On Target December 2013

Jefferson Lab Marks Opening of $73.2M Tech & Engineering Facility

Jefferson Lab Marks Opening of $73.2M Tech & Engineering Facility

Jefferson Lab marked the opening of its $73.2 million Technology & Engineering Development Facility on Oct. 16 with an open house of the complex for members of the lab community. It provides lab staff, users and students with state-of-the-art facilities for research in nuclear physics, accelerator science, applied nuclear science and technology, and advanced instrumentation. Pictured: former Lab Director Hermann Grunder and others pause in the Test Lab High Bay area during a tour of the TEDF with Charlie Reece, Accelerator Division.

Jefferson Lab celebrated the completion and official opening of its $73.2 million Technology & Engineering Development Facility, commonly referred to as the TEDF, on Oct. 16. The complex provides Jefferson Lab staff, users and students with state-of-the-art facilities for research in nuclear physics, accelerator science, applied nuclear science and technology and advanced instrumentation.

Project completion was marked with an open house of the newly constructed and refurbished buildings for members of the lab community. Lab staff working in the TEDF showed off some of the features and capabilities of their new or refurbished work centers, as others took a self-guided tour of the complex.

Former Lab Director Hermann Grunder attended the event. He was accompanied by Lab Director Hugh Montgomery and others for a tour of the facility.

The TEDF consists of two buildings, the Technology & Engineering Development Building or TED (Building 55) and the Test Lab (Bldg. 58) with its new addition......... more


A Founding Father of Jefferson Lab, Franz Gross Retires

Franz GrossFranz Gross, one of the founding fathers of Jefferson Lab, officially retired in September after more than three decades of involvement with the laboratory...... more

 

DarkLight Attempts to Bridge Visible Universe With Dark Matter

Dark LightFor thousands of years, humanity has relied on light to reveal the mysteries of our universe, whether it's by observing the light given off by brightly burning stars or by shining light on the very small with microscopes....... more

 

From Internship to Earning National Safety Award – All at JLab

Jen WilliamsIt’s no cliché when Jennifer Williams says she grew up at Jefferson Lab. Her mom, Linda, was an administrative assistant in the Free-Electron Laser Division until a year ago, and Jennifer came here as a student intern when she was 17...... more


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Jefferson Lab Marks Opening of $73.2M Tech & Engineering Facility

TEDF

Jefferson Lab marked the opening of its $73.2 million Technology & Engineering Development Facility with an open house for members of the lab community. The TEDF provides lab staff, users and students with state-of-the-art facilities for research in nuclear physics, accelerator science, applied nuclear science and technology, and advanced instrumentation. It provides an environment for enhanced workflow and improved productivity by centralizing and co-locating many of work centers and functions that had been spread across the lab.

Jefferson Lab celebrated the completion and official opening of its $73.2 million Technology & Engineering Development Facility, commonly referred to as the TEDF, on Oct. 16. The complex provides Jefferson Lab staff, users and students with state-of-the-art facilities for research in nuclear physics, accelerator science, applied nuclear science and technology and advanced instrumentation.

Project completion was marked with an open house of the newly constructed and refurbished buildings for members of the lab community. Lab staff working in the TEDF showed off some of the features and capabilities of their new or refurbished work centers, as others took a self-guided tour of the complex.

Former Lab Director Hermann Grunder attended the event. He was welcomed by Lab Director Hugh Montgomery before taking a tour of the facility.

The TEDF consists of two buildings, the Technology & Engineering Development Building or TED (Building 55) and the Test Lab (Bldg. 58) with its new addition.

The TED is a newly constructed 70,000 square-foot building that houses staff from the engineering, accelerator and physics divisions. A significant portion of the TED is office space; however, the building also provides much needed technical work areas and a high-bay area for carrying out large assembly projects. The building includes a variety of meeting rooms, break areas and an exercise room. These enhancements were designed with a goal of improving workflow and interdepartmental communication.

Once among the oldest buildings on campus, the Test Lab’s 96,000 square feet have been transformed into a modern, industrial space dedicated to a wide range of R&D efforts and processing, assembly, diagnostics and testing capabilities to support Jefferson Lab’s state-of-the-art work in SRF technology. Much of the building was gutted and refurbished. The original footprint has been enhanced by a new 30,000 square-foot Test Lab Addition (TLA), which is now home to a suite of customized clean rooms, rf structures and new materials development labs, and specialized fabrication shops -- creating an SRF R&D facility unique in the world. The space where the Test Lab and the addition meet now forms a greatly enlarged and improved cryomodule assembly area.

The TEDF complex is connected by pedestrian walkways on both the first and second floors and by a shared courtyard that opens on each building’s first floor kitchenettes.

The lab took occupancy of the new facilities as they were completed. Staff began moving into the TED building in the spring of 2012.

In December 2012, the U.S. Green Building Council awarded the Technology and Engineering Development Building a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Rating. The TED's sustainable features include a heating and cooling system that draws 80 percent of its capacity from 178 geothermal wells. The building has a solar hot water system and uses reclaimed water in its toilets. Other sustainable features include a "cool" roof that is highly reflective and well insulated.

“This new facility has been designed from the ground up to enhance our SRF capabilities,” said Andrew Hutton, associate director of the Accelerator Division. “We expect to increase our cavity and cryomodule work for projects around the world because of the high quality and experience of our staff working in the new facility.”

