The 2019 ALS User Meeting Awards were presented on Wednesday, October 2, 2019.
The David A. Shirley Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement at the ALS went to Padraic Shafer, “for unveiling the nature of chiral quantum materials through the innovative use of x-ray scattering at the Advanced Light Source.” Read more…
David Shirley was a Professor of Chemistry at UC Berkeley and Director of LBNL from 1980 to 1989, and was instrumental in having the Advanced Light Source built. He is now retired from the lab.
The Klaus Halbach Award for Innovative Instrumentation at the ALS was awarded to Nobumichi Tamura, “for the development of software for analysis of microdiffraction data, which has been critical to the success of science programs at facilities around the world.”
Klaus Halbach was a senior staff scientist at LBNL who pioneered the development of undulators using permanent magnets, and other innovations in accelerator physics. Even though he retired from LBNL in 1991, he remained active in lab projects and student training until his death in 2000.
The Tim Renner User Services Award for Outstanding Support to the ALS User Communitywas awarded to Hans Bechtel, “for his dedication to user success, exemplified in the scientific and technical support he provides at the IR beamlines and compassion and inclusion he embodies in every interaction.”
Tim Renner was a beamline scientist at the ALS who died at an early age, and who during his career touched everyone that knew him with his caring attitude to others and his larger-than-life personality. This award recognizes the services of others across the ALS organization who, like Tim, have made outstanding contributions to the ALS User Community.
The Neville Smith Student Poster Award, First Prize, went to Shambhavi Pratap for the poster, “Understanding the crystallization of solution processed alloys of hybrid perovskites by multimodal characterization.”
Second Prize: Michael Ziebel, “Evaluating Charge Transport and Redox Activity in Conductive Metal–Organic Frameworks.”
Third Prize: Sam Schickler, “Using Machine Learning Segmentation in 4D MicroCT Analysis of Spacecraft Heat Shield Materials Under Atmospheric Entry Conditions” and Bibek Samanta, “Piecing a photochemical puzzle: Photodissociation of Pyruvic Acid.”
Neville Smith was the Scientific Director for the ALS from 1994 until his death in 2006. He was known not only for his scientific expertise, particularly in photoemission spectroscopy, but also for his wicked wit. As a great supporter of young scientists, his contribution is acknowledged by the naming of the Student Poster Award in his honor, beginning in 2014.