Paul Kearns, director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, and members of the Argonne Advanced Photon Source team were delighted to welcome U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm; U.S. Congressmen Bobby Rush (D-IL) and Bill Foster (D-IL); and Illinois State Senators Diane Pappas (D-45th) and Sue Rezin (R-38th) to the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Long Beamline Building (LBB), which will be home to two of the new x-ray beamlines that are part of the $815 million upgrade of the Advanced Photon Source that is now underway.
This next generation of beamlines will be capable of providing high-resolution x-ray images of critical components and technologies from aircraft engines to solar cells to advanced materials for microelectronics, in clear detail and at impressively small scale.
The APS, one of the most productive x-ray light sources in the world, hosts more than 5,000 scientists from around the world in a typical year to conduct research in fields ranging from chemistry to life sciences to materials science to geology.
A short Argonne video of Secretary Granholm’s visit can be viewed here and A full-length article on the ceremony can be read here.
The Advanced Photon Source is a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357
The U.S. Department of Energy's APS at Argonne National Laboratory is one of the world’s most productive x-ray light source facilities. Each year, the APS provides high-brightness x-ray beams to a diverse community of more than 5,000 researchers in materials science, chemistry, condensed matter physics, the life and environmental sciences, and applied research. Researchers using the APS produce over 2,000 publications each year detailing impactful discoveries, and solve more vital biological protein structures than users of any other x-ray light source research facility. APS x-rays are ideally suited for explorations of materials and biological structures; elemental distribution; chemical, magnetic, electronic states; and a wide range of technologically important engineering systems from batteries to fuel injector sprays, all of which are the foundations of our nation’s economic, technological, and physical well-being.
Argonne National Laboratory seeks 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. DOE Office of Science.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit the Office of Science website.