The new facilities provide an environment for enhanced workflow and improved productivity by centralizing and co-locating many of the work centers and functions that had been spread across the lab. The new facilities are energy efficient and have allowed the lab to retire several dilapidated trailers and remove some old structures.

Additionally, the project provided the lab with the opportunity to re-work the layout of the roads to improve traffic flow, reduce congestion points and improve pedestrian sidewalks and walk ways across the lab.

"…A lot of great developments have occurred in the Test Lab, but now we are positioning ourselves for the next 10-15 years. We have looked at the process flows, upgraded a lot of systems, integrated lessons learned, and positioned the SRF [staff and processes] to be able to produce cryomodules and equipment for not only our lab, but also for other DOE facilities," said Rusty Sprouse, Facilities Management and Logistics director. "It's going to bring a lot of people together and I think really is going to create an improved atmosphere, and create the conditions that lead to an improved work product."

The TEDF project was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Science Laboratory Infrastructure (SLI) program. The lab broke ground for the project in 2010. EwingCole, based in Philadelphia, Penn., designed the world-class facility; and Mortenson Construction, based in Minneapolis, Minn., was the construction manager and general contractor for the project.

Related links:
Big Changes for the Jefferson Lab Campus
Site Prep Work to Begin on JLab’s TEDF Project
Jefferson Lab Breaks Ground for $73.2M TEDF Complex
TEDF Complex Designed to Meet Federal Sustainability Goals
TED Earns Sustainability Certification

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A Founding Father of Jefferson Lab, Franz Gross Retires

GrossF

Franz Gross, Theory Group, a founding father of Jefferson Lab and its first associate director for research, has retired.

Franz Gross, one of the founding fathers of Jefferson Lab, officially retired in September after more than three decades of involvement with the laboratory.
               
As Larry Cardman, Physics Division senior advisor, noted, “Franz played a key role in the development of the scientific case for creating the laboratory, was a leader in the SURA (Southeastern Universities Research Association) effort to win the contract to build it in Newport News, and has played a major role in setting the scientific course of the research program ever since.

“His personal research,” Cardman continued, “has significantly advanced our understanding of the physics of light nuclei through exact calculations in a fully relativistic framework, one of our major research thrusts.”

After completing his Ph.D. at Princeton University in 1963, Gross joined the faculty at Cornell University, where he advanced through the ranks to associate professor in 1969. After a year at UC Santa Barbara, he joined the faculty at the College of William & Mary, where he became a full professor in 1976, and served as Dean of Research and Graduate Studies from 1996-2000. In 2002, he was named emeritus professor of physics at William & Mary, a title he continues to hold.

In 1979, when the idea for a new, continuous beam, high-energy electron accelerator facility was proposed by the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee, Gross joined with leading physicists throughout the country in making the case for the facility. He was one of the principle authors of the 1981 “Blue Book” that provided an early summary of the scientific case for the physics community, and he helped the SURA collaboration make the case for building the new facility in Newport News by leading the preparation for the scientific justification portion of both their 1980 proposal and their ultimately successful 1982 proposal.

The fifth person to join the staff of the then-nascent laboratory in 1984, Gross served as its first Associate Director for Research (1984-6), and has been a senior member of the Theory Group (and, for a time, its head) ever since, splitting his time between the laboratory and the College of William & Mary.

In addition to his teaching and work at the lab, Gross has authored more than 120 papers and conference talks on the electromagnetic structure of hadrons, the relativistic few body problem and related issues. According to Google Scholar, his work has been cited more than 6,000 times.

He wrote a book on quantum mechanics and field theory. In addition, he has been honored by being named a Fulbright Fellow, a Woodrow Wilson Fellow and a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Although retired, Gross will maintain limited office hours at Jefferson Lab, where he will continue his work with the Theory Center and its physicists.

“Franz has mentored many, many young colleagues in their research careers over the years, and even the not so young, including myself,” said Michael Pennington, the current Theory Center director. “I could not have had a better supporter than Franz. I am delighted that even in retirement his wealth of knowledge and his wisdom will still be a resource for the lab.”

Lab Director, Hugh Montgomery, commented, "The continued involvement of the people who created the lab, such as Franz Gross, suggests that they still hold a strong commitment to what we do, and that what we do remains meaningful and important."

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DarkLight Attempts to Bridge Visible Universe With Dark Matter

DarkLight

Jefferson Lab laser accelerator operators threaded an electron beam through a small tube the size of a coffee stirrer inside this apparatus to show that the DarkLight experiment was possible. DarkLight will search for dark photons, which are particles that interact with both dark matter and visible matter.

For thousands of years, humanity has relied on light to reveal the mysteries of our universe, whether it's by observing the light given off by brightly burning stars or by shining light on the very small with microscopes.
                             
Yet, according to recent evidence, scientists think that only about five percent of our Universe is made of visible matter: ordinary atoms that make up nearly everything we can see, touch and feel. The other 95 percent is composed of the so-called dark sector, which includes dark matter and dark energy. These are described as “dark” because we observe their effects on other objects rather than by “seeing” them directly. Now, to study the dark, scientists are turning to what they know about light, and they are pointing to a recently successful test of experimental equipment that suggests an exploration of the dark sector may be possible at DOE's Jefferson Lab.

We know that the particles of light, photons, interact with visible matter and its building blocks — protons, neutrons and electrons. Perhaps the same is true for dark matter. In other words, does the visible photon have a counterpart, a dark photon, that interacts with the components of dark matter?

