Wednesday, May 4, 2011
spacer
Search
spacer
Calendar

Have a safe day!

Wednesday, May 4
12:30 p.m.
Physics for Everyone - Auditorium
Speaker: Chris Polly, Fermilab
Title: The Magic of Muons
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4 p.m.
Fermilab Colloquium - One West
Speaker: Stewart Prager, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Title: The Path to Magnetic Fusion Energy

Thursday, May 5
2:30 p.m.
Theoretical Physics Seminar - Curia II
Speaker: Will Shepherd, University of California, Irvine
Title: Collider and Indirect Constraints on Dark Matter
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4 p.m.
Accelerator Physics and Technology Seminar - One West
Speaker: Daniel Mihalcea, Northern Illinois University
Title: High Gradient Wakefield Acceleration in Dielectric-Loaded Structures

Click here for NALCAL,
a weekly calendar with links to additional information.

Upcoming conferences

Campaigns

Take Five

Weather

WeatherSunny
58°/37°

Extended Forecast
Weather at Fermilab

Current Security Status

Secon Level 3

Wilson Hall Cafe

Wednesday, May 4

- Breakfast: English muffin sandwich
- Portabello harvest grain
- Santa Fe chicken quesadilla
- Hoisin chicken
- * Parmesan fish
- Cuban panini
- Assorted sliced pizza
- Shrimp pesto

*Heart healthy choice

Wilson Hall Cafe Menu

Chez Leon

Wednesday, May 4
Lunch

Guest chef: Veronica Almeraz
- Chile relleno, chorizo quesadilla & steak tostada
- Southwest corn & bean salad
- Mango flan

Friday, May 6
Closed

Chez Leon Menu
Call x3524 to make your reservation.

Archives

Fermilab Today

Director's Corner

Result of the Week

Safety Tip of the Week

CMS Result of the Month

User University Profiles

ILC NewsLine

Info

Fermilab Today
is online at:
www.fnal.gov/today/

Send comments and suggestions to:
today@fnal.gov

Visit the Fermilab
home page

Unsubscribe from Fermilab Today

Feature

Pier Oddone elected to National Academy of Sciences

Fermilab Director Pier Oddone

The National Academy of Sciences announced yesterday the election of Fermilab Director Pier Oddone as a member. This is one of the highest honors given to a scientist or engineer in the United States.

Oddone was elected along with 71 scientists and engineers to join the company of more than 2,000 active NAS members. Among the NAS's renowned members are Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, Thomas Edison, Orville Wright and Alexander Graham Bell. More than 180 living Academy members have won Nobel Prizes.

Votes were cast by Academy members early Tuesday morning at the NAS annual meeting. After the final decisions were made, Mike Witherell, NAS member and former Fermilab director, immediately called Oddone to surprise him with the news.

“It’s really a great honor to become part of such a distinguished group of scientists,” Oddone said. “Research in particle physics is a team effort and I owe much to my many collaborators through the years.”

Oddone was elected on the basis of his many contributions to the field of particle physics, Witherell said.

“The capstone achievement was the invention of the asymmetric B-factory idea, for which he won the W.K.H. Panofsky Prize in experimental particle physics in 2005,” Witherell said.

Oddone will now join the group of distinguished scientists that is responsible for advising the government on issues pertaining to science and technology.

“Whenever someone in particle physics is elected to the Academy, it gives broader visibility to both their accomplishments and our field,” said Mel Shochet, University of Chicago scientist, CDF collaborator and chair of the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel.

“I’m personally very pleased. It’s a wonderful recognition of the important contribution that Pier has made to science,” Shochet added.

Fermilab Deputy Director Young-Kee Kim said Oddone’s election to the Academy is an important milestone for Fermilab.

“We are very proud of Pier for this achievement,” Kim said. “We know he will be an important contributor to the National Academy and serve as an excellent representative for high-energy particle physics.”

Oddone will be inducted into the Academy next April during its 149th annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

“It’s a good day for particle physics, for Fermilab and for Pier as well,” Witherell said.

The press release issued by the National Academy of Sciences, which includes a list of all 72 newly elected members, can be viewed online.

Christine Herman
Special Announcement

Physics for Everyone talk on muons - 12:30 p.m. today

Join Fermilab at 12:30 p.m. today to learn about muons, including what they are, how we study them and what they might tell us. In his talk, titled “The magic of muons” scientist Chris Polly will explain what Fermilab experiments are teaching us about these particles and how they’re getting that information.

