AUSTRALIAN SYNCHROTRON UPDATE - APRIL 2006
News from the Australian Synchrotron project
1. Installation Milestone
2. Commissioning Progress
3. Users News:
- AXAA Seminars
- Decadal Planning
- PM Prizes
- Victorian Government Research Awards
4. Visitors
5. Industry News
6. Coming Events
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1. Installation Milestone
Today (Friday 31 March 2006) the last dipole — the final component of the
storage ring — was installed. This marks a milestone in the installation
program announced in 2003 and confirms that the Australian Synchrotron is
still on track for its official opening next year.
Over the past month, the final arc vacuum chamber was installed, and all of
the straight vacuum vessels and 27 of the 28 dipoles. Today, the last dipole is put into position, completing the full storage ring. Photographs of milestones in construction can be found at
/content.asp?Document_ID=2465
2. COMMISSIONING PROGRESS
The booster-to-storage ring transport line is being commissioned and the
booster RF cavity has been fully conditioned. The booster beam position monitoring system has been commissioned and energy ramping studies continue.
Power conditioning on all four of the storage ring RF systems is at an advanced stage, with power being delivered to all of the four cavities. Photographs of milestones in commissioning can be found at ttp://www.synchrotron.vic.gov.au/content.asp?Document_ID=4311
3. USERS NEWS
AUSTRALIAN X-RAY ANALYTICAL ASSOCIATION NATIONAL SEMINAR SERIES HURRY!
Series begins next week - most sessions already well subscribed use of synchrotron radiation to extend the power of laboratory XRD (powder) and XRF in mining and mineral processing*
PERTH: Monday 3 April
MELBOURNE: Wed 5 April
SYDNEY: Friday 7 April
BRISBANE: Monday 10 April
Cost: $80 ($60 for AXAA members) (50% discount for students)(+late fee of $20) Speakers include: Prof Koen Janssens - Centre for Micro- and Trace Analysis, University of Antwerp, Belgium (micro-XRF, micro-XAS, micro-XRD, micro-Raman); Ian Madsen - CSIRO Minerals, Melbourne (lab-based XRD for phase abundance determination, in-situ phase characterisation and online XRD for process control; synchrotron and neturon radiation to extend lab-based XRD; quantitative phase analysis); Ned Blagojevic - ANSTO; Ian Gentle, Barry Noller - UQ; Rob Hart, Arie v Riessen - Curtin U; Rob Hough, Chris Ryan - CSIRO Exploration & Mining; Marjorie Valix - USyd; Andy Wilde - Monash U.
Overview: X-ray analysts who have access to synchrotron radiation facilities have discovered the enormous added value provided by synchrotron measurements. While our laboratory facilities will continue to be the day-to-day workhorses of x-ray analysis, synchrotron users have discovered that the technology can give an enormous competitive edge. It seems undeniable that labs which do not add synchrotron radiation to their armouries will become increasingly uncompetitive. In short, the world-class x-ray analysis of the future will have state-of-the-art lab equipment AND access to synchrotron instruments.
*The 2006 national seminar series will focus on applications in mineral exploration, mining, processing and downstream product development. Notwithstanding this emphasis, the seminar will be of broad value to x-ray analysts in fields such as environmental science, forensic science and archaeology.
Enquiries: Prof Brian O'Connor, 08-9291 7067; email: b.o'connor@curtin.edu.au Registration: Download from /content.asp?Document_ID=4355
DECADAL PLANNING FOR SYNCHROTRON CAPABILITIES
The next meeting of the Decadal Planning Committee will be held on 11 April in Melbourne. Contact Keith Nugent if there are issues you wish placed on the agenda. There are still opportunities to submit ideas to the committee. /content.asp?Document_ID=4293
2006 PRIME MINISTER'S PRIZES FOR SCIENCE Call for nominations:
Closing date Friday 19 May.
The Department of Education, Science and Training is seeking nominations for Australia's most prestigious science awards:
Prime Minister's Prize for Science ($300,000)
Science Minister's Prize for Life Scientist of the Year ($50,000)
Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year ($50,000)
See: http://www.dest.gov.au/scienceprize, email: pmprize@dest.gov.au, tel: (02)6240 5066.
VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT AWARDS FOR RESEARCH Call for nominations:
Closing date Monday 10 April.
The Victorian Government is seeking nominations for the prestigious Victoria Prize ($50,000 awarded to an individual plus $100,000 to the organisation that supported their work), and six Victoria Fellowships for early career Victorian researchers and innovators to travel overseas to undertake international study missions (starting at $18,000 each). Details at: www.business.vic.gov.au/vicprize and www.business.vic.gov.au/vicfellows.