The DarkLight collaboration is hoping to answer that question. Peter Fisher and Richard Milner, professors at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, serve as spokespersons for the DarkLight collaboration. Fisher was recently appointed Physics Department Head and Milner is director for the Laboratory of Nuclear Science at MIT.

In a recent interview, Milner said that the dark photon may bridge the dark and light sectors of our universe.

"Such particles are motivated by the assumption that dark matter exists and that it must somehow couple to the standard matter in the universe. And these dark photons kind of straightforwardly could do that," he explains.

According to theory, the dark photon is very similar to the light photon, except that it has mass and interacts with dark matter. The dark photon is sometimes referred to as a heavy photon or as a particle dubbed the A' (pronounced "A prime"). If the dark photon also interacts with ordinary matter, it may be coaxed out of hiding in just the right conditions. In fact, Milner says that scientists may have already caught glimpses of the effects of dark photons in data from particle physics and astrophysics experiments.

Hints of dark photons in data past
For instance, dark photons may play a role in explaining the data in the Muon g-2 experiment that was conducted at Brookhaven National Lab in 2001. Muons are particles that can be thought of as heavier cousins of electrons.

The Muon g-2 experiment was attempting to measure a characteristic of the muon related to its magnetic field. In simplistic terms, an item's magnetic moment quantifies the strength of its reaction to a magnetic field. The muon has a magnetic moment, but unlike your typical chunk of steel, the muon's magnetic moment is altered by its tiny size – this alteration is captured in the muon's so-called "anomalous magnetic moment." When the Muon g-2 collaboration measured the muon's anomalous magnetic moment, its collaborators were surprised to find that the number they had computed for it didn't match the number they measured.

"If this is real, such a discrepancy could be explained by a dark photon of the type and mass that DarkLight is searching for," Milner says.

Other evidence of dark photons may be found in astrophysics. When a measurement was made of high-energy electron-positron pairs in outer space, there were more than could be explained by production from cosmic rays, suggesting that something else, such as dark photons, is producing extra pairs.

"Also, there are indications from the center of our galaxy that there is radiation which might be consistent with the dark photon," Milner adds.

A challenging experiment
If dark photons are giving rise to these observed phenomena, it means that they do interact with visible matter, if ever so rarely. It also means that the effect should be reproducible and measurable by experimenters.

"This dark photon that we expect could be seen by emission from a charged particle beam, like an electron beam. An electron beam can radiate such a dark photon," Milner explains. "So, we looked around, and the world's most powerful electron beam is at the Jefferson Lab Free-Electron Laser (FEL). It has about 1 Megawatt of power in the beam. And so that's how we arrived at Jefferson Lab, it's absolutely unique in the world."

The smaller accelerator that powers the FEL is based on Jefferson Lab's main accelerator, the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF). But unlike CEBAF, the FEL accelerator was not built with nuclear physics experiments in mind. However, the scientists felt that the electron beam generated in the FEL's accelerator was essential for the experiment.

The scientists drafted a proposal that calls for aiming the FEL accelerator's beam at the protons in a target of hydrogen gas. MIT Theorist Jesse Thaler, whose group has carried out important calculations for DarkLight, proposed the name for the experiment, based on the method that will be used to carry it out (DarkLight: Detecting a Resonance Kinematically with Electrons Incident on a Gaseous Hydrogen Target).

The experimenters chose hydrogen, because its atoms consist of just one proton with an orbiting electron. When the electrons from the accelerator strike the protons in the hydrogen, they'll knock the protons out of the target.

"So if we do it at sufficiently low energies, we know the final state is simple – it's just the scattered electron, the proton and the electron-positron pair, which could come from this decay of the dark photon," Milner explains.

The experiment was approved on the condition that the collaboration could show that they were up to the technical challenges of conducting it. Milner says the main challenge was to prove that the FEL accelerator operators could get an electron beam through the narrow hydrogen target. Even though the electrons in the beam would have low energies, the beam would have a lot of them, amounting to 1 Megawatt of power. That much power would destroy any container used to hold the hydrogen gas.

The experimenters decided that the gas would be pumped into a narrow pipe. The electrons would then be threaded into that same narrow pipe. At its narrowest, the pipe would need to be about 2 millimeters wide and 5 centimeters long, which is roughly the size of a round coffee stirrer.

"We decided that we really needed to do a test with a beam. So, we basically built a system, a test target system that had basically a mock up of apertures, 2 mm, 4 mm and 6 mm diameter apertures, in an aluminum block. And we brought it to Jefferson Lab about a year ago. And in late July, we had a test," he says.

Threading the Coffee Stirrer
The staff at MIT-Bates Research and Engineering Center designed, constructed and delivered the test target assembly. The Jefferson Lab FEL accelerator operators and a team from the DarkLight collaboration attempted to thread the electron beam through the narrow pipes in the aluminum block, successfully threading the beam through the 6 mm, then the 4 mm, and finally the 2 mm mock targets. What's more, the electrons in the beam passed through the pipes cleanly. In the case of the smallest aperture, 2 mm, the operators threaded the electrons through the pipe continuously over a period of seven hours; in that time, only three electrons were lost as they struck the walls of the pipe for every million that passed cleanly through.

"So, it's a very powerful beam, it's a very bright beam, but it's also a very clean beam," Milner said.

The DarkLight collaboration recently published the results of the successful tests in Physical Review Letters.

With this successful test, the DarkLight experiment has been approved for running. Milner says the collaboration has a lot of work ahead of it before it can run the experiment, including building the detectors that will be used to capture the protons, electrons and electron-positron pairs, and finalizing the target.

