A Message from Stanislaus Wong

information from the Users' Executive Committee

April 21, 2014

Stanislaus Wong

Stanislaus Wong

Dear Fellow Users,

On behalf of the CFN UEC, welcome to another cycle! As of this writing, the results of the DOE CFN review process back in September are still not known; hence, it is not clear what the consequences of the review will be for the user community. Nonetheless, it has been a busy time here at the CFN, and we have much to report.

Meetings and Symposia

  •  We expect to hold an informational Town Hall meeting before the main NSLS/CFN Users’ meeting, which is scheduled for May 19-21, 2014.

    The theme of this year’s meeting is “Science and Industry.” We intend to showcase the cooperation and mutual interests of the CFN and NSLS user facilities and highlight some of the important, commercially relevant activities happening at Brookhaven. The program includes invited plenary talks from Steve Wasserman of Eli Lilly and Jean Jordan Sweet of IBM Research. The meeting will also host a poster session as well as exhibits, showcasing new technology and instrumentation.  All of these events and accompanying workshops offer opportunities for users to learn about the latest developments in synchrotron and nanoscience experimentation that can constructively impact users’ research. In particular, CFN staff members have been involved with the organization of the “In Situ Probes for Investigating Solar Energy Conversion” workshop.
  • Users should also note that the next NUFO (National User Facility Organization) meeting will be held from April 30 to May 2, 2014, at Pacific Northwest National Lab; Nathalie Bouet may be representing the UEC there. We also report that CFN already has an entry for a proposed demo for a NUFO ‘show and tell’ event with staff of the U.S. House of Representatives, scheduled for June 10, 2014, in Washington, DC; Balaji Raghothamachar and Elena Polyakova may attend on behalf of the UEC. 
  • The first major Distinguished Users’ symposium was given by Professor Karl Berggren from MIT on March 11, 2014. In his presentation aimed at a general audience, Professor Berggren spoke about his recent work in “Smarter Lithography: Top-Down Control of Nanometer-Length-Scale Self-Assembly.” We were pleased to see many users from different departments, attending the colloquium. 

CFN Operations

  • The CFN User Administration has requested that publication information (especially old papers concerning work performed at the CFN) be entered into the CFN Publications Database to complement staff emails about record keeping. 
  • A transportation survey was recently completed to determine user needs, especially on weekends and after hours, both within the Lab as well as to and from local train stations and bus connections. We will keep you updated as to what the Lab intends to do with the results of this valuable feedback. 
  • We recently learned that the new CCure card reader system is now fully operational. It will control electronic entry and access to the various labs in the building, including after hours and on weekends. This new system works with updated ID badges, so please obtain new ones, as needed. 
  • Regarding instrumentation, we note that the e-beam system was down during October and November of 2013, which interfered with some user experiments. With imminent renovation to the cleanroom planned, nanofabrication work may be further disrupted. Thus, the suggestion has been raised that CFN consider the purchase of another backup e-beam writer in the future, if possible. If users have any other specific instrumentation requests and/or ideas, please let us know. The UEC would like to suggest to the CFN management the strategic procurement of additional instruments, upgrades, and/or technique capabilities with maximum benefit to as many users as possible.

UEC Elections

  • As per our Charter, the UEC will hold elections for members-at-large, UEC Vice Chair, and UEC Secretary at the Users’ meeting. I have personally been taking on the duties and responsibilities of Chair and Secretary for the past year, so I can certainly share my experiences with both positions for those who are interested. Our goal is to bring on new, additional members, and we will gladly accept all nominations, including self-nominations, right up until the beginning of the Users’ meeting itself. 

We look forward to hearing from you on these issues and sincerely hope a number of you can join us in our efforts to improve the user experience at the CFN.

With best wishes,
Stanislaus S. Wong
2013-14 CFN UEC Chair

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