The Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM) at the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, one of the premier nanoscience research facilities in the world, has been declared fully operational.
The Department of Energy issued the CD-4b resolution approving the start of full operations on October 1, marking the completion of the process of supplying and furnishing Argonne's newest user facility. “The CNM building opened for research in May 2006, but the time since has been spent largely setting up the facility, including hiring,” said Katie Carrado Gregar, manager of the CNM's User and Outreach Programs.
“The CNM will provide access to some of the most advanced nanoscience technology in the world, for roughly 200 users a year from around the nation and the world who will come to Argonne to take advantage of its unique resources,” she explained.
Approximately 50 user projects have been able to take advantage of the facility so far, and the recent completion of the hard x-ray nanoprobe beamline this summer and the installation of a Beowulf-class supercomputer array with 12 teraflop capacity for computational and experimental nanoscience is expected to engender more interest in the CNM's facilities.
"The past 17 months were devoted to hiring world-class researchers, installing major pieces of equipment, laboratory instrumentation, IT networks, and office furniture," Gregar said. "It has been an extraordinarily busy time to fully equip the building, but at the same time we have been committed to allowing both basic research and user programs to take place as facilities were commissioned."
With the assembly of the facility complete, employees at the CNM will now be able to focus entirely on their research and on facilitating the nearly 90 new user projects that were submitted during the July 2007 call-for-proposals.
Argonne National Laboratory, a renowned R&D center, brings the world's brightest scientists and engineers together to find exciting and creative new solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America 's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.