CLS Users’ Advisory Committee 2009
Minutes of Meeting #99: September 9, 2009
(1:00 pm Saskatoon Time) at the Canadian Light Source
Room 2046
Attendees:
At CLS: Brian Bewer, Derek Peak, Lucia Zuin (observer), Ron Cavell, Lavina Carter, Jillayne Neufeld (minutes)
By Phone: Stewart McIntyre (chairperson), Serge Desgreniers, Pierre Kennepohl, Farideh Jalilehvand, Michael Murphy, Jim Hendry, Helen Nichol (past chair)
Regrets: Dennis Tokaryk, Graham George, Josef Hormes, Tom Ellis
1.0 Approval of the Agenda
The agenda was accepted as presented.
2.0 Approval of Last Meeting Minutes – from August 12, 2009
August 12, 2009 – UAC meeting minutes – Brian Bewer motioned these minutes to be accepted. Serge Desgreniers seconded the motion. Motion carried to accept the minutes.
3.0 Introduction of new members to specific duties for the year
Stewart asked each new member to provide a brief description of their vision for their year on the UAC:
Ron Cavell:
- Professor at the University of Alberta in Chemistry. Has been involved in the plans for CLS long before it was built. He was involved in the CSIR in 1989 up to today with planning, raising money, etc. His vision is for the CLS to become a user-friendly facility for the whole nation and the rest of the world!
Jim Hendry:
- Currently professor and Research Chair in aqueous and environmental geochemistry with the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan. Much of his research over the past 20 years has been dedicated to the study of the long-term environmental impact of mining (uranium, potash, and oilsands) and agriculture in Canada. His industrial-based research has benefited from the application of synchrotron techniques. Jim would like to work with CLS staff and management to attract more industrial users to work at the CLS.
Michael Murphy:
- Michael is currently at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology. He has worked in the field of macromolecular crystallography for over 10 years and wishes to make CLS more accessible through the use of remote data collection systems.
4.0 Message from Dr. Josef Hormes
Dr. Josef Hormes was not able to attend so we will look forward to his comments at a later date.
5.0 Update on CLS Operations from CLS Research Director – Tom Ellis
Tom Ellis was unable to attend this meeting, but in his absence, Lucia Zuin and Lavina Carter gave updates on HXMA and other calls for proposal updates.
Lucia Zuin:
The HXMA wiggler was fixed by early morning. Operation should start as Normal today, September 9, 2009, at 4:00 pm – as was scheduled previously. Recovery of the ring went well.Lavina Carter:
Call for Proposals for CMCF closed September 2, 2009. 10 proposals were submitted. This is the 1st call for this beamline.Current Call for Proposals are OPEN for all other beamlines until September 16, 2009. So far, there are 8 new proposals and 8 beamtime requests. Lavina Carter is anticipating many more yet before the call closes.
6.0 Report of Short Course at UWO in November from Stewart McIntyre
Stewart McIntyre advised the Short Course is intended to attract new users (and uses) to CLS, particularly from Ontario. A number of senior CLS veterans from Ontarion universities would be present at the course to act as potential mentors of students who became interested in gaining access to CLS beamlines for some trial experiments.
The course is entitled “Introduction to Uses of High Energy Synchrotron Radiation in Materials and Life Sciences”. This is a course intended for graduate and senior undergraduate students in science and engineering at Western, Waterloo, Guelph, Toronto and McMaster Universities. It will be held at the North Campus Building at the University of Western Ontario on Saturday, November 14th, 2009, from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm. There will be five one-hour tutorials given by:
- Jim Britten (McMaster) – X ray Diffraction;
- Ron Martin (Western) – X ray Fluorescence;
- Grant Henderson (U of Toronto) – Absorption Techniques;
- Tom Kotzer (Cameco Inc.) – Tomography;
- Josef Hormes (CLS) – TBD.
In addition to these talks, there would be an exhibition/poster session during a 2 hour break with posters from some of the present Ontario-based users.
CLS has offered to cover all (or most) of the costs for this event; these would be bus transport for the students and lunch. Each of the targeted universities has a representative who would spread publicity in late September and act as an organizer for the buses and private cars that would travel to London.
There will also be a beamteam meeting for VESPERS.
7.0 Arrangement for F2F Meeting and discussion of possible themes
There were 2 F2F meetings last year. Stewart would like to set up a F2F meeting this Fall.
1 option would be near the SAC meeting of November 5-6, 2009. Stewart McIntyre approached Tom Ellis to consider concurrent with the UAC to have a joint session of 1-2 hours on November 6th. Tom Ellis though this was worthwhile to consider.
