February 2, 2006

Two NSLS Staff Members Awarded for Jobs Well Done

Congratulations are due to Peter Siddons and Nick Gmur, who, respectively, recently were honored with a Science & Technology Award and a Brookhaven Award at the Fiscal Year 2006 BNL Employee Recognition Award Ceremony on February 2.

Peter Siddons

Peter Siddons (second from left) at the BNL Employee Recognition Award Ceremony with the other Science & Technology Award winners. They are Stephen Schwartz of the Environmental Sciences Department (far left), James Alessi of the Collider-Accelerator Department (second from right), and Peter Vanier of the Nonproliferation & National Security Department (far right). Not pictured: Alexei Tsvelik of the Condensed Matter Physics & Materials Science Department.

Siddons, a physicist at the NSLS, is cited for his outstanding contributions to developing detectors for use in synchrotron sources. His ideas are recognized as innovative and original, resulting in new and unique detectors that make new experiments feasible. He is a strong advocate and leader in the U.S. for detector development and has made significant advances possible despite the lack of funding in this area. Over the last several years, Siddons has directed the NSLS detector and control group and, in collaboration with BNL's Instrumentation Division, has developed a suite of detectors. These included fast photon counting detectors for different energy ranges and applications, linear array detectors, and two-dimensional detectors. The detectors have been delivered to users with great success, and have made significant impact on scientific programs at the NSLS and elsewhere. Also, the detector group under Siddons' direction has gained worldwide recognition for the NSLS and BNL. For example, recently BNL was awarded a multi-year project to construct two imaging detectors for the Linear Coherent Light Source project at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Facilities in England, Australia and Taiwan as well as at Argonne National Laboratory are interested in or already actively collaborating with Siddons' group. He received his Ph.D. in physics at Kings College, London, and joined BNL in 1985.

The Science & Technology Award (presented by Peter Bond, Deputy Interim Director for Science & Technology) recognizes distinguished contributions to BNL's science and technology mission over one or more years. Nominations for the Science & Technology Award are made by organization heads. The three criteria considered for this award are the exceptional nature of the employee's contributions, their level of difficulty, and their benefit to BNL.

Nick Gmur

Brookhaven Award winner Nick Gmur (second from left) at the awards ceremony with the other Brookhaven award winners. Also presented with Brookhaven awards were (from left) John DiNicola (Plant Engineering Division), Raymond Karol (Collider-Accelerator Department), Gerard Shepherd (Safety & Health Services Division), and Peter Stelmaschuk (Plant Engineering).

Gmur is cited for his outstanding work as the NSLS Environmental Safety & Health (ESH) Coordinator. In this role, he is involved in many activities within the department that carry into almost every part of all programs. He has been a key contributor to challenging ESH issues at the NSLS that include implementing requirements for BNL's Integrated Safety Management program and the internationally recognized ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 programs. Other major achievements included writing, conducting, and coordinating reviews and implementing the accelerator authorization basis documents for the Deep-Ultraviolet-Free Electron Laser, the NSLS and Accelerator Test Facility, and the NSLS Environmental Assessment required by the National Environmental Policy Act. In addition, Gmur resolves many smaller issues daily. He is recognized for his leadership, for bringing great attention to quality and detail, and for always getting the job done on schedule. He is widely respected throughout BNL for his efforts and is an excellent representative of the NSLS. Gmur, who came to BNL in December 1975, has a B.S. in zoology and chemistry from McGill University and an M.S. in biology from the University of Michigan.

Presented by Laboratory Director Praveen Chaudhari, the Brookhaven Award recognizes key contributors in support functions whose performance and achievements represent outstanding service to the Laboratory. Nominees for the Brookhaven Award are evaluated by the exceptional nature and difficulty level of the contributions, their benefit to the Laboratory, and the length of time over which the contributions were made.

ARTICLE BY: Laura Mgrdichian