Friday - May 12, 2006

Assembly drawing of a test cryostat for superconducting RF cavities. (Image courtesy of Clark Reid, Mayling Wong, and Valeri Polubotko.)

ILC Moves Ahead

by Elizabeth Clements

Contracts, costing estimates and the bid-to-host process were the buzz words at the Linear Collider Forum of America (LCFOA) industry meeting, hosted by SLAC on 1-2 May. While the majority of the two days was dedicated to presentations about the latest ILC activities, this second meeting of the LCFOA allowed U.S. industry members to establish a stronger dialogue with the U.S. laboratories involved in the project. And even though the big questions about how much will it cost and when proposals for contracts can be submitted remain unanswered for the time being, attendees received a clear message that working with industry is essential for building the ILC.  Read more...

SLAC Colloquium:
The ATLAS Experiment

The ATLAS detector
(Image courtesy of CERN)

On Monday, May 15, ATLAS Collaboration Spokesperson Peter Jenni will present the colloquium "The ATLAS Experiment: Getting Ready for the LHC."

At CERN, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project is well advanced. The first proton-proton collisions at the high-energy frontier are expected for the second half of 2007. In conjunction with the collider construction, the powerful general-purpose ATLAS detector is being assembled in its underground cavern by a world-wide collaboration. ATLAS will explore new domains of particle physics.

After briefly overviewing the LHC construction and installation progress, Peter Jenni will present the status of the ATLAS experiment, including examples of the exciting prospects for new physics.

The colloquium will take place at 4:15 p.m. on Monday, May 15 in Panofsky Auditorium. All are invited to attend.  Learn more...

Electrical Safety Tip:
Use an Independent Verification of LOTO

By The Electrical Safety Committee

After placing a lock and tag on equipment and before starting work, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do work control documents require an independent verification? If not, perform a self check.

• Are there independent verification instructions?

• Can the verification be done without changing the status of the equipment?

• Is the verifier knowledgeable of the equipment and its configuration and understand the importance of his or her safety role?

Use Lock Out Tag Out (LOTO) thoughtfully and thoroughly—the life you save could be your own.

Photo of the Day: Turtle on North Service Road

(Click for larger image.)

Axel Brachmann took this photo of a turtle on the North Service Road. He reminds people to please drive cautiously on SLAC's roads, as we share them with other creatures.

Recent Changes to the SLAC Training System

by Erin Shatara

If you happen to wander through the SLAC Training System, you may notice a few changes. A set of fixes and upgrades were put into production on April 17th.

Most of the changes to the SLAC Training System were behind the scenes work. Some of the added functionality includes the ability to:

• Record Stanford courses in SLAC training history (e.g. HIP courses)

• View Staff Training Assistance Program (STAP) balances under the "reports" heading

• Waitlist multiple people for internal courses

• Manually approve payment requests for courses and conferences

The SLAC Training System was first used on March 31, 2005. The project has been a collaborative effort of various groups at SLAC, including the Business Services Division; Environment, Safety and Health; Human Resources; and Scientific Computing and Computing Services. There are still future changes to make and further upgrades to be considered, but the project is well on its way to becoming a one-stop training portal for SLAC.

The group that helped to create this recent set of changes included: Lynn Adamson, Paul Bloom, George Crane, Maria Denys, Ziba Mahdavi, Kiran Polavarapu, Richard Ponton, Mohan Pulagam, Venkata Samineni, and Erin Shatara.

Events (see all | submit)

• May 15: (4:15 p.m.) SLAC Colloquium: The ATLAS Experiment - Getting Ready for the LHC

Access (see all)

• 5/12 - 5/12: Road Between Bldg. 033 & 024 Closed
• 5/2 - 5/30: Sand Hill Rd Construction
• 3/27 - TBA: Alpine Gate Temporarily Closed
• 3/31 - TBA: Gate 17 Hours Extended During Alpine Gate Shutdown
• 1/1 - 5/15: Loop Road Near Kavli Building to Reopen Monday
• 4/3 - 6/1: Short Spur Road Off North Access Road Closed

Announcements
(see all | submit)

 Lab Announcements

• Public Speaking Course 6/6/2006
• Limited Access to PeopleSoft Financial Applications
• The DOE designates May as National Electrical Safety Month
• Register now for LoopFest V - June 19-21, 2006

Community Bulletin Board

• Invitation to Japanese Cultural Day
• Juneteenth Celebration Tickets Now On Sale
• Great Strides: Taking Steps to Cure Cystic Fibrosis (Palo Alto)
• Employee Appreciation Day at the NCAA Tennis Championships
• SLAC Wine Club Event
• Images of 2006 Total Solar Eclipse, taken by Cherrill Spencer in Libya

News (see all | submit)

• Study of Saturn's moon finds Titan's liquid oceans are likely solid seas of sand  Stanford Report
• For a bigger hard-drive, just add water   PhysOrg.com
• When is a black hole like a dripping faucet?  New Scientist
• Maintaining Fermilab at physics frontier  Courier News

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What's Cookin' at the Linear Cafe (see weekly menu)

Friday
Breakfast Boosters	New York Steak and Two Eggs with Breakfast Potatoes	$5.35
Hot	Minestrone and Clam Chowder	$2.35/$2.95
Taste	Roasted Turkey or Pork Loin with Apple Sauce or Mushroom sauce	$5.65/$5.95
Good Food For You	Eggplant Parmesan or Chicken Breast Parmesan on a Bed of Pasta w/ Salad	$5.95
Tossed	Southwestern Chicken Salad, Chicken, Corn and Black Beans with a Cilantro Vinaigrette	$5.45
Panini	Grilled Tuna Steak Sandwich with Spinach, Tomato and Pickled Red Onions	$5.95
Sandwich Favorite	Baja Fish Tacos with Spanish Rice and Beans	$5.85