SAC meeting usually end at noon on the 2nd day. We could possibly have the F2F group meet with the SAC before lunch or at lunch and then carry on with the F2F after that.
At the first meeting, the jobs are usually appointed.
- Brian Bewer will act in the role that Sammy held last year, working with the End of Run report for ‘on the spot’ issues at the CLS since he is at the U of Saskatchewan.
- Serge Desgreniers will act as the official representative on the SAC – attending the SAC meeting, etc.
Helen and Ron thought this was a good idea. Jim indicated he would be away and would not be available that Friday for the F2F if held November 5-6 weekend.
There were no objections to Stewart going ahead with arranging the F2F meeting.
Stewart asked if people attending the meeting are paid for their stay before and after the meeting. Lavina/Jillayne will confirm this, but likely accommodations would be paid for the night before and the night of the meeting, therefore 2 nights’ accommodations.
Dinner as a group on the termination of the meeting was suggested. This could be done on Friday, or the Thursday night before. Nothing was confirmed at this point.
8.0 Report from the User Office – including last End of Run Survey
Lavina Carter gave a quick process overview of the End of Run.
An End of Run Survey – At the end of each visit by a User, a survey is sent after the end of each experiment. We compile all the responses and circulate the results to the Beamlines, managers, UAC and Users Office. A meeting takes place at the CLS with the beamlines/managers to go over the runs and identify any issues and any actions that should be taken. We also ask the UAC to review and indicate any issues that require attention. In addition to the End of Run Survey, some users respond verbally through telephone or in person discussions as well as emails. These responses are also included in the report that is distributed.
This process is a good way for the UAC to bring new issues forward that are not already addressed in the current End of Run report and they will be added and tracked through this report.
9.0 AUM Discussion
The dates to hold the Annual Users Meeting/Workshops have been confirmed as Thursday, June 17 and Friday, June 18, 2010 in Saskatoon.
The Teachers Credit Union Place (TCU Place – downtown Saskatoon) is our top contender for venue location unless we can get a booking suitable on the University of Saskatchewan campus. We have been attempting to get information regarding this possibility from Facilities Management/Room Scheduling Dept at the U of S, but we are hitting road blocks where we are just not getting replies back on whether space will be available or not. Stewart McIntyre suggested we take one more week to see if we get any answers back from the U of S, and after that time, if we do not have a U of S option, we will lock in the venue.
Stewart McIntyre suggested we consider the possibility of taking the AUM elsewhere due to increased need of users. The major downside of this could be ½ the users are from Saskatoon and area and the increase in cost by taking this event elsewhere might decrease the number of local users from attending this event. If beamlines are very busy, this would make it more difficult to get away to the meetings if out of town. An upside to taking the AUM elsewhere might be to increase out-of-province users.
Ron Cavell asked why there was such difficulty in getting a venue here on the U of S campus. Lavina explained that the University is under a great deal of construction, so partly space will be at a premium because of that. As well, there is a protocol to follow in order to get a space booked and we are struggling to get a firm answer regarding our AUM request. Stewart suggested he, Serge Desgreniers and Helen Nichol may need to write to the President of the U of S indicating our concerns about holding conferences here on campus.
As the CLS is lacking a large conference room, it was suggested the UAC put more pressure on the CLS to get a larger conference space into the plans for the CLS. At other facilities, most user meetings are held on-site and this would be a good plus for the CLS to have this available here.
Ron Cavell indicated there has been talk in the past about a large space for such events, but no money has been made available for this at this time.
10.0 Other Issues
User Access:
The Lutheran Seminary – Stewart feels this is a substandard place to stay and we need to work on bringing changes to ‘reconstruct’ these rooms to better facilities. A World Class Facility needs comparable accommodations.
If only a handful of people are using the Lutheran Seminary, then maybe we need to consider supplementing the cost for users to stay at hotels. The Lutheran Seminary was described as in deplorable condition.
Farideh Jalilehvand also asked whether shared vehicles could be made available so users could drive to and from either their hotels or other accommodations to get groceries, etc.
Stewart McIntyre indicated the Lutheran Seminary was a ‘solution of convenience’ early on but it is giving bad publicity for the CLS to stay there.
We will need to continue discussions as nothing will happen this year.
This meeting was recorded and a file is available to listen to if requested. Please contact Jillayne Neufeld for a copy.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 1:45 pm.
The next UAC meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 @ 1 pm SK time.
Last modified: 2012-01-19 17:01:47