Wednesday - September 30, 2009
SLAC Today is
available online at:
http://today.slac.stanford.edu
In this issue:
People: Peter Franco, Machines and Music
Peace Esonwune Receives Ashley Fellowship
Researchers Best Accelerators in SLAC Annual Softball Game
Fall Training Opportunities at Stanford
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Wednesday - September 30, 2009 |
People: Peter Franco, Machines and Music Peter Franco holds a Snoopy cutout made on the electric discharge machine. The Snoopies were produced several years ago as part of a
SLAC Kid's Day activity. (Photo by Nicholas Bock.)
It would be hard to find Peter Franco if you didn't know where to look. His office is tucked away in a corner of the Light Fabrication Building, his desk hidden behind a row of giant industrial machining tools. The walls are lined with steel cabinets full of parts, posters from heavy metal shows and keepsakes from his two kids. "Welcome to the cave," he says with a grin. Franco is a machinist with SLAC's Mechanical Fabrication Department. He spends his time working pieces of metal for use in devices and instruments all over the lab. He doesn't always know what the parts he makes will be used for, and design specifications can be as crude as scribbles on a napkin. Franco got into the field through NASA, taking his first machining job at Moffett Field in Mountain View. From there he went on to stints at several other sites around the South Bay, arriving at SLAC nearly seven years ago. He mostly uses tools called electric discharge machines—devices that use large electrical currents to cut and shape metal. One of the machines, called a wire EDM, uses a charged wire 1/100 of an inch in diameter to make intricate cuts through pieces of metal up to 14 inches thick. The wire runs between two independently moving heads, the metal being worked sitting in between. As the machine moves the block of metal around, the wire cuts through the material, not unlike a wire cheese slicer moving through a block of cheddar. Read more... Peace Esonwune Receives Ashley Fellowship Peace Esonwune is a mother of two and mentor of many. (Photo courtesy of Peace Esonwune.)
Peace Esonwune has been awarded the 2009-10 Alonzo W. Ashley Fellowship. The fellowship gives Esonwune a year of support to perform research in the Structural Molecular Biology division of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource in collaboration with the Joint Center for Structural Genomics, under the direction of JCSG's Herbert Axelrod. This is the first time that the Ashley award has been given to a student and not an in-house SLAC researcher. "I'm proud to be working with Peace," Axelrod said. "She is hardworking, conscientious, and intelligent. Her research will be one of the first thesis projects from San Francisco State University that will involve X-ray crystallography." Esonwune's projects will allow her to analyze data at SSRL to perform molecular modeling of proteins involved in biological energy cycles. The project will shed light on a process in starch production in plants that could have future implications in bio-energy production. Read more... Researchers Best Accelerators in SLAC Annual Softball Game SLAC Annual Sofball Game Sunday, September 27.
(Photo: Sonja Ohldag.)
Bats were hot at the 2009 SLAC Annual Softball Game on Sunday, September 27, as the Researchers defeated the Accelerators 28–12. The Research team started fast with 18 runs in the first three innings. The Accelerators could not close the gap, despite holding their opponents to three runs in innings 5–8 and bottom-of-the-ninth home runs from Matt Cramar and Mark Anzalone. Ryan Auer of the Research team was named MVP of the game for his solid hitting. Organizers said they were happy to see a large turnout at this year's game; 23 people came to play and the teams had some fans to cheer them on as well. The game was a family affair for the Accelerators, with siblings Natalie and Matt Cramar and Gene Anzalone and his sons, Mark and Brian, at the core of the team.  Both teams. See the team roster below.
(Photo: Sonja Ohldag.)
Sunday's game also brought ten newcomers out to Roble Field. The new players hailed from across the lab, and even as far as Germany, France, and Canada. "It was gratifying to see so many new players enjoy themselves whatever their level of previous experience," said Accelerators team captain Tom Markiewicz. The new players were shown the ropes by a SLAC Softball veteran, Richard (Dick) Zdarko, who first played in the game in 1961. The now-retired SLACer played for the Research team on Sunday. "Dick is a treasure trove of lore about the game's early days and its personalities," Markiewicz said. "He exemplifies what this game is all about: coming together and building a sense of community that can last for years."
Fall Training Opportunities at StanfordLast week all benefited employees received in their mailbox a copy of the Training Opportunities Guide, with learning opportunities on Stanford Campus for the months of October, November and December. Listed inside are more than 130 workshops and courses to assist in personal and professional development. Please take some time to review the many learning opportunities available to you. Attend classes in computing, finance, leadership, supervision, health and safety. Link to the opportunities and register today. For assistance in class selection and/or registration, contact Charlotte Carlson, Human Resources Training and Development (x2265). |
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