Milner adds that the successful test run also opens the possibility for similarly demanding experiments in other areas of nuclear physics, including precision measurements of proton structure to probe the proton's charge radius and parity-violating electron scattering measurements complementary to those carried out with CEBAF.

In the meantime, there are also other hunts for dark photons that are preparing to run at Jefferson Lab. Two of these experiments will be powered by the lab's CEBAF accelerator. The Heavy Photon Search is preparing to run in Jefferson Lab's Experimental Hall B, and the APEX experiment will be carried out in Experimental Hall A.

By Kandice Carter
Science writer

Editor’s note: This article was first posted to issue number 401 of the DOE Pulse and is online at: http://web.ornl.gov/info/news/pulse/no401/story1.shtml
It was republished in symmetry magazine on Nov. 18: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/november-2013/connecting-the-visible-universe-with-dark-matter

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From Internship to Earning National Safety Award – All at JLab

Williams_Jen_NSC

Jennifer Williams (center), manager of the lab’s Industrial Hygiene and Environment group, was honored on Oct. 1 by the National Safety Council as one of its 2013 “Rising Stars of Safety.” She is pictured with National Safety Council President & CEO Janet Froetscher and Jeff Woodbury, NSC incoming board chair. Photo courtesy of the NSC

It’s no cliché when Jennifer Williams says she grew up at Jefferson Lab. Her mom, Linda, was an administrative assistant in the Free-Electron Laser Division until a year ago, and Jennifer came here as a student intern when she was 17. She started out working for Patty Hunt, who was then a member of the lab’s safety team and is now one of the Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson Site Office staff. After school and during summer vacations, Williams filed Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDSs) and accompanied Hunt on field sampling activities. She enjoyed the work and got hooked on the environment ... and has been here ever since.

Now the manager of the lab’s Industrial Hygiene and Environment group, Williams was honored on Oct. 1 by the National Safety Council as one of its 2013 “Rising Stars of Safety.” The award is presented by DuPont Sustainable Solutions and honors leaders of tomorrow for their commitment to safety, influence on safety culture, promotion of continuous workplace safety improvement and creation of safety initiatives that produce measureable outcomes – all foundational pillars of the council’s “Journey to Safety Excellence.”

In his nomination for Williams, Bill Rainey, the lab’s Environment, Health & Safety department manager, specifically praised her work during the recent Test Lab facility upgrade. “Jennifer was a valued team member during the facility design and equipment relocation and/or procurement,” he wrote. “She positively influenced the design of the new system by factoring in lessons learned from the previous two decades of operational history.”

The work receiving recognition was her participation in closing the old Test Lab facility and bringing the new complex online. “The lab had never closed a chemroom before,” she noted. When opening the new chemroom facilities “we relied on incorporating lessons learned over the years as we approached how to facilitate the opening of the new location.” Her work also involved helping the emergency management team go through failure analysis for the new Test Lab Addition.

By the time Williams graduated from high school, she had already set her sights on a career in the field of environment, safety and health. Although she initially planned on going away to school, she decided to continue her work at the lab and started college at Christopher Newport University. She transferred to Old Dominion University, from which she earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental health with a concentration in industrial hygiene.

Throughout her career at the lab, Williams has held positions of ever-increasing responsibility. When she started working full time in 1999, she was hired as an industrial hygiene technician performing air sampling, employee monitoring and chemical inventories. In 2002, Williams completed certification through the Institute of Hazardous Materials Management, becoming a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM). The CHMM sets professional standards and increase professionalism in the field of hazardous materials management, according to Williams.

Several years later, she was promoted to Technician II, a position that included report writing and making safety and health recommendations. Her next promotion was to associate coordinator, where her responsibilities included much of the field work she had been doing, but incorporated more interaction with line supervisors and getting involved in aspects of program management, including industrial ventilation and the hazard communications program. In 2009, Williams completed the exam to become a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) through the American Board of Industrial Hygiene.

In her current position, she supervises five people. The appeal of the work is – and always has been, according to Williams, the interaction with others and the combination of hands-on work and administration responsibilities such as researching regulations and industry standards and understanding how they apply to work at the lab.

When Williams first learned that Rainey was nominating her as a “Rising Star” in her field, she was humbled. “I was astounded that my manager took the time to do this,” she said. “It is all still a little hard to grasp.”

Williams was one of 40 recipients out of 110 nominees for 2013 – individuals representing the United States, Pakistan, Canada and India.

She was notified that she had been selected in an email from Tony Randall, the NSC coordinator for the Rising Stars program. The lab sponsored her trip to Chicago, where the awards event was held in conjunction with the NSC Congress & Expo Leading Safety into the Future.

“I’d never been to a function of that size before,” Williams recalled of the excitement she felt. “There was a luncheon, a Young Professionals reception, and the dinner reception where the presentations were made.”

The event was attended by Janet Froetscher, president and CEO of NSC, who commented, “Engaging the NSC Rising Stars will be an important part of making a greater impact on saving lives and preventing injuries as we deal with emerging safety issues, such as the evolving nature of work and the changing face of the workforce.”

Many of the Rising Stars from the three previous years were also in attendance, and Williams said that she looks forward to taking part in future programs. “One of the main goals of the program is to ensure that there are plenty of safety professionals to carry on the work for the future, and I think there’s a lot of benefit to come from my involvement in that,” she said.

She’s quick to credit the assistance of co-workers and supervisors, pointing out that she could not have received this award alone. “I’ve learned so much from others,” she remarked. “I just love this place.”

