UAC Meeting Report
3rd Annual Meeting of the Users of the Canadian Light Source
Saskatoon, SK
(Written 19 November, 2000)
Approximately 170 people present
Morning presentations:
The meeting began with a welcome by the chair of the UAC, Don R. Baker (McGill), followed by a welcome by Mr. Dale Botting of the Saskatoon Regional Development Authority (SREDA). Mr. Botting distributed a survey in order to assess the anticipated needs for transportation to Saskatoon, and for food, housing, and entertainment while in Saskatoon.
The first formal presentation of the meeting was by Dr. G. M. Bancroft, director of the Canadian Light Source. He reported on the current status of the CLS organization and scientific program. A number of new technical staff have been hired by the CLS in the past year and a few are in the process of being hired. Of particular interest to users is the hiring of an expert in the field of IR spectroscopy, Tim May; an expert in hard x-ray absorption spectroscopy, De-Tong Jiang; and an insertion device specialist, I. Blomqvist. Ms. Sandra Rebeiro was hired in August to fulfill the role of administering the Users’ Office of the CLS. A draft version of the beamlines procedure document was made available. An agreement with the government of Ontario concerning a financial contribution has been concluded and discussions with the government of Alberta on the same topic are continuing. Talks with several other provincial governments on financial contributions to the construction and/or operation of the CLS are planned or underway. Initially approved by the facilities access committee are: the three CSRF beamlines from Madison (or their replacements), a protein crystallography beamline, the soft x-ray spectromicroscopy beamline, a general purpose EXAFS beamline, and three infrared spectroscopy beamlines. A table of the current and proposed beamlines was presented by Mike:
Dr. Mark de Jong presented the status of the building and rings construction. The external shell of the building is complete and the building is expected to be finished in January 2001, less than on month behind schedule. Many parts for the rings have been ordered and the entire booster ring together with some components of the transfer line has been subcontracted to Danfysik. He presented the time line for linac modification, linac to booster transfer line construction, booster ring installation, booster to storage ring transfer line construction, and construction and operation of the synchrotron storage ring. All construction appears to be on schedule and will be completed in time for first light at the end of 2003. The decision has been made to use a superconducting RF cavity in the storage ring; two are ordered (one will be a spare).
Baker presented a synopsis of the role of the UAC and stressed the need for user feedback. A series of topics for lunchtime discussion, based on issues raised during the year and finalized at the 17 Nov. 2000 UAC meeting, were offered to the attendees:
- Housing, food and User Services for Users (led by Ron Cavell)
- Communication and Information Distribution (led by Adam Hitchcock)
- Beamline Access (led by Kathy Gough)
- Enlarging the User Community/Advertising (led by Jim Brown and Jeff Cutler)
- The Scientific Program of the CLS (led by Stephen Urquhart and Emil Hallin)
Reports on these discussions were provided in the afternoon (see below).
Dr. Stephen Sutton of GSECARS at the Advanced Photon Source presented a talk on the x-ray microprobe and its applications to Earth, planetary, and environmental sciences. This talk was followed by one from Prof. Alex Moewes, a new U of S faculty member, on his soft x-ray emission research, the wide variety of applications for which it is suitable and the nature of a proposed XES facility for the CLS. Prof. Caroline (Katie) M. Mitchell, also from the U of S, presented some of her recent materials science research performed at Daresbury, England.
Lunch hour: Optional participation in discussion groups; poster set-up in Marquis Hall.
Afternoon presentations:
The first speaker after lunch was Dr. Josef Hormes, of the Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices at Louisiana State University, who spoke about the challenges of working with industry. The key challenges are the differing goals and time constraints of industrial and academic research. He praised the CLS decision to achieve a strong industry component, and emphasized that, stimulated by the differences in orientation and approach between industrial and academic scientists, the results would be both challenging and exciting.
A tutorial on insertion devices was presented by Emil Hallin (CLS), on behalf of I. Blomquist, who has not yet arrived from Sweden. He described elliptically polarized undulators, one of which will be installed at the CLS for the soft x-ray spectromicroscopy beamline. He also discussed normal and superconducting wigglers and undulators. It appears that superconducting magnets are now routinely used in synchrotrons. Hallin also reported that the status of beamline development seems good.
Reports of the lunchtime discussion leaders:
- Enlarging the User Community/Advertising (led by Jim Brown and Jeff Cutler)
(Attendance: 20) The Liaison Office staffed by Rob Slinger and Jeff Cutler is critical to the success of the CLS and is currently concentrating on Mining and Environmental companies by providing access to synchrotrons in the U.S. to perform demonstrations; they are also in the process of scheduling seminars and workshops. Most of their contacts are local, but they are working on extending them to more distant locales. The CLS web site has improved and the feeling is that web site advertising will be important, but that industrial contacts must be sought out and also that clear access rules and fees must be established. Attendees suggested that CLS produce/coordinate a web site page that contains examples of industrial SL work, (Case studies, proof-of-concept/fact sheets). Linkages with NRCan, NRC, ASI web sites. They also suggested that CLS host a workshop of existing SL source senior liaison office staff - exchange of information/protocols used elsewhere (typical problems and solutions). The attendees of this discussion also considered ways in which the CLS could be more user friendly: improved air schedules; inexpensive, on-site accommodations (enclosed walkway from CLS to dorm) and ready access to food (dorm rooms with kitchenettes, mini-grocery store).
