Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014
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Have a safe day!

Tuesday, Sept. 16

3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over

THERE WILL BE NO ACCELERATOR PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR THIS WEEK

Wednesday, Sept. 17

3 p.m.
LHC Physics Center Topic of the Week Seminar - WH11NE
Speaker: Frank Hartmann, Karlsruhe
Title: Student Lecture about Silicon Sensor Technology and Sensor Testing

3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over

4 p.m.
Fermilab Colloquium - One West
Speaker: Hantao Ji, Princeton University
Title: Laboratory Study of Angular Momentum Transport in Astrophysics Accretion Disks

Visit the labwide calendar to view Fermilab events

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Weather Sunny
64°/42°

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Wilson Hall Cafe

Tuesday, Sept. 16

- Breakfast: All-American breakfast
- Breakfast: bacon, egg and cheese bagel
- Ranch chicken breast sandwich
- Baked Cajun catfish
- Thai pork with peanut sauce
- California turkey panino
- Shrimp and crab scampi
- Chef's choice soup
- Minnesota chicken and rice soup
- Assorted pizza by the slice

Wilson Hall Cafe menu

Chez Leon

Wednesday, Sept. 17
Lunch
- Barbecue back ribs
- Creamy coleslaw
- Cocoa cappuccino mousse with cookies

Friday, Sept. 19
Dinner
Closed

Chez Leon menu
Call x3524 to make your reservation.

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Feature

Summer intern studies physics for self, family

Summer intern Sheri Lopez, here with son Dominic, pursues her love of physics as a student at the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos. She spent this summer at Fermilab as a summer intern. Photo courtesy of Sheri Lopez

Dominic is two. He is obsessed with "Despicable Me" and choo-choos. His mom Sheri Lopez is 29, obsessed with physics, and always wanted to be an astronaut.

But while Dominic's future is full of possibilities, his mom's options are narrower. Lopez is a single mother and a sophomore at the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos, where she is double majoring in physics and mechanical engineering. Her future is focused on providing for her son, and that plan recently included 10 weeks spent at Fermilab for a Summer Undergraduate Laboratories Internship (SULI).

"Being at Fermilab was beautiful, and it really made me realize how much I love physics," Lopez said. "On the other end of the spectrum, it made me realize that I have to think of my future in a tangible way."

Instead of being an astronaut, now she plans on building the next generation of particle detectors. Lopez is reaching that goal by coupling her love of physics with practical trade skills such as coding, which she picked up at Fermilab as part of her research developing new ways to visualize data for the MINERvA neutrino experiment.

"The main goal of it was to try to make the data that the MINERvA project was getting a lot easier to read and more presentable for a web-based format," Lopez said. Interactive, user-friendly data may be one way to generate interest in particle physics from a more diverse audience. Lopez had no previous coding experience but quickly realized at Fermilab that it would allow her to make a bigger difference in the field.

Dominic, meanwhile, spent the summer with his grandparents in New Mexico. That was hard, Lopez said, but she received a lot of support from Internship Program Administrator Tanja Waltrip.

"I was determined to not let her miss this opportunity, which she worked so hard to acquire," Waltrip said. Waltrip coordinates support services for interns like Lopez in 11 different programs hosted by Fermilab.

Less than 10 percent of applicants were accepted into Fermilab's summer program. SULI is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, so many national labs host these internships, and applicants choose which labs to apply to.

"There was never a moment when anyone doubted or said I couldn't do it," Lopez said. Dominic doesn't understand why his mom was gone this summer, but he made sure to give her the longest hug of her life when she came back. For her part, Lopez was happy to bring back a brighter future for her son.

Troy Rummler

Photo of the Day

Heron of the night

A crowd gathered at Swan Lake on Sept. 7 to glimpse this bird, a juvenile yellow-crowned night heron. The bird is rarely seen in this part of the world, and it is only the third one on site that has been recorded. Thanks to AD's Peter Kasper for the information. Photo: Gordon Garcia, Bartlett, Illinois
In Brief

Food and friends at annual Computing Sector picnic

Computing Sector staff picnic in Kuhn Barn. Photos: Clementine Jones, Office of the CIO

The Computing Sector held its annual picnic at Kuhn Barn on Friday. About 150 attended, packing the tables with food, drink and merriment, despite the day's chilly weather. The colder temperatures were perhaps all the more reason to get together and appreciate the summer that has just passed.