The lecture is free and open to the public. It will take place in Ramsey Auditorium. No registration is required. There will be time for questions and answers. The lecture is part of a non-technical series about Fermilab science and culture. View previous lectures here.

Photo of the Day

Snake surprise

This "extra helper" was found at the A1 fridge building on April 27. Photo: Greg Johnson
In the News

A QuarkNet particle detector sets sail for IceCube

From Quantum Diaries, April 28, 2011

Bob Peterson has agreed to forfeit a month of his time and his non-sea-loving stomach, for a briefer period, in the name of science.

This Fermilab employee and QuarkNet instructor will shepherd a cosmic ray muon detector through rolling ocean waves around the edge of Africa to gather data to help the world’s largest frozen particle detector, the IceCube neutrino observatory at the South Pole. The detector is the same type as those built and used by high school students in cosmic ray study projects, including QuarkNet program, which allows students throughout the world to collect and share particle physics data. QuarkNet gives students a chance to interact with physicists and get a taste of what it would be like to work on a global experiment such as IceCube.

Read more

Bob Peterson
From FESS

The importance of maintenance

Randy Ortgiesen, head of the Facilities Engineering Services Section, wrote this week’s column.

Randy Ortgiesen

The annual village electrical distribution maintenance was successfully completed this past weekend. Although a distant second to the planning and coordination required for large maintenance activities associated with an accelerator shutdown, maintenance in the Village is still very important and involves a lot of planning.

Conducting such maintenance prevents unplanned down times and equipment failures, increases efficiency, saves money and optimizes performance. I was reminded of these facts when I received the report about the results of annual Village maintenance Executing such a power outage, or shutdown, involves coordination months in advance to ensure Village residents are informed, laboratories and machine shops are able to stabilize processes before the power outage, fire protection systems are secured, specific resources are identified and scheduled, sufficient materials and equipment are available and there is no rain in the forecast.

You never exactly know what you will find when substations, switches and breakers are opened for inspection and cleaning. To help identify specific corrective maintenance and repairs needed during the outage, personnel conduct preparatory activities weeks before the shutdown. This includes overhead line visual inspections of poles, conductors and hardware. We also conduct infrared-camera inspections. These inspections can help us assess what we might find or specific locations to look at a bit more thoroughly during our maintenance activity.

When we assessed the Village infrastructure, we identified items that needed attention. In addition to the routine inspection, cleaning, lubricating, tree trimming, etc. that takes place during annual maintenance of the Village electrical distribution system, the FESS team responsible replaced broken insulators, fuse cutouts, lightning arrestors and conductors, tightened loose connections on breakers and re-terminated wires. The list was a reminder of what can occur to an infrastructure system in a relatively short period of time, and of the potential consequences of not performing maintenance as required.

At Fermilab and other critical facilities across the DOE complex, maintenance activities must be balanced with other operational requirements. The very favorable results of our science indicate this has been optimized given all the variables. It is important to remember that delaying or limiting the amount of maintenance performed often results in unplanned down time, inefficiency and higher costs. For the maintenance team that executed as planned and then some this past weekend, well done!

Safety Update

ES&H weekly report, May 3

This week's safety report, compiled by the Fermilab ES&H section, includes no recordable incidents. Two first aid-only incidents occurred this week: An employee bumped her elbow on a copier and a service subcontractor fell and skinned her knee.

Find the full report here.

Announcements

Latest Announcements

Limited phone service today for the Fermilab Service Desk

Creative writing - May 5

Toastmaster - May 5

Argentine Tango classes Wednesdays through today

Pre-kindergarten swim lessons at pool

Change in cashier's office hours

Motorcycle Safety Seminar - May 5

Aqua Tots at the pool

PeopleSoft and Employee Self Service unavailable May 5-8

SRF2011 in Chicago - July 25-29

Pool opens June 7

New Weight Watchers At Work session starting soon

Medical scans that use radioisotopes require work adjustments

Do you have a foreign bank account outside of the U.S.?

National Day of Prayer observance May 5

Ultimate frisbee starting soon

Jazzercise discount for employees

NALWO - Spring Tea - May 9

How to Advance Women in Science - May 12

Fermilab Arts & Lecture Series - Nagata Shachu Taiko Drumming - May 7

Windows 7 Introduction course - May 19

Word 2010: Transition from 2003/2007 course - May 25

Excel 2010: Transition from 2003/2007 course - May 25

Chilled Water Plant design course - June 14 – 16

Security, Privacy, Legal  |  Use of Cookies