciences funding. How this bill will affect CFN is yet to be determined but it is expected to support steady funding at a minimum.  It will also allow the CFN to move forward with new staff hires and planned capital expenditures, including a new x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy system to be installed sometime this summer. You can contact me for additional details.

Outreach to the Scientific Community

  • In order to promote increased awareness of its capabilities in the scientific community, CFN staffed a booth at last year’s Materials Research Society (MRS) Fall Meeting & Exhibit in Boston. We had a very positive response, and as a result are receiving increased interest from the user community.  What was surprising to us was how many people were not aware of the CFN and its capabilities. For this reason, the CFN is now looking to expand its promotion through other venues such as the American Physical Society and American Chemical Society. We will keep you posted on these efforts.
  • We want to move forward with our CFN alumni “goodwill ambassador” outreach, with CFN alumni giving talks at their institutions about the CFN and the research they performed here. This informal CFN representative will be a local point of contact for other scientists to get involved with the CFN. If you would like to become a CFN ambassador, please contact me. I will provide you with the necessary supporting materials, including a brief on CFN capabilities and operations.

Upcoming Plans and Events

  • An important action item from our recent UEC meeting last month is to revamp our website and keep it up to date via volunteer efforts from members of the UEC. We will let you know when the new site is up and running.
  • The UEC has continued its support of the annual NSLS-II & CFN Joint Users’ Meeting. This year’s meeting will be held May 21 to 23, and we are responsible for organizing the poster session. We need poster session judges, so please let me know if you would like to volunteer. Also, please send any recommendations for UEC membership (including yourself if you are interested). We look forward to seeing everyone at the meeting.

Summary

The UEC is always interested in hearing from you, and we sincerely hope you can join us in our efforts to improve the user experience at CFN. Please feel free to send me any thoughts on how the UEC can help make such improvements. I am a locally based user, and I would be more than happy to meet with you the next time you are at CFN—just send me a note at the email address listed below before you arrive.

— Donald DiMarzio
2017–19 CFN UEC Chair (chair@cfnuec.org)

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