In the News

The universe = change = love

From Hometown Focus, Sept. 12, 2014

Particle physics and neutrinos can be difficult for a layperson to understand. But when Minnesota artist Joseph Giannetti shared his interpretation of the neutrino experiments being conducted in the Soudan Underground Lab in Soudan, MN, it became clear to me in a most satisfying way.

"It's about love," he said.

He referred to the underground lab as a "temple of the human imagination." That he was selected to design and paint a 60-foot long by 25-foot high mural to represent the experiments was an honor which continues to astound him today, 12 years later. "I do go back up [to Soudan] to see it once in a while and sometimes I wonder if I really did that," Giannetti said. "It's the greatest piece of work of my whole life."

Read more

Director's Corner

Getting involved

Fermilab Director
Nigel Lockyer

Groucho Marx famously remarked that he would not join a club that would have him as a member. Despite that characteristically flippant response, he was a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild and a prominent member of several other clubs. Groucho understood that he needed an organization that could speak for professionals within his community and for his field as a whole.

Professional organizations play an important role for many of us, including scientists, engineers, computing professionals, finance personnel, project managers and individuals in many other specialties. These organizations support people in their careers by providing news, standards, career advice and sometimes certifications.

Fermilab has a special relationship with certain organizations that represent the fields of particle physics and accelerators in this country. The American Physical Society (APS) speaks for the field of physics, and its Division of Particles and Fields (DPF) speaks for the field of particle physics. The APS publishes many of the central journals of particle physics, organizes major conferences and acts as an organizing body for the field as a whole. The recent "Snowmass" Community Summer Study originated in the APS-DPF and was responsible for generating input to DOE, HEPAP and P5 to determine the future of our field and for Fermilab.

Accelerator science and technology is represented through the APS Division of Physics of Beams (DPB) and the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society (NPSS). The Particle Accelerator Conference (PAC) was first established by the NPSS, and its evolution to the International PAC and North American PAC is jointly sponsored by DPB and NPSS. Additionally, NPSS sponsors several other major meetings in our field: the Nuclear Science Symposium, ICALEPCS and the Real-Time Conference.

The APS and IEEE-NPSS are distinct from the Department of Energy as they are democratic institutions composed of individual scientists and engineers. They represent the community in a grass roots manner and inform the branches of government, media and public about our activities and the future of our field. They act as a complement to the funding agencies, providing the scientific basis that helps define our mission.

These organizations elect individuals to a rank of "fellow" in recognition of achievement and leadership. Fermilab has 74 APS fellows, and they represent the Fermilab community to the breadth of the APS. For example, APS holds local gatherings for fellows from across the region to network and discuss the state of physics. Fermilab fellows' participation in these events is a symbol of Fermilab engagement within the particle physics community.

As much as Fermilab scientists are part of the community, and as much as Fermilab is to be part of the community, we must also participate in these groups, which speak for the enterprises of particle physics and accelerators. If you don't already belong to one or more professional groups in your field, consider becoming a member. Or, if you are already a member, consider participating on a committee or learn about other ways you can get more involved. The greater our representation in all of these organizations, the more strongly our voice will be heard.

Construction Update

Flooring, walls, lighting nearly complete in west remote operations center

Monitors await scientists in the new remote operations center on the atrium level of Wilson Hall.

The plywood walls surrounding the future west remote operations center came down on Saturday, revealing new lighting, carpet, terrazzo flooring and a glass enclosure.

Contractors have begun moving in furniture and installing monitors.

Experimenters on the 12th-floor operations center are expected to begin moving into the new space in the coming weeks.

Announcements

Today's New Announcements

Sustainable Energy Club presentation: "World Energy Transformation" - today

Bible Exploration for Lunch League starting Genesis study today

NBI 2014 Workshop - Sept. 23-26

Mike Super at Fermilab - Sept. 27

Access 2010: Intermediate - Oct. 2

Interpersonal Communications Skills - Oct. 21

Excel 2010: Intermediate - Oct. 29

Writing for Results: Email and More (morning only) - Oct. 30

Managing Conflict course (morning only) - Nov. 5

Access 2010: Advanced - Nov. 12

Excel 2010: Advanced - Dec. 3

Added room locations in the FermiMail Calendar

Newly released eBook available at the Fermilab Library

NALWO Playgroup meets Wednesdays at Users Center

Abri Credit Union financial advisor

Help improve travel in Fox Valley region and to Fermilab

Indoor soccer