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Friday, April 11, 1997

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Los Alamos welcomes student robot builders
Reminder: power shortage period begins on Saturday
Five selected to serve on Asian American Diversity Working Group
Financial Fair begins Tuesday
Statement of Secretary Federico Peña ...

Los Alamos welcomes student robot builders

Students from junior high to college will build mechanical creatures with some of North America's top robot experts during a workshop at the Laboratory next Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The workshop is from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day at the Pueblo School complex off Diamond Drive. More students are welcome, but they should register soon for the BEAM Robotics Workshop, said Paul Argo of the Nonproliferation and International Security (NIS) Division .

The Lab will provide free robot kits and expert help so students can build a variety of robots, from simple solarollers and butterfly-like solarflappers to more advanced photopoppers that follow light and use touch sensors to detect walls and objects in their paths. Advanced robotics students will build complex walkers over two or three days.

"On Saturday, we'll put on some demonstrations and have races, sumo wrestling, artistry and other competitions," Argo said. Some robot kits will be available for purchase if adults want to participate in the workshop, he said.

This is the sixth year of the workshops and competition, and the third year the Science Education Outreach office of Science and Technology Base (STB) Programs has sponsored the robotics event, said Argo.

The acronym BEAM stands for biology, electronics, aesthetics and mechanics, and BEAM robots are modeled more on the simple, repetitive biological processes of insects than the complex, human-like operations that are the goal of traditional robotics.

"Previous BEAM workshops generated a lot of enthusiasm, and we are bringing in top roboticists to help students learn the details of robot construction and design," Argo said.

Students should bring broken electronic devices such as Walkman tape recorders, toy robots, discarded motors, gears, capacitors, microcircuits, transistors, solar cells and other "junk" with robotic potential, along with their own tools, such as soldering irons, miniature snips and pliers, and safety glasses.

"The workshop is a supportive environment where we can all reach new levels of robot construction," Argo said. "The mentors we've invited are especially well suited to turn society's electronic discards into interesting robots."

Among those who will help the students are Mark Tilden of the Physics (P) Division, who has achieved international fame as the founder of BEAM robotics; Mark Dalton of the Advanced Computing Laboratory (CIC-ACL); Argo; Andrew Miller of the University of Waterloo; Dave Hrynkiw of Solarbotics; and Michael Weiat of Ontario, Canada.

Students who want to attend the workshop should call Argo immediately at 7-8355 or write to pargo@lanl.gov by electronic mail. More information about the workshop is available on the World Wide Web at http://nis-www.lanl.gov/robot .

--Jim Danneskiold

Reminder: power shortage period begins on Saturday

Public Service Co. of New Mexico's construction-upgrade work on the second of two 345-kilovolt transmission lines at Rio Puerco begins Saturday. PNM is installing series capacitors, technically known as "series compensation," to significantly increase each transmission line's power delivery capacity into the Albuquerque area. The upgrade work is expected to take anywhere from seven to 10 days to complete.

As was the case last time, the Lab may face a power shortage during this period; therefore, employees should renew their power-conservation efforts. The need to buy higher-cost power for Los Alamos will be mitigated somewhat during the outage period because of the anticipated availability of power from the El Vado and Abiquiu hydroelectric plants. The Lab will notify employees if it becomes necessary to initiate the Load Shedding Plan. For more information, call Emilio Racinez at 5-3751.

Five selected to serve on Asian American Diversity Working Group

Five Laboratory employees have been selected to serve on the Lab's Asian American Diversity Working Group.

The new members are Willie Hsue of Safeguards Assay (NIS-5), John Huang of Advanced Technology (NMT-6), Iverson Ebanks of Network Engineering (CIC-5), Stephen Kung of Environmental Systems and Waste Characterization (CST-7) and Min Sung Park of Cell Damage Repair (LS-6).

