The 2021 ALS User Meeting Awards were presented on Wednesday, August 11, 2021.
Shirley Award
The David A. Shirley Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement at the ALS went to David Prendergast, “for the development of theory and computational methods that have allowed direct simulation and accurate interpretation of x-ray spectroscopy experiments performed at the ALS.” 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.
Halbach Award
The Klaus Halbach Award for Innovative Instrumentation at the ALS was awarded to Simon Leemann, Alex Hexemer, Shuai Liu, Yuping Lu, C. Nathan Melton, Hiroshi Nishimura, Changchun Sun, and Dani Ushizima, “for the development of a machine-learning-based application to stabilize the transverse beam size and enhