"Lab Day" is Tuesday at University of Texas-Dallas

"LANL/DFW Day," for Los Alamos National Laboratory/Dallas Fort Worth, consists of technical presentations by Lab scientists and engineers to students, faculty and regional firms, Industrial Business Development (IBD) Office commercialization of technology presentations to Dallas/Fort Worth businesses and recruiting of students for entry-level Lab positions.

Several Lab employees including senior scientists, professional recruiters and Ping Lee, special assistant to Laboratory Director John Browne are scheduled to attend. Lee will deliver welcoming remarks.

Tom Meyer, associate director for strategic research, visited the university several months ago and was very impressed with the credentials of the school, according to Eileen Vela of Science and Technology Base Programs (STB) Office and coordinator of LANL/DFW Day. Meyer said, "We are greatly looking forward to our visit to the University of Texas at Dallas. Our science base thrives on academic collaborations and recruiting our next generation of staff members is the key to our future."

According to the UT, Dallas Web page, the school also ranks second nationally in the number of computer science graduates. The university established the Eugene McDermott Scholars Program, which awards four-year scholarships to students who demonstrate high intellectual achievement, leadership skills and high ethics. The program was established by Mrs. Eugene McDermott in support of her husband's dream of a great university for the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and his conviction about the vital importance of highly educated minds. The program's Web page is at http://www.utdallas.edu/mcdermott online.

Last year, five McDermott scholars accepted internship positions at the Lab. The University of Texas, Dallas awards 20 scholarships a year and Meyer would like to establish a pipeline with this program to feed into internship positions at the Lab, Vela said.

Aidan Skoyles, a UT, Dallas McDermott Scholar, will talk to attendees about his experiences as an intern at the Lab. Skoyles worked at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE).

Patrick Sullivan, a UT, Dallas master's of business administration student also will talk about his experiences as a Lab intern. Sullivan worked in IBD.

During lunch, Nobel Laureate Alan G. MacDiarmid will give presentations on UT, Dallas and nanotechnology. MacDiarmid was named to lead UT, Dallas' Center for Scientific and Technical Innovations, which will study a range of topics including biological systems and nanoscience.

Vela said the Lab also will have professional recruiters at "LANL/DFW Day" and technical presenters will be available to speak with interested students. Many of the technical presenters are official Lab trained technical recruiters.

Allen Hartford of STB will present information about student programs and faculty collaborations. Donna Smith of IBD also will present information to businesses in the Dallas/Fort Worth area about partnering with the Lab to develop and commercialize technologies.

Laboratory scientists will give technical presentations on the Lab's Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASCI) program, Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUIDS), the Center for Space Science and Exploration (CSSE), ecohydrology, nanoscience and nanotechnology, particle beam accelerators, weapons engineering and hydrodynamics.

For more information about "LANL/DFW Day" contact Vela at 7-5357 or go to http://www.utdallas.edu/research/osp/LanlDay/ online.

For information about University of Texas, Dallas go to http://www.utdallas.edu online.

-- Shelley Thompson

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