R&D teams receive awards
Monday was a "rewarding" day for more than two dozen Lab scientists and engineers.
They were presented with their 2007 R&D 100 awards by Steve Liedle, the Laboratory’s deputy director, and Camille Yuan-Soo Hoo, the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Livermore Site office manager.
Last year, the Laboratory won five R&D 100 awards for developing advances among the top 100 industrial inventions worldwide. LLNL has won 118 such awards since 1978. The award-winning technologies are:
- The Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS)-based Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope. This instrument, developed in conjunction with six universities and an industrial partner, will enable clinicians to image and measure microscopic structures of the living eye. Lab researchers who led the development of the instrument are: Diana Chen, Steven Jones, Scot Olivier and Dennis Silva.
- A Noninvasive Pneumothorax Detector. This new medical diagnostic device detects pneumothorax, a medical condition caused by having air trapped in the space between the wall of the chest cavity and the lung. The award is shared with a Cleveland-based firm. Employees honored for their work are: John Chang, Greg Dallum, Christine Paulson, Garth Pratt, Mark Vigars and Patrick Welsh.
- Continuous Phase Plate Optics. This advance is an important breakthrough for the Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility and allows the laser’s 192 beams to be optimally coupled to its targets. The award is shared with two optics companies. Among the team members are: Joe Menapace, Pete J. Davis, Shamasundar Dixit, John H. Campbell, Greg Rogowski, Christopher Haynam and Lawrence Atherton.
- Large Area Imager. This advanced radiation detection system provides several important developments for detecting and interdicting illegal nuclear materials. The instrument was developed in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory. Scientists and engineers who developed the system are: Marianne Ammendolia, Dennis Carr, Jeff Collins, Chris Cork (now retired) and former LLNL employees Lorenzo Fabris and Klaus-Peter Ziock, who now work at Oak Ridge.
- hypre. This software library allows researchers to more effectively use supercomputers such as BlueGene/L and ASC Purple to conduct large, more detailed simulations faster than ever before. The computer scientists who developed hypre are: Rob Falgout, Allison Baker, Van Emden Henson, Tzanio Kolev, Barry Lee, Jeffrey Painter, Charles Tong, Panayot Vassilevski and Ulrike Meier Yang.
Former Lab employee acknowledged by governor
Adam Kavanagh, a former AVLIS employee, is among a group of state employees recently acknowledged by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for extraordinary acts of bravery and heroism.
In a December ceremony he received the Medal of Valor. The Medal of Valor, which started in 1959, is the highest honor that California bestows upon its public servants.
Kavanagh and fellow game warden John Nores were honored for rescuing a fellow warden who had been shot and injured during a marijuana eradication detail.
A resident of Diamond Springs, Calif., he is the son of Don Kavanagh, a 34-year employee of the Laboratory who is currently a design lead in operations at the National Ignition Facility.
The Medal of Valor is awarded to California state employees who have performed an extraordinary act of heroism above and beyond the normal call of duty, at great risk to their own personal safety or life, to save the life of another.
Felton receives thank you letter from governor
The Lab’s Jim Felton received a thank you letter from Gov. Schwarzenegger late last year for serving on the State Prop. 65 Carcinogen Identification Committee for 15 years.
Proposition 65 is the law that the California constituency voted for that states the people of California should be warned if they eat or are in contact with cancer- causing chemicals. The committee reads the reports and data related to each chemical to be listed and evaluates the strength of the data.
"Fifteen years on any committee is a long time," Felton said. "I served with some outstanding physicians and scientist from across the state. The decisions involved drugs, environmental pollutants and food constituents."
Felton said he remembers when Proposition 65 was first recommended and has seen the hearings evolve to where lawyers for listing and delisting sit in the hearing room in front of the scientists representing the companies and organizations they lobby for and argue their companies position.
"The lawyers and lobbiests outnumbered the scientists 10 to one," Felton said. "The committee was good at evaluating the data and expressing their reasons for their decisions. We got a lot of help from the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) staff."
The following is Schwarznegger’s letter:
"Allow me to convey my congratulations to you as you retire from the Science Advisory Board’s Carcinogen Identification committee.
I deeply appreciate your hard work to protect the health of all Californians. Among many accomplishments, your insightful evaluations of chemicals to determine if they cause cancer will undoubtedly save lives. I applaud your tremendous contributions to the committee and your remarkable career that has seen you serve in many pivotal positions.
It was a pleasure to appoint you to the Science Advisory Board, and you can take pride in the many hours you devoted to improving public health and the environment. Whether as a board member, professor or researcher, you have done much to enhance our state, and your expertise will be missed.
On behalf of all Californians, please accept my gratitude and best wishes for every future success.
Sincerely,
Arnold Schwarzenegger