By Judi Tull
Feature writer

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Jefferson Lab Joins Virginia Science Summit

At the invitation of U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner, Jefferson Lab participated in the inaugural Virginia Summit on Science, Engineering and Medicine on Nov. 15 at the National Academy of Sciences Building in Washington, D.C. Organized by Warner, the summit brought together Virginia’s members of the National Academies to increase collaboration between the Commonwealth’s scientific leaders and advance Virginia’s national standing in the fields of science, engineering and medicine.

The daylong summit served as the kick-off of the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine (VASEM), a newly-created group whose membership includes Virginia’s 126 members of the National Academies. Appointment to one of the National Academies is a lifetime designation and one of the highest honors for scientists in the U.S.

“I hope this summit helps to unleash the incredible potential of sciences to boost innovation, investment and jobs in the Commonwealth,” Warner told the gathering. “With the current budget constraints on research and development, it’s more important than ever to foster collaboration between our leaders in the sciences, as well as connect them with Virginia’s business community.”

Warner encouraged attendees to invest time and resources in VASEM. He said that important questions about how to grow the overall number of academy members, how to groom the next generation of top scientists, how best to include more industry partners, and measurable increases in research funding and collaborations across institutions are key priorities. The senator also encouraged the group to determine whether all universities should be able to send a representative to VASEM – 45 percent of academy members are from universities, but the majority of members are in industry, federal agencies and other entities.

“With our current budget constraints, the commonwealth’s best and brightest must come together and work to further Virginia’s role as a leader in the sciences,” said Warner. “I look forward to working with you all as we continue to foster additional connections and further research.”

Representing Jefferson Lab at the event were Robert McKeown, deputy director for science and technology; Andrew Hutton, Accelerator Division associate director; and Larry Cardman, retired associate director for Physics. They were joined by participants representing Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University and George Mason University; health care organizations, including the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Carilion Health System and UVa School of Medicine; government agencies, including NASA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Naval Research Academy and National Science Foundation; and businesses including Orbital Sciences, Lockheed Martin and GE Aviation.

Mildred Dresselhaus, an Institute Professor at MIT in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Physics, delivered the keynote address. Dresselhaus is the co-author of six books on carbon science and is particularly well known for her work on carbon nanotubes and other nanostructural systems. Other speakers included Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health; Paul Alivisatos, director of the Lawrence Berkeley Lab; and Arun Majumdar, vice president for Energy, Google.

 “This is a great beginning of what I hope will be an ongoing exchange of ideas between Virginia’s leaders in science, engineering and medicine,” the senator said.

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Students Take Virtual Field Trip to Jefferson Lab

G-Hangout

In a first of its kind event at a Department of Energy national lab, Jefferson Lab hosted a Google+ Virtual Field Trip for two high school classrooms. The virtual field trip featured visits into the CEBAF accelerator, Hall D and the Data Center, and it included live discussion with subject matter experts.

In a first of its kind event at a DOE national lab, Jefferson Lab hosted a Google+ Virtual Field Trip for two high school classrooms: James Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Conn., and The Governor's School of Southside Virginia in Alberta, Va.

Coordinated and planned by Public Affairs staff, the event was led by the hosts of Jefferson Lab's Frostbite Theater series: Steve Gagnon, Science Education, and Joanna Griffin, Public Affairs.

The virtual field trip featured visits into the CEBAF accelerator, Hall D and the Data Center, and it included live discussion with subject matter experts. The Department of Energy’s Mike Epps, a member of the Thomas Jefferson Site Office, spoke about the accelerator from inside the CEBAF tunnel; David Lawrence, Experimental Nuclear Physics Division and a staff scientist with Hall D, discussed the workings of this newest experimental area and the research that will take place there when the upgraded CEBAF comes online; and Sandy Philpott, Information Technology Division, spoke about the lab’s data analysis capabilities from within Jefferson Lab’s Data Center.

The students were shown around each site and were given the opportunity to ask questions. Questions were also fielded from participants on social media. The Oct. 1 event was facilitated by Google and kicked off a series of Virtual Field Trips to the DOE National Labs.

“What I really liked about the virtual field trip was that it allowed us to show students a few places in the lab they wouldn’t be able to see otherwise, even if they came here in person,” Lawrence commented. “I also liked that it allowed us to interact with the students some instead of being just pre-recorded material. Hopefully, they were able to come away feeling a little bit more that this kind of science is accessible to them.”

A recording of the field trip event may be viewed from the G+ Event posting or on Jefferson Lab's YouTube channel.

The second national lab virtual field trip, to Argonne National Laboratory took place on Nov. 18. The event, titled Vehicle Electrification, and offered an exclusive peek into Argonne National Lab’s transportation program. Attendees met three Argonne researchers, each of whom explained a different phase of vehicle electrification research aimed at revolutionizing travel. Classes from Carl Schurz High School in Chicago, and Niles North High School in Skokie, Ill., participated from their classrooms. A recording of the event may be viewed online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoaVLRSReMo

SLAC National Accelerator Lab plans to conduct a virtual field trip in the coming weeks. Watch for posts to SLAC’s Google+ page at: https://plus.google.com/+SLAC#+SLAC/posts

"The Google+ Virtual Field Trips allow classrooms to go inside places and interact with people that they wouldn't be able to physically, whether due to site restrictions, cost or time," says Kandice Carter, Jefferson Lab’s science writer and manager of the lab's G+ page. "We're looking forward to our next opportunity to host a virtual field trip to the lab."

