BSA Distinguished Lecture Tuesday, 10/14: 'LCLS: A Stunning New View Through X-ray Laser Eyes'

Chi-Chang Kao enlarge

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Director Chi-Chang Kao, who will give a BSA Distinguished Lecture at Brookhaven Lab at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14.

UPTON, NY — Chi-Chang Kao, director of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, will give a BSA Distinguished Lecture at DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 4 p.m. in Berkner Hall. Kao will highlight the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS)—the world's most powerful x-ray laser—during his talk, titled "LCLS: A Stunning New View Through X-ray Laser Eyes."

Successfully commissioned at SLAC in 2009, LCLS produces highly focused, ultrafast x-ray pulses like flashes from a high-speed strobe light. This enables scientists from around the world to take stop-motion pictures of atoms and molecules in chemical reactions, shedding light on the fundamental processes of chemistry to help solve important protein structures, and understand materials' properties and responses in extreme conditions.

During his BSA Distinguished Lecture, Kao will provide an overview of scientists' first five years exploring uses for this extraordinary light source, including their advances in understanding the source, scientific discoveries, and future plans for the facility.

This lecture is scheduled to be webcast live and archived online at www.bnl.gov/video.

About the Speaker

Kao earned a Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Cornell University in 1988. He arrived at Brookhaven Lab as a postdoc in 1988 and was promoted to a number of roles, eventually serving as chair of the National Synchrotron Light Source from 2006 to 2010. Kao took on his next role, as director of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, in 2010 and was named director of SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in 2012. Kao is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and American Physical Society, and he shared one of the so-called "Oscars of Invention," an R&D 100 Award, in 2006.

About BSA Distinguished Lectures

BSA Distinguished Lectures are sponsored by Brookhaven Science Associates, the company that manages Brookhaven Lab, to present topics of general interest to the Laboratory community and the public. These lectures are free and open to the public. All visitors to the Laboratory 16 and older must bring a photo ID.

The Laboratory is located on William Floyd Parkway, one-and-a-half miles north of Exit 68 of the Long Island Expressway.

For more information, call (631) 344-2345.

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