Serving a second year on the Asian American Diversity Working Group are Jasmine Pan of Communications (CIC-4) and chairperson, Amy Sahota of Budgeting (BUS-2), Hiroshi Hoida of Safeguards Assay (NIS-5), Kien-Yin Lee of High Explosives Science and Technology (DX-2), Lon-Chang Liu of Nuclear Theory and Applications (T-2) and Sivasankara "Sam" Pillay of Nuclear Materials Technology (DDNMT).

The working group was established last year by the Diversity Office (DV) to provide input to Lab management on diversity issues affecting Asian American employees at the Lab, said Mick Trujillo, acting director of the Diversity Office.

"The Asian American Diversity Working Group has accomplished a lot in the past year," said Pan. She cited an open forum and several brown bag presentations the group held to discuss issues of concern to Asian American Lab employees, an interview skills presentation for Asian American post doctoral employees and a welcome flyer for new Asian American employees at the Lab.

Pan said the working group also purchased a set of audio tapes on English pronunciations to assist Asian American employees, participated in institutional recruiting and worked to improve communication between the group and Asian American employees Labwide.

--Steve Sandoval

Financial Fair begins Tuesday

A financial fair sponsored by Compensation and Benefits (HR-1) is Tuesday through Thursday in the J. Robert Oppenheimer Study Center.

The financial fair is free and open to University of California Lab employees.

"Tomorrow's Security Starts Today" includes presentations on financial planning, investing, Social Security and the University of California's savings and investment programs, said Rosella Atencio-Gerst of the Benefits Office, part of the Human Resources (HR) Division.

On Wednesday, several companies will have booths in the Study Center from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The representatives will have enrollment and information kits at the booths for employees interested in signing up for various financial plans offered.

The schedule of presentations is on the HR home page on the World Wide Web. Employees also can write to benefits@lanl.gov by electronic mail for additional information about the financial fair.

Hearing impaired employees who need a sign language interpreter should send an electronic mail message to benefits@lanl.gov at least three days before the presentation they want to attend.

Atencio-Gerst noted that Fidelity Investments representatives also are available for individual counseling sessions at the Benefits Office. Call Laura Fleming of Fidelity Investments at 1-800-771-3374 to schedule an appointment with one of the representatives.

--Steve Sandoval

Statement of Secretary Federico Peña on the resignation of Deputy Secretary Charles B. Curtis and the nomination of Elizabeth Moler as deputy secretary of energy

I deeply regret Charlie Curtis' decision to submit his resignation. Mr. Curtis is a man of great intellect and excellent judgment, with a strong commitment to public service. Although we have only worked together a short time, I have benefited from his expertise and wise counsel. I have also seen the tremendous respect and regard that Department of Energy employees hold for him. I know I speak for the President and all employees at the Department when I say that he will be missed.

Mr. Curtis has served as Deputy Secretary since August 1995, and as Under Secretary of Energy since February 1994. As Deputy Secretary, he served as chief operating officer of the Department and had direct responsibility for the management and administration of national security, energy, and science and technology programs. He has helped lead the Department's national security programs out of a Cold War environment into a reconfigured weapons complex focused on maintaining the weapons stockpile without testing and reducing the spread of nuclear materials worldwide. Under his leadership, our national laboratories have moved toward improved management while ensuring the nation remains the world leader in basic and applied science and engineering. Charlie Curtis has had a lasting impact on our nation's energy and national security policies, and I wish him the very best in his future endeavors.

I am, however, very pleased with President Clinton's announcement today of his intention to nominate as Deputy Secretary Elizabeth Moler. Ms. Moler is presently Chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Prior to joining FERC in 1988, she served as senior counsel to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and worked for the late Senator Henry M. Jackson and for Senator J. Bennett Johnston.

She will serve as chief operating officer, and I will rely on her management expertise, her understanding of energy issues, her leadership, and her wise counsel to help ensure that the Department of Energy continues to deliver more results at less cost for American taxpayers. With her expertise and experience with utility issues, she will be a tremendous resource to help determine how our nation faces some of the most fundamental changes in how electricity is delivered to homes, communities and businesses nationwide. I could not be more pleased with this nomination, and I look forward to having Betsy join the DOE team.

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