- Communication and Information Distribution (led by Adam Hitchcock)
(Attendance: 6) New web site is much improved aesthetically, but it is hard to navigate and important information is missing. Links from the CLS home page to relevant other sites dealing with CLS user programs are requested (e.g. cls-mcmaster/beamlines.ca). A downloadable information package on CLS that could be used by others in lectures to inform other scientists about CLS, its programs and its progress, would be very useful. User office with addition of Sandra Ribeiro is now a welcome reality - BRAVO. A periodic electronic newsletter would be welcomed. Ways of advertising CLS were discussed: word of mouth through successful trial projects was considered the best, followed perhaps by targeted advertising. The offer by UAC to run a speaker program was announced.
- Beamline Access (led by Kathy Gough)
(Attendance: 15) The draft policy document on beamline development and access was circulated by Mike Bancroft. The goal of 25% industry/75% user access overall, with some variation on certain lines, was acknowledged. The complicated issues in setting the right balance of facility control, industrial use, and reward for beamline team contributions were discussed. Scientists associated with some of the capital funding providers (e.g. provincial, NRC, NRCan, etc.) want to know if there will be extra beamtime allocations as recompense. Individual scientists who happen to have no such associations are concerned that special allocations will make it harder for them to obtain beamtime. Many in the discussion group expressed support for peer review committees to decide beamtime allocation and "report-back" mechanisms to ensure fair and effective use. They also recognized and stressed the need to get more input from the users on beamline access allocation procedures. It was felt that no final policy document should be approved until further extensive discussion has taken place
- The Scientific Program of the CLS (led by Stephen Urquhart and Emil Hallin)
(Attendance: 20) Concern for the perceived lack of a clear scientific program at CLS was expressed. It was recognized that the FAC was playing an important role in advising CLS on its development. The need for both bottom up and top down contributions to the development of a strong and focused scientific program was identified. Quality assurance at the beam line level, and access to ancillary laboratory services was discussed. An important aspect of achieving good science at CLS is encouraging CLS-related science in faculty renewal decisions. A process for supplying information to the relevant academic departments about support that CLS could offer to new faculty members was recommended. Members of the discussion group also commented that University of Saskatchewan should be taking the lead in hiring new faculty members, as well as developing a more focused thrust in synchrotron research.
- Housing, food and User Services for Users (led by Ron Cavell)
University plans for a residence / conference center are developing. User input was obtained by SREDA at the user meeting. A separate survey to provide information more directly into the University planning process will be carried out by Cavell via CISR. Many other issues of concern to users were raised – computing, networking, ancillary lab support, etc. There is a strong desire for cheap, dormitory style housing with cooking facilities. This group also discussed the need for laboratories and space for storage of experimental equipment when not in use. They also discussed the transport of people and material into and out of the site. The discussion included questions concerning the access to software used at the beamline once the experimenter had returned home. Library and lecture room access were also considered. As the meeting was already running late, there was very little discussion of these reports by the attendees as a whole. However, it did appear that the concerns expressed by the committees are also the concerns of most of the users present.
ACTION: Baker will write to the President of the University of Saskatoon (Prof. Peter MacKinnon), explaining the importance of the affordable on-site housing, and requesting that plans be formed to construct such a facility. Cavell will prepare and circulate a new survey.
Nomination of new members for election to UAC |
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Four people must be elected for three-year terms. An initial slate of nominees from the current UAC was presented: |
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| Jeannette See (Alcan, Jolicoeur, QC) | industrial materials analysis |
| Denis Roy (Laval, QC) | electron spectroscopy, spectromicroscopy |
| Bart Hazes (UoA, AB) | protein crystallography |
| Emil Hallin (CLS, SK) | Beamlines leader, physics |
| Marc Lamoreux (St. Mary’s, NS) | X-ray absorption, chemistry |
The meeting attendees added four more nominees: |
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| Dennis Klug (SIMS, NRC, ON) | high pressure diffraction, physics |
| Ken Schmitt (Alberta Synchrotron Institute, AB) | industrial analysis, chemistry |
| Brett Moldovan (Cameco, SK) | mining, environmental analysis |
| Tom Tiedje (Physics, UBC, BC) | spectroscopy, dynamics, physics |
The vote will be carried out before the end of December by email.
A workshop on X-ray absorption techniques and the x-ray microprobe will be given before the next users meeting was announced. The audience was also asked if any of them were interested in leading a workshop. (Later that evening John Tse mentioned to D. R. Baker that he would consider giving one x-ray diffraction.)
The meeting was adjourned at 4:15 PM.
Tour
The attendees took a tour of the CLS construction site. All were impressed by the construction of the main building and by the amount of work done to date.
Poster session and dinner
This tour was followed by a reception in the University dining room where the posters were presented, followed by dinner. The after-dinner speaker, Dr. Dwayne Miller of the University of Toronto gave a lively and fascinating talk (accompanied by some very special effects) entitled: "Mother Nature and the Molecular Big Bang", on the ultrafast dynamics and collective motion in biological molecules such as hemoglobin. Dwayne Miller had also organized the ancillary workshop on "Femtosecond Lasers at the Canadian Light Source", attended by over 70 people over the weekend, presaging more new and exciting developments for the CLS. The evening concluded at about 9:30 PM.
Last modified: 2012-01-19 17:01:15