NYSTAR's Edward Reinfurt Visits BNL Research Facilities

Edward Reinfurt Visits BNL Research Facilities

National Synchrotron Light Source Chair Chi-Chang Kao (left) talks about research at the beamline used by the National Institute of Standards & Technology to (from left) Assistant Lab Director for Community, Education, Government & Public Affairs Marge Lynch; Executive Director of the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology & Innovation Edward Reinfurt; BNL Director Sam Aronson; Associate Lab Director for Light Sources Steve Dierker; and Deputy Lab Director Doon Gibbs.

On December 29, Edward Reinfurt, executive director of the New York State (NYS) Foundation for Science, Technology & Innovation (NYSTAR), toured a selection of BNL's research facilities and met with Lab scientific leaders. Substantial NYS investment in some facilities, including the New York Blue supercomputer, a beamline at the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS), and the proposed new Joint Photon Science Institute (JPSI), added particular interest to the tour for the NYSTAR Director.

Said Lab Director Sam Aronson, "The support that Brookhaven National Laboratory has received from New York State has been a key contribution to the success of our scientific mission. The Lab is eager to develop future collaborations so that the State industrial, commercial and academic sectors can all make the best use of the Lab's unique facilities and capabilities."

Reinfurt was named to his position in 2007 after serving as vice president of the Business Council of New York State, Inc., where he was instrumental in bringing together business and academic sectors for various initiatives. Now, under his leadership, NYSTAR seeks to identify how New York's existing research assets can create greater opportunities for technology development throughout the state. As an example of this effort, NYSTAR is now developing customized portfolios of research assets - people, equipment, and facilities - that are available in specific areas of technology identified by companies in the state.

Welcoming Reinfurt and accompanying him on the Lab visit with Aronson were Deputy Lab Director for Science & Technology Doon Gibbs, Associate Lab Director for Light Sources Steve Dierker, Associate Lab Director for Basic Energy Sciences Jim Misewich, and Assistant Lab Director for Community, Education, Government & Public Affairs Marge Lynch.

Among the tour highlights were a visit to the New York Blue supercomputer, to talk with Computational Science Center Director Jim Davenport; a tour of the Center for Functional Nanomaterials with its director, Emilio Mendez; and a visit to the NSLS to meet with NSLS Chair and JPSI Director Chi-Chang Kao. At the NSLS, Reinfurt saw the beamline used by the National Institute of Standards & Technology, where scientists have recently established a "greener" anti-wear additive for engine oils, and the beamline where Roderick McKinnon did part of his 2003 Nobel Prize in Chemistry research on how a class of proteins helps to generate nerve impulses.

After lunch, Reinfurt continued his tour by meeting members of the Condensed Matter Physics & Materials Science Department: Ivan Bozovic at the Molecular Beam Epitaxy Facility and Yimei Zhu at the Transmission Electron Microscope Facility. The next stop was at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, where Physics Department Chair Thomas Ludlam explained some of the science going on at the STAR Detector. Talks on regional energy initiatives and programs followed with Creighton Wirick, interim associate laboratory director for Environmental Sciences; Bill Horak, Chair of the Energy Sciences & Technology Department and department scientist Thomas Butcher. Joanna Fowler of the Medical Department, who heads BNL's medical imaging center, then gave an overview of the imaging program at the Positron Emission Tomography Facility before the distinguished visitor took part in closing discussions at the Director's office.

Commented Gibbs, "Ed Reinfurt is a very important person for science and technology in the State of New York. We are delighted that he spent a whole day here touring our facilities and talking to us about a range of current and planned activities. We're hoping to make deeper connections to the state in computation, energy research - including to our facilities - and medical imaging."

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