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Volunteers Rolled Up Sleeves to Give Accelerator a Thorough Cleaning

tunnel

Nearly 50 volunteers, representing nearly every division from across the lab, helped with a special CEBAF tunnel housekeeping effort during the week of Nov. 18.

Nearly 50 volunteers donned work clothes, rolled up their sleeves and put forth hours of elbow grease to help with a special housekeeping effort at Jefferson Lab the week of Nov. 18.  The volunteers, representing nearly every division across the lab, spent one or more mornings giving the CEBAF tunnel a thorough cleaning.

Accelerator Operations scheduled the housecleaning week in preparation CEBAF accelerator commissioning activities, according to Harry Fanning, CEBAF coordinator.

A group of 10-12 volunteers met with Fanning in the MCC conference room at 8:30 each morning, where he briefed each group on their cleaning goal for that session. He described the layout of the area to be worked on, explained the cleaning process, presented a safety briefing, and discussed input from previous sessions’ tips and lessons learned.

While many of the volunteers work in the tunnel on a regular or as-needed basis, many of the helpers were relatively unfamiliar with CEBAF.

“Helping with tunnel cleaning was a great way to really see the tunnel and the accelerator equipment and better understand the complexity or the machine and all the systems necessary to make it work,” commented Bridget Paul, Document Control Group. “And an activity like this is a nice way to meet people from other work areas. I always enjoy going to other work areas and meeting new people.”

“A tasking like this requires a good amount of work from our volunteers,” Fanning acknowledged. “However, for newer employees and those who don’t get into the tunnel routinely, it is a great opportunity to see the machine that puts Jefferson Lab on the map.”

The volunteers systematically wiped down many of the horizontal equipment and component surfaces in the tunnel. They dusted the cryomodules, beamline pipes, magnet casings and girders; and they swept the floors. Work started just beyond the injector and covered the North Linac and the East and West Arcs. As the workers cleaned, they kept their eyes open for unattached cables and fittings, tools that could have been forgotten during Long Shutdown work and anything that appeared unusual or out of place. Cell phones came in handy for taking a photo of the rare anomaly. The images were sent to Fanning who then forwarded them to the right work center to have it checked out.

“With thousands of component and system checklist items to handle, review and clear before commissioning CEBAF for operation, it is nice to have an extra set of eyes – or several sets – looking things over,” Fanning said.

Dusting components inside the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility and sweeping the tunnel floor is an important part of keeping CEBAF safe and clean. Housekeeping is conducted at the conclusion of nearly every major shutdown, and was considered an important task to complete as Jefferson Lab prepares to begin commissioning the upgraded CEBAF accelerator.
The beam can activate concrete dust creating radioactive airborne contamination so a clean machine reduces radiological concerns. It also provides a safer, more professional work environment, Fanning noted.

While the task was nearly completed during the week-long effort, a couple extra sessions will be scheduled in January to finish up.

Fanning provided pizza lunch for the volunteers at the end of cleanup activities each day.

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New Security Signage Posted at Lab Entry Points

sign

Jefferson Lab has installed new security signs to replace outdated signs at entrances to the lab and CEBAF Center. The new signs, like the old signs, inform people about items that are prohibited at Jefferson Lab by federal law.

On Dec. 5, Jefferson Lab installed new security signs to replace outdated signs at entrances to the lab and CEBAF Center. The new signs meet Department of Energy requirements, and like the old signs, inform people about items that are prohibited at Jefferson Lab by federal law.

Prohibited items include explosives, dangerous weapons, firearms, instruments or materials likely to produce substantial injury or damage, controlled substances and other items prohibited under Title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 102-74, Subpart C – Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct on Federal Property. Additional information regarding specific types of violations and penalties are presented in 10 CFR Part 860 – Trespassing on Department of Energy Property.

The signs also provide notice to all individuals that while at the lab their vehicles and their hand-carried items are subject to video monitoring and inspection, which is also cited in 41 CFR Part 102-74 Subpart C.

The signs, posted at entry points to the lab and at the main entrance to CEBAF Center, are an important reminder of these laws to all staff, users, students, subcontractors, visitors, and others according to Kris Burrows, lab security manager.

Violations of this federal law can result in an individual being subject to a fine and/or imprisonment up to five years. These federal rules and restrictions also comprise a portion of Jefferson Lab’s Standards of Conduct, found in Section 208.01 Subpart E (Inappropriate Conduct) in the Administrative Manual, which states that possessing prohibited items on lab property can result in termination of employment.

“The safety of all individuals is the lab’s highest priority,” said Chief Operating Officer, Mike Dallas. “Please heed the warning of these signs and take their message seriously.”

Questions about prohibited items or other security issues may be directed to Burrows at x7548 or burrows@jlab.org.

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New Emergency Communication Capability Added to Lab’s Site-Wide Alert System

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As a new emergency communications capability, the Cisco IP phones at Jefferson Lab can now receive and display text messages sent out over the lab’s Site-Wide Alert system. This capability can be used for tornado and tornado warning advisories as well as for other emergency notifications.

Jefferson Lab's tornado warning siren was put to its monthly operational test at 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 6, and, for the first time, every Cisco IP phone at the lab received and displayed a siren-test text message on each phone’s screen. This was in addition to the usual Site-Wide Alert (SWA) email and pager messages sent on the morning of the test so members of the lab community aren’t caught unaware when the siren sounds.