4. VISITORS
Visitors in March have included representatives from the Forum for European-Australian Science and Technology Cooperation, Queensland Government, and Professor Brum, Director, Brazilian Synchrotron, and a delegation of synchrotron scientists from Taiwan.
5. INDUSTRY NEWS
The Australian Synchrotron is supporting a Workshop program being run by Materials Australia in May in regional Victoria on nanotechnology and other advanced technologies for industry. The Victorian Regional Nanotechnology Roadshows will target SMEs in five regional centres (Geelong, Bendigo, Muldura, Wangaratta and Morwell) to gain better understanding of the value of nanotechnology and other advanced technologies to local industries. Synchrotron capabilities represent a vital advance in technological capabilities and the Australian Synchrotron will be represented at these
Workshops. For more details contact: imea@materialsaustralia.com.au
The Australian Synchrotron played a small role in the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games recently, through a display at the Telstra Dome as part of an Australian Technology Showcase exhibition on 9 March, aimed at local, national and international business visitors. Grants to support industry demonstration projects are available through the Australian Synchrotron project. Enquiries: telephone 1800 797 818, or email: contact.us@synchrotron.vic.gov.au. Conditions apply.
6. FORTHCOMING EVENTS
AXAA NATIONAL SEMINAR SERIES 2006 (More details under "4. Users News" above) Australian X-ray Analytical Assocaition (AXAA) National Seminar Series 2006. The use of synchrotron radiation to extend the power of laboratory XRD (powder) and XRF in mining and mineral processing
Perth: Monday 3 April
Melbourne: Wed 5 April
Sydney: Friday 7 April
Brisbane: Monday 10 April
Enquiries: Prof Brian O'Connor, 08-9291 7067; email: b.o'connor@curtin.edu.au Registration: Download from /content.asp?Document_ID=4355
20-22 May 2006, Trieste, Italy: International Workshop on X-ray Microscopy and Spectromicroscopy International Workshop to be held in conjunction with the 1st meeting of the International Consortium for Coherent X-ray Diffractive Imaging (ICCDXI) and a Round Table on Diffractive X-ray Optics. The events will take place at the International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy on 20-22 May 2006. Relevant information is available at http://www.elettra.trieste.it/xri2006
28 May - 2 June 2006, Daegu, Korea: SRI-2006, The 9th International Conference on Synchrotron Radiation Instrumentation Early Registration Deadline 15 April. The international SRI conferences are the most comprehensive synchrotron meetings and are an excellent place to hear both novel experimental and instrumentation results. Australian synchrotron users are urged to consider participating. http://www.sri2006.org/
16-18 June 2006, University of Saskatchewan, Canada: 9th Annual Users' Meeting of the Canadian Light Source, in conjunction with the 3rd Northern Lights Summer Conference of the Canadian Federation of Biological Societies (14-16 June) on 'Shining Light on Biological Processes'. The Users' meeting is organised by the CLS Users' Advisory Committee and will be a great oppotunity to learn about the progress of the CLS, present your recent synchrotron work, and meet fellow users. Poster titles and abstracts invited by 1 May. http://www.lightsource.ca/uac/meeting2006/
9-14 July 2006, Stanford University, California: XAFS-13, 13th International Conference on X-ray Absorption Fine Structure. http://www-ssrl.slac.stanford.edu/xafs13
30 July - 2 August 2006, Chicago: SRMS-5, 5th International Conference on Synchrotron Radiation in Materials Science. Biennial conference bringing together leading-edge synchrotron x-ray researchiners in the materials sciences. The goal is to provide an overview of the latest research developments in a broad range of materials areas, including biomaterials and polymers, electronic and photonic materials, engineering materials, nanostructures, surfaces and interfaces, as well as other topics such as instrumentation and novel techniques. Advance registration deadline 4 April 2006 at http://www.aps.anl.gov/News/Conferences/2006/SRMS/conf_regr_online.htm
More at: http://www.aps.anl.gov/News/Conferences/2006/SRMS/index.html
2007: 9th International Conference on Biology and Synchrotron Radiation,
13-17 August 2007, Manchester, England. http://www.bsr2007.com Early bird discount before 31 March 2006.
MORE INFORMATION A list of Australian Synchrotron Project personnel can be found at /content.asp?Document_ID=129. Email: contact.us@synchrotron.vic.gov.au Telephone: Freecall 1800-797-818 (city office); (03) 8540 4100 (site office) (International +61-3-8540 4100) Website: http://www.synchrotron.vic.gov.au