Message from the Chair
The SNS and HFIR user group (SHUG) was formed to provide a link between the neutron scattering community at ORNL and the management of the SNS, HFIR and the Joint Institute for Neutron Sciences (JINS). When necessary, SHUG also serves as an advocacy group for the SNS and HFIR. This has been an exciting time to serve on the SHUG executive committee, as more stations at SNS are coming online and becoming part of the user program, making ORNL a world leader in neutron scattering and neutron science.
Neutron science has had a significant impact on physics, chemistry, materials science, engineering and biology. Rapid progress in a number of science and technology areas, such as colossal magnetoresistance, superconductivity, protein dynamics, critical phenomena, the operation of fuel cells, and the structures and dynamics of polymers, has been achieved through neutron scattering studies. The breadth of possible experiments will continue to expand with the order-of-magnitude increase of neutron flux, compared to other sources, expected at the SNS. It is SHUG’s privilege to effectively represent such a scientifically diverse research community inside and outside ORNL.
At this moment, halfway through 2010, ORNL has solidly established its position as a world-leader in neutron sciences. Both HFIR and SNS are making important contributions to this. The high-flux cold source at HFIR is operating with two 30 meter small-angle instruments. The SNS is the world’s most intense neutron source and currently has twelve instruments on-line, including a backscattering spectrometer, several powder and single crystal diffractometers, two reflectometers, four spectrometers, and a small angle scattering instrument. Over the next year, all of these instruments should become part of the general user program, and additional instruments will start commissioning, with a final goal of 24 or more instruments at the SNS, many of which will provide unprecedented performance or capabilities. The presence of the Center for Nanophase Materials Science, which provides access to facilities for both synthesizing and characterizing materials on the nanoscale, also enhances the neutron scattering opportunities at ORNL.
As hardware is added into the user program, ORNL continues to recruit qualified personnel to help with the development of software, and to support users in beamline operation. Other improvements, such as construction of on-site housing for users at ORNL and providing travel grants to new users, are also expected to have a very positive impact on the growth and efficacy of the facilities. During the current difficult economic conditions it is far more important than in the past that we advocate for the SNS and HFIR to help them to obtain sufficient funding for these activities. We can also help ORNL to make the best use of the available funds. SHUG, an important partner in this respect, provides advice and prompt feedback concerning SNS and HFIR operations, as well as recommendations for improvements to instrumentation and services. For example, users now take advantage of the ORNL website and exit surveys to submit comments about their experiences at the SNS or HFIR, and suggest ways to improve those facilities.
In concert with the facilities and instrumentation provided by ORNL, it is expected that users will perform leading-edge science and openly communicate their results in publications and seminars. It is only through wide dissemination of the scientific achievements enabled by the SNS and HFIR that sufficient future funding will be assured. Significant growth of the ORNL neutron science user community is also necessary, and this growth will rely heavily upon the current users to inform scientists who have not traditionally used neutron scattering about the exciting new opportunities at ORNL. SHUG can and will play an important role in each of these activities through periodic user meetings, participation in the organization of external scientific conferences, and educational out-reach programs.
As the new chair of the SHUG executive committee, I thank Mike Crawford (DuPont) for his excellent leadership as chair in 2009-2010, and I am gratefully looking forward to his continuing participation in 2010-2011 as past-chair. I would also like to thank the departing members for their contributions: Mark Dadmun (UT Knoxville/ORNL), Emily Liu (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), Flora Meilleur (North Carolina State University), Stephen Wilson (UC Berkeley - Postdoc member), and Igor Zaliznyak (BNL). I would also like to welcome the five new members of the executive committee elected in June: Gregory Beaucage (University of Cincinnati), Malcolm Guthrie (Carnegie Institution of Washington), Peter Khalifah (SUNY Stony Brook), Antonella Longo (North Carolina State University), and Eugenia Khalampieva (Georgia Institute of Technology - Postdoc member). I look forward to working with SHUG, and the members of the executive committee, as we participate in the growth of the neutron science user community at ORNL.
This is an exciting time to be part of the neutron science community, with avenues for exploring the capabilities of new neutron sources, and with an administration committed to science. Let’s make the best possible use of it, make exciting discoveries, and teach others to do the same!
Cora Lind
The University of Toledo
Toledo, OH 43606
cora.lind@utoledo.edu