This was the first lab-wide test of this new emergency communications tool, according to Bryan Hess, network manager. Michael Haddox-Schatz and Mike Staron, MIS, and Carl Bolitho, networking, did the technical work to make this capability available to the lab. It had been successfully tested on a limited scale, and was ready for a lab-wide test and to become an integral part of the lab’s SWA system.

“I'm excited to see the new system ready for use,” said Hess.

The plan going forward is to send a text message to the phones simultaneously with the emails and pages announcing the monthly tornado siren test. “It is a good way to regularly test the capability and it helps familiarize members of the lab community with this additional emergency communication tool,” Hess noted.

When an emergency or alert text phone message arrives at the phone, the red light on the handset flickers a couple times and a tone sounds. (The loudness of the tone is determined by the volume level set on individual phones.) The text message should be visible on the screen at that point. Hit the “Exit” button to clear the message from the phone screen.

An incoming alert text message won’t disrupt phone calls.

This capability is now a part of Jefferson Lab’s Site-Wide Alert system, and can be used for tornado and tornado warning advisories as well as for other emergency notifications.

“I’m excited to have this new capability available,” said Tina Menefee, Jefferson Lab emergency manager. “Communication in emergency situations is critically important, and I think this capability is a useful addition to our SWA system.”

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DOE Pulse Shares Results, Advancements from the National Labs; Publishes 400th Issue

The DOE Pulse, a web-based publication, featuring science and technology highlights from the U.S. Department of Energy’s national laboratories, has posted its 400th issue.

The DOE Pulse publishes briefs and longer articles about the range of work being done at the DOE's 17 national research laboratories and facilities – from across the country. Each issue includes research highlights, updates on collaborations among the laboratories, and profiles of individual researchers, according to the DOE Pulse webpage. A new issue of the Pulse is published every two weeks.

Bill Cabage, a senior member of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s communications team, manages the publication and assignments schedule, and compiles each issue. The material in the Pulse is written to be understandable by a non-scientific audience.

DOE's laboratories house world-class facilities where more than 30,000 scientists and engineers perform cutting-edge research spanning DOE's science, energy, national security and environmental quality missions. To read the current issue of the DOE Pulse, visit: http://web.ornl.gov/info/news/pulse/index.shtml.

DOE research laboratories and facilities highlighted in the DOE Pulse include:
Ames Lab
Argonne National Lab
Brookhaven National Lab
Fermi National Accelerator Lab
Idaho National Lab
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
Lawrence Livermore National Lab
Los Alamos National Lab
National Energy Technology Lab
National Renewable Energy Lab
Oak Ridge National Lab
Pacific Northwest National Lab
Princeton Plasma Physics Lab
Sandia National Lab
Savannah River National Lab
SLAC National Accelerator Lab
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.

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DOE Rolls Out a More Responsive Energy.gov Website

The Department of Energy’s website – Energy.gov – has undergone some changes. New capabilities and more streamlined information have been added. And those accessing the site over a smartphone or a tablet will notice a more user friendly look and design.

On Nov. 12, the DOE launched a major upgrade to Energy.gov, with an expanded focus on consumer-oriented content and – most importantly – a responsive design that automatically optimizes the browsing experience for whatever type of device a person is using.

According to a DOE news release, the Energy department is committed to running a modern, user friendly website, using open-source technology and adhering to web standards while consolidating dozens of department websites into a single, one-stop platform.

Over the last several months, DOE has noted a major trend developing on the Energy.gov website: Mobile traffic has grown dramatically. Smartphone and tablet devices now account for more that 15 percent of total traffic. Before the recent changes, a person could navigate Energy.gov on these devices, but it took a lot of pinching, zooming and precise finger pointing.

Some of the improvements include:

  • The entire Energy.gov site now features a responsive design. Regardless of whether a person is accessing the site from a desktop, tablet or smartphone, the person will receive an experience optimized for his or her device. For smartphone and small tablet users, the design maximizes real estate by moving menus under a dropdown at the top of the screen and emphasizes the search function to help get users to the content they're looking for quickly.
     
  • The DOE has moved Energy Saver to its top-level navigation, making it easy to find and better reflecting its popularity. The department will continue to better integrate content between Energy Saver and the rest of Energy.gov.
     
  • The DOE has completely revamped its Tax Credits, Savings and Rebate page to make it easier to find information. When a person selects his or her state, he or she will notice a more user friendly look, as well as selectable filters to search by category and eligibility requirements. 

Cosmetic and usability improvements include:

The DOE is committed to continuing to evolve Energy.gov and deliver a modern, user friendly experience that serves a wide audience. Use this form to let Energy.gov staff know how they’re doing and how they can continue to improve the site.

Editor’s note: This brief uses excerpts of material from a DOE news release. The complete release is online at: http://energy.gov/articles/introducing-more-responsive-energygov

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JAG Announces Holiday Events and Activities

ChildrensXmas

“The holiday season is here,” notes JAG committee Chair, Mary Jo Bailey. “The JAG is planning events and activities to involve Jefferson Lab staff, users, family members and contractors. Mark your calendars and get ready to celebrate the season. We hope everyone will take this opportunity to participate in the festivities. The JAG committee wishes everyone at the lab a happy and safe holiday season.”

Holiday Party for Lab Children and Young at Heart on Dec. 14
The JAG Holiday Party is scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 14, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the CEBAF Center lobby. All employees, contractors, users and their children are invited. Each family is encouraged to bring a new, unopened, unwrapped toy for the Marine Corp’s Toys For Tots toy drive.

