Notes from the UEC

Users' Meeting Planning and NSLS-II CD-2 Review

November 2, 2007

Dan Fischer
UEC Chair
NIST
dfischer@nist.gov

Archives:
March 2008
November 2007
August 2007
April 2007

The past three months have been an active time for planning the annual Users' Meeting. Continuing the successful strategy of a joint user meeting, the NSLS and the Center for Functional Nanomaterials will once again team up to host the meeting on May 19-21, 2008 at Brookhaven. In our last meeting, the Users' Executive Committee (UEC) elected Stony Brook University Professor John Parise as Vice Chair of the UEC and Co-chair of the 2008 Users' Meeting planning team. The 2008 planning team has been fully formed and many meeting have taken place, including a very successful call for workshops. John will present an update of the planning team's activities during the NSLS Town Meeting on Friday, November 16, 2007.

The theme of my August "Notes from the UEC" was "NSLS-II is Closer Than You Think!" Well, it keeps getting closer. Just to remind you, the preliminary schedule calls for construction of the new facility to begin in fiscal year 2009, and operations to begin in fiscal year 2015. In about two weeks, NSLS-II will undergo its Critical Decision Two (CD-2) review and everything appears to be going forward at break-neck speed. At our last UEC meeting, Steve Dierker, Associate Laboratory Director for Light Sources and Project Director for NSLS-II, said that if all goes well with this review, NSLS-II is poised to begin a call for "letters of interest" before the end of 2007.

NSLS-II operations are only eight years away, and every NSLS user should consider how to make the most of the NSLS-II opportunity. This could mean partnerships at many levels; let your imagination be the only thing that limits you! That said, one of the biggest and most important areas to consider is the transition from the NSLS to NSLS-II. What will this mean for your research program? Get involved and make a difference. I encourage everyone to attend the next NSLS Town Meeting and hear more details from Steve and NSLS Chair Chi-Chang Kao.

Have a peaceful holiday season!