Spring is always a busy time at Argonne and the Advanced Photon Source, with various reviews, and this season has been especially jam-packed at the APS Upgrade (APS-U).

Importantly, the project’s timeline remains on track, thanks to the tremendous efforts of many people at the APS and within the broader APS community.

Last fall, the Department of Energy approved Critical Decision 3B for the APS-U. This important step provides the authority to begin procurement of long-lead components, and we are working toward the first procurements of production hardware later this year. The procurement plan calls for placing an order for the first set of APS-U quadrupole magnets, which is a very important step in the trajectory of APS-U.

In addition, in mid-March DOE’s Basic Energy Sciences Program held a status review of the project to assess our progress toward the next major milestone – the preparation of the proposed “baseline” for the project, which is the firm scope, cost and schedule for APS-U. This is a critical next step.

To that end, project staff are hard at work to complete the preliminary design and document the technical design in a Preliminary Design Report, one of the key deliverables for approval of the project’s baseline.

We know we are moving in the right direction toward completing the Upgrade, so as to meet the scientific needs of our more than 5,000 academic, laboratory and industrial researchers – while also driving the discoveries and processes that will make life better for everyone.

Lastly, this is a bittersweet update for me to finish. As many of you may know, I will be leaving Argonne National Laboratory and the Advanced Photon Source to serve as the next Director of Jefferson Laboratory beginning in April.

It is hard to believe that I came to the APS just three years ago to continue the great work done earlier on the APS Upgrade. It has been a real pleasure and a tremendously satisfying experience for me to lead the great team that we’ve assembled toward delivering a state-of-the-art facility to support the needs of the scientific community for the foreseeable future.

The project remains in very capable hands: Jim Kerby is serving as Acting Project Director, providing the experience and continuity required to keep the project on track. In addition, Mark Beno was named Technical Director for the APS-U, a newly created position in which he will offer high-level technical expertise, with an emphasis on integrating APS-U investments with the overall APS beamline strategy. Meanwhile, the search process for the next APS-U Project Director is underway.

I am grateful for all the hard work and support that so many people have shown for this important project.

Thank you, and onward!