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Tuesday, Feb. 17, 1998
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FSS Division to be restructured
Director John Browne has announced that the Facilities, Security and Safeguards (FSS) Division will be split into two divisions, a Facilities Division and a Security and Safeguards Division.
In a Feb. 12 master management memo (Adobe Acrobat required), Browne stated he decided to split the division in order to better focus on two of the three operational areas in which the division currently has institutional responsibility: safeguards and security; and facility and construction project management. The transition is expected to take several weeks. FSS Division Director Bernie van der Hoeven, who was supposed to retire this month, will remain at the Lab until April 17 to facilitate the transition process. FSS Deputy Division Director Stan Busboom will become director of the new Safeguards and Security Division. "We believe this change will be beneficial to our quest for operational excellence and ask for your support as we make the transition," said Browne.
Additional information about the reorganization will be announced in the Newsbulletin as it becomes available.
Lab director to host brown bag meeting
Director John Browne will hold an "information gathering" meeting from noon to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Administration Building Main Auditorium. The purpose of the meeting is to get employee comments and input on the requirements and characteristics for the type of individual who should be selected for the two new positions of Associate Director for Threat Reduction and Associate Director for Nuclear Weapons. If you are unable to attend the meeting but would like to comment, forward your input to Portia Blackman, human resource generalist for the Director's Office, at portia@lanl.gov by electronic mail. A clearance is required to enter the building for this brown bag meeting. Feel free to bring a lunch.
'And for another solar view ...'
NASA's Ulysses spacecraft recently completed its first polar orbit around the sun, and Laboratory researchers developed a compelling graphic that displays the solar wind experienced along this journey. The graphic shows the solar wind speed and magnetic field orientation as a function of solar latitude overlaid on images of the sun's surface and corona. The graphic immediately conveys the highly variable wind speed seen near the sun's equatorial region and the smooth, high-speed wind that flows at high latitude. The image and instructions on how to download a postscript version of it can be found at http://nis-www.lanl.gov/groups/nis-1/ on the Web.
Bradbury Museum kicks off National Engineers Week with free lecture
The Bradbury Science Museum kicks off its observance of National Engineers Week with a free lecture at 7 p.m. Wednesday by Los Alamos robotics engineer Mark Tilden of Biophysics (P-21).
Tilden will talk about "Nervous Networks and the Architecture of Living Machines," said Pat Berger of the museum, part of the Laboratory's Community Involvement and Outreach (CIO) Office.
National Engineers Week is Feb. 23 through 28.
Doors to the museum open at 6:30 p.m. and seating capacity is limited to 70.
The talk is the second in a series of talks sponsored by the Los Alamos section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and held at the museum. Last year, the museum hosted an IEEE talk by Ira Agins about the history of computers at Los Alamos.
Tilden's discussion, analysis and examples of nervous net-based biomorphic robots will include video clips and hands-on examples, said Berger. Emphasis will be given to the capabilities and cost-effectiveness of building such devices.
Also on Wednesday, Lab retiree and guest scientist Mel Prueitt of Geoanalysis (EES-5) will receive IEEE's Pioneer in Computer Science Award during a presentation. Berger said Prueitt has been at the forefront of computer graphics over a long career. Prueitt has written books and articles about computer graphics and holds several patents. His work has appeared in many popular media, including National Geographic and the Star Trek movies.
Tilden came to Los Alamos from the University of Waterloo in Canada, where he earned his master's degree and was a robotics/computer systems engineer on the math faculty.
Bradbury Science Museum is located at 15th Street and Central Avenue in downtown Los Alamos. Museum hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Admission is free.
For more information, call Berger at 5-0896.
-- Steve Sandoval
DOE secretary announces reorganization of its intelligence programs
Secretary of Energy Federico Peña has announced a reorganization of the Department of Energy's intelligence programs. The action creates two new offices -- an Office of Counterintelligence and an Office of Intelligence. The Office of Intelligence will be headed by Notra Trulock, who is on a change-of-station assignment with DOE from the Laboratory, while the selection for a permanent office leader is under way. Both new offices will report to the secretary and deputy secretary. Their functions previously were under the Office of Energy Intelligence within DOE's Office of Nonproliferation and National Security. More information is available in a DOE news release.
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