Thursday - October 22, 2009
SLAC Today is
available online at:
http://today.slac.stanford.edu
In this issue:
Lab Directed Research and Development Projects Awarded
Autopilot Car Demo a Highlight at Navigation Symposium
Symmetry Explores Accelerator Tech
SLAC Green Note: GreenGov Challenge—A Bottom-up Approach to Greening the Government
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Thursday - October 22, 2009 |
Lab Directed Research and Development Projects Awarded The LDRD Web site provides information about applying and this year's awardees.
When the Lab Directed Research and Development funds were distributed earlier this month, it marked the completion of what had been nearly nine months of deliberation for the program's organizers. Now, with the funds allocated and the researchers researching, they're looking toward next year's process. The program, now in its third year, is designed to help deliver Department of Energy funding to new or high-risk projects that might otherwise go unfunded. According to LDRD Program Manager Steve Williams, the work is crucial to maintaining the tradition of innovative SLAC science. "The LDRD program provides an open way to get ideas from almost any sector of the scientific community onto the table," Williams said. "It's very competitive, and it yields really high quality ideas." So far, the program has directed $3 million to nine scientists for the 2010 fiscal year, with another $1.5 million yet to be distributed. According to Williams, the surplus is expected to be allocated in December. In all, 46 proposals were submitted for consideration—a number that far exceeded expectations. The proposals went through an extensive review process, being evaluated on quality of science and how they contribute to the lab mission. The choice of projects to receive funding was intentionally diverse, ranging from studies into new uses for the PEP ring to explorations of electron behavior in atoms. Read more... Autopilot Car Demo a Highlight at Navigation Symposium Junior's laser scanner produces precise images of the
car's surroundings, which appear on this monitor in the back
seat of the car. (Photo by Nicholas Bock.)
"Junior," Stanford University's autonomous vehicle, made an appearance at SLAC yesterday. The award-winning car demonstrated its capabilities as part of a joint symposium for the Stanford Center for Position, Navigation and Time and the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford. The third annual PNT Symposium, held at Kavli auditorium October 21–22, has brought together 160 participants from 58 organizations to focus on developments in positioning, navigation and time. "This is a unique opportunity for experts from industry, academia, government and the military to network and share ideas," said meeting organizer and Executive Director of the Stanford Center for Position, Navigation and Time Tom Langenstein. The attendees heard about new U.S. plans for GPSIII as well as new navigation satellites, technology and applications, such as automated vehicle navigation. Before Junior's appearance, Jan Becker, Principle Engineer at the Bosch Research and Technology Center in Palo Alto, gave a presentation explaining autonomous vehicle technology and how it may apply to future driver assistance programs. Read more... Symmetry Explores Accelerator Tech The latest issue of Symmetry is on its way to subscribers and the entire content of the issue is online. This issue features many stories about accelerator development and comes out just before the Accelerators for America's Future symposium next week in Washington, DC. In the issue, read about how accelerators are being used to clean up sewage sludge and industrial flue gases, the range of industrial applications of accelerator technology, and steps toward the next generation of acceleration technology using plasma wakefields. We show how the types and capabilities of accelerators have evolved over the past 80 years in an updated version of a classic graphical representation, introduce the making of shrink wrap as another unusual aspect of accelerator tech, and comment on how accelerators find themselves in an unusual place in science, straddling basic and applied research. There is plenty else to discover in the issue but let us know what you think!  SLAC Green Note: GreenGov Challenge—A Bottom-up Approach to Greening the Government In support of the new Executive Order on Federal Sustainability (EO 13514) and in coordination with National Energy Awareness Month, the White House has launched the GreenGov Challenge, an online participatory way for Federal employees to submit clean energy suggestions and ideas and vote on others. The Challenge will run October 19–31, 2009. Although the GreenGov Challenge is limited to Federal employees, contractors are encouraged to partner with Federal employees on a submission. For SLAC employees who would like to participate in the challenge, please contact Dave Osugi of the DOE SLAC Site Office (x3305) to coordinate the submission. Click here to view Secretary Chu’s call to the Federal community to submit ideas and participate in the GreenGov Challenge. |
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