Cement trucks began rolling onto the LCLS construction site at 6:00 a.m. Click here to see the first cement being poured for the Near Experimental Hall.

Getting in on the Ground Floor

by Brad Plummer

Today, crews are taking an exciting step forward in the construction of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). A fleet of 40 cement trucks arrived first thing this morning at SLAC to deliver more than a thousand cubic yards of concrete for the foundation of the Near Experimental Hall (NEH).

"This is literally the foundation for the project," said Conventional Facilities Manager David Saenz. "This is where it all starts. It's very exciting for a lot of people."

Today's pour represents a huge, coordinated effort between SLAC and Turner Construction and their subcontractors, said Saenz. Two concrete plants were used to provide enough concrete for pump trucks to deliver up to 200 cubic yards of concrete per hour. When complete, the new three-foot slab will serve as the foundation of the NEH, which together with the Far Experimental Hall will house experiment stations for the LCLS.

You can watch the action live on the LCLS Bird 2 webcam available here.

Update on the ILC

The release of the Reference Design Report (RDR) for the International Linear Collider (ILC) in Beijing at the beginning of February was a remarkable milestone in the evolution of the project. The Global Design Effort (GDE) has prepared a detailed overview of the ILC design parameters and succeeded in gaining international agreement from all involved in the project. The RDR is the product of a new process in planning future particle physics installations, as it was not written by staff from one laboratory but by engineers and physicists from all over the world. The new techniques and protocols of global collaboration that have been established for the on-time publication of the RDR have broken completely new ground. As we all know, accelerators are not simple things and the ILC in particular is a complex piece of machinery. I do not imagine that many of you will read the whole 700 page RDR, but I recommend the Companion Document that summarizes the main points in non-technical language, which you can download here. The next stage of the project is the development of a detailed Engineering Design Report.

What has been the response from the Department of Energy to the RDR? Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, DOE Undersecretary for Science, spoke to the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel (HEPAP) on Thursday, February 22, and underlined his vigorous support for the ILC. I had the opportunity to discuss the ILC with him face to face last Monday and Ray stressed his steadfast support for the ILC. He encourages us to continue with, and to build up, the R&D effort within the U.S. as part of the international R&D program being led by the GDE. This strong support for the ILC R&D program is reflected in the President's FY2008 budget, where the ILC R&D funding is $60 million and there is an additional $23 million for development of the superconducting RF technology which is an essential part of the ILC baseline design. Read more...

Remedy Offers Service Desk Demo This Week

by Michael Gordon

SLAC uses a broad range of ticketing systems (mostly customized or home-grown) to support its business and science needs. These systems have varying degrees of integration across the lab. Over the past year, there have been a number of requests for a more generic ticketing system that meets the needs of the user communities across SLAC.

On Wednesday, March 7, from 1:00 until 3:00 p.m., Remedy will offer a demonstration of their latest GUI ticketing system, Service Desk 7.0 in the Orange Room. SLAC already has a considerable inventory of Remedy database and Solver licenses in use as the foundation for some of the current ticketing applications. This application suite would layer on top of those existing licenses if the lab decides to move in this direction. Those interested in being part of this decision are encouraged to attend this demonstration.

Chris Lundin, the ITS Helpdesk Director, will be in the audience to answer questions about the viral growth of their helpdesk applications, as well as his experience with them.

SLAC has an obligation to continually look at new and different ways of providing more resources for its primary mission: great science. This presentation is not an attempt to force anyone to change their current ticketing application(s). Instead, it is an opportunity to see what is being used by others outside of SLAC, with a hope that we can improve our business practices and the effectiveness of our limited resources.

Safety Firsts

by John Cornuelle

One of my many favorite Gary Larson cartoons has two pilots looking through their cockpit window at a mountain goat surrounded by clouds. "Say, what's a mountain goat doing way up here?" is the response of one pilot. How fast would you be in picking up such an obvious hazard clue in your work at SLAC or at home?

Events (see all | submit)

March 6: (12:30 p.m.) Experimental Seminar: Novel Tests of QCD at BaBar
March 7: (1:00 p.m.) Remedy Service Desk 7.0 Demonstration
March 7: (1:30 p.m.) Integrated Circuits for Advanced Detectors
March 7: (4:15 p.m.) SLAC Colloquium: SESAME - Reality or a Parallel Universe?

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Announcements
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Lab Announcements

Community Bulletin Board

News (see all | submit)

Belle Confirms Quantum Entanglement at 10 Billion Electron Volts Interactions.org
Dreams Collide With Reality for International Experiment Science

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View online at http://today.slac.stanford.edu//.