Get your picture taken with Santa Claus. He plans to drop by with snow dogs, Nikko and Tally. (Owners of the Samoyed dogs, Dan and Kim Young, Physics Division, are members of the JAG Dog Training Club, and Nikko and Tally are trained service dogs.)

Come and enjoy holiday themed games and crafts, and light snacks including ice cream made the scientific way (Yes, the always favorite, liquid nitrogen ice cream). The event will also include face painting, balloon animals, pictures with Santa, and to end the day, BEAMS staff members will conduct their famous Cryogenics Show.

All children must be accompanied by an adult.

Volunteers Needed to Help with Holiday Party
Nearly 30 volunteers are needed to help with the JAG Holiday Party. Positions include:

  • Craft table monitor: All crafts and supplies are provided.
  • Game helpers: Monitor participants and hand out prizes.
  • Snack area: Replenish platters of snack and finger foods and perform general maintenance of the refreshment area.
  • Santa's Helpers: General lobby monitoring and crowd control as children line up for face painting, balloons, and to talk with Santa and have their pictures taken.

Adults with children aged 13 and older, are encouraged to sign up both themselves and their children for a volunteer shift. If everyone helps out for an hour, or 90 minutes, we will have the support needed to make the party a big success. Sign up online through the JAG webpage at: http://www.jlab.org/intralab/committees/jag/.

Toys For Tots Toy Drive Underway
As in past years, Jefferson Lab is participating in the U.S. Marine Corps' annual Toys For Tots toy drive. Bring your donation of new, unopened, unwrapped toys for children ages 1-12 and deposit them in the collection boxes located in the lobbies of the main lab buildings. The deadline for putting donations in a drop box is noon Friday, Dec. 13; or bring a toy to the JAG Holiday Party. Local Marines will pick the toys up during the holiday party and distribute them to less fortunate children in the community.

Marked toy drop boxes are located near the main entrances of CEBAF Center, MCC, SSC, ARC and TED Buildings. For more information about the Toys For Tots program, visit: www.toysfortots.org.

Ready, Set, Hang Those Decorations
The JAG is sponsoring a Holiday Office Door and Cubicle Decorating Contest. Prizes will be awarded for the Best Decorated, Most Original, and Silliest. All employees, users and contractors with an office or cubicle may enter the contest (individual or group entries).

To enter, email JAG Chair Mary Jo Bailey at mbailey@jlab.org by 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13. Include your name(s), building number and office/cube number and location. Judging will take place Dec. 17. Winning entries will be announced on Dec. 18.

Decorations may go up as early as Dec. 2 and should be taken down by Jan. 3, 2014. Decorating materials must be fire resistant and only UL-approved lighting/electronics may be used. No unwrapped food items or open flames are allowed. Everyone is reminded to turn off and unplug all electrical decorations when they depart work each day or by 6 p.m.

Additional information about JAG holiday events is on flyers posted in work areas around the lab and on the JAG webpage at: https://www.jlab.org/jag/index.php

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Milestones for September - October 2013

Hello

Raul Briceno, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Theoretical & Computational Physics Division
Igor Danilkin, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Theoretical & Computational Physics Division
Ruben Fair, Principle Engineer - Magnets, 12 GeV Upgrade Project Team
Cesar Fernandez Ramirez, Postdoctoral Fellow, Theoretical & Computational Physics Division
Luke Myers, Hall A Post-Doctoral Fellow, Experimental Nuclear Physics Division
Andrey Tarasov, Postdoctoral Fellow, Theoretical & Computational Physics Division
Buddhini Waidyawansa, Hall C Postdoctoral Fellow, Experimental Nuclear Physics Division

Goodbye

Jennifer Barnett, Facilities Management and Logistics
David Boles, Engineering Division
Thomas Desalvo, Engineering Division
Ann Hageman, Engineering Division
David Hardy, Free-Electron Laser Division
Franz Gross, Theoretical & Computational Physics Division
Tammy King, Chief Financial Officer Division
Bonnie Madre, Accelerator Operations, Research and Development Division
Kristin Martinez Chief Financial Officer Division
Ken Mitchell, Facilities Management and Logistics
Kijun Park, Experimental Nuclear Physics Division
Jonathan Schneider, Engineering Division
Darrell Spraggins, Accelerator Ops, R&D Division
Edward Stitts, Engineering Division
James Takacs, Engineering Division
Gwyn Williams, Free-Electron Laser Division and Office of the Chief Technology Officer

These Milestone entries, listed alphabetically, are full-time, term, casual and student actions posted by Human Resources for September and October 2013.

Jefferson Lab is currently seeking qualified individuals for a dozen positions, including scientific, postdoctoral fellow, superconducting magnet engineering, technical positions and a budget analyst. All current employment opportunities are posted at: https://careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/client_jeffersonlab/external/search.do

Information about career opportunities at Jefferson Lab is available at: https://www.jlab.org/job-openings

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The On Target newsletter is published monthly by the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab), a nuclear physics research laboratory in Newport News, Virginia, operated by Jefferson Science Associates, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. Possible news items and ideas for future stories may be emailed to jlabinfo@jlab.org, or sent to the Jefferson Lab Public Affairs Office, Suite 15, 12000 Jefferson Avenue, Newport News, VA 23606

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Jefferson Science Associates, LLC, manages and operates the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, or Jefferson Lab, for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. JSA is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Southeastern Universities Research Association, Inc. (SURA).

DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science