Cement trucks began rolling onto the LCLS construction site at 6:00 a.m. Click here to see the first cement being poured for the Near Experimental Hall. Getting in on the Ground Floor by Brad Plummer Today, crews are taking an exciting step forward in the construction of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS). A fleet of 40 cement trucks arrived first thing this morning at SLAC to deliver more than a thousand cubic yards of concrete for the foundation of the Near Experimental Hall (NEH). "This is literally the foundation for the project," said Conventional Facilities Manager David Saenz. "This is where it all starts. It's very exciting for a lot of people." Today's pour represents a huge, coordinated effort between SLAC and Turner Construction and their subcontractors, said Saenz. Two concrete plants were used to provide enough concrete for pump trucks to deliver up to 200 cubic yards of concrete per hour. When complete, the new three-foot slab will serve as the foundation of the NEH, which together with the Far Experimental Hall will house experiment stations for the LCLS. You can watch the action live on the LCLS Bird 2 webcam available here.

Update on the ILC The release of the Reference Design Report (RDR) for the International Linear Collider (ILC) in Beijing at the beginning of February was a remarkable milestone in the evolution of the project. The Global Design Effort (GDE) has prepared a detailed overview of the ILC design parameters and succeeded in gaining international agreement from all involved in the project. The RDR is the product of a new process in planning future particle physics installations, as it was not written by staff from one laboratory but by engineers and physicists from all over the world. The new techniques and protocols of global collaboration that have been established for the on-time publication of the RDR have broken completely new ground. As we all know, accelerators are not simple things and the ILC in particular is a complex piece of machinery. I do not imagine that many of you will read the whole 700 page RDR, but I recommend the Companion Document that summarizes the main points in non-technical language, which you can download here. The next stage of the project is the development of a detailed Engineering Design Report. What has been the response from the Department of Energy to the RDR? Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, DOE Undersecretary for Science, spoke to the High Energy Physics Advisory Panel (HEPAP) on Thursday, February 22, and underlined his vigorous support for the ILC. I had the opportunity to discuss the ILC with him face to face last Monday and Ray stressed his steadfast support for the ILC. He encourages us to continue with, and to build up, the R&D effort within the U.S. as part of the international R&D program being led by the GDE. This strong support for the ILC R&D program is reflected in the President's FY2008 budget, where the ILC R&D funding is $60 million and there is an additional $23 million for development of the superconducting RF technology which is an essential part of the ILC baseline design. Read more...	Remedy Offers Service Desk Demo This Week by Michael Gordon SLAC uses a broad range of ticketing systems (mostly customized or home-grown) to support its business and science needs. These systems have varying degrees of integration across the lab. Over the past year, there have been a number of requests for a more generic ticketing system that meets the needs of the user communities across SLAC. On Wednesday, March 7, from 1:00 until 3:00 p.m., Remedy will offer a demonstration of their latest GUI ticketing system, Service Desk 7.0 in the Orange Room. SLAC already has a considerable inventory of Remedy database and Solver licenses in use as the foundation for some of the current ticketing applications. This application suite would layer on top of those existing licenses if the lab decides to move in this direction. Those interested in being part of this decision are encouraged to attend this demonstration. Chris Lundin, the ITS Helpdesk Director, will be in the audience to answer questions about the viral growth of their helpdesk applications, as well as his experience with them. SLAC has an obligation to continually look at new and different ways of providing more resources for its primary mission: great science. This presentation is not an attempt to force anyone to change their current ticketing application(s). Instead, it is an opportunity to see what is being used by others outside of SLAC, with a hope that we can improve our business practices and the effectiveness of our limited resources. Safety Firsts by John Cornuelle One of my many favorite Gary Larson cartoons has two pilots looking through their cockpit window at a mountain goat surrounded by clouds. "Say, what's a mountain goat doing way up here?" is the response of one pilot. How fast would you be in picking up such an obvious hazard clue in your work at SLAC or at home?	Events (see all \| submit) March 6: (12:30 p.m.) Experimental Seminar: Novel Tests of QCD at BaBar March 7: (1:00 p.m.) Remedy Service Desk 7.0 Demonstration March 7: (1:30 p.m.) Integrated Circuits for Advanced Detectors March 7: (4:15 p.m.) SLAC Colloquium: SESAME - Reality or a Parallel Universe? Access (see all) Building 40 construction Alpine Gate & PEP Ring Road closed Gates 17 & 30 open 24-7 Research Yard bisected Announcements (see all \| submit) Lab Announcements Retirement Savings and Stanford Matching Contributions Refresher Course - March 19 New Publication: ESH Manual, Chapter 26, Stormwater Community Bulletin Board WorkLife Office Workshops Help Center Workshop: The Thunder Years: Coping with Adolescence Dancing Feet from around the World 2007 News (see all \| submit) Belle Confirms Quantum Entanglement at 10 Billion Electron Volts Interactions.org Dreams Collide With Reality for International Experiment Science
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<% Response.AddHeader "Last-modified", getArticleDate() 'Response.AddHeader "Last-modified","Mon, 01 Sep 1997 01:03:33 GMT" 'Monday, December 06, 2010 %> View online at http://today.slac.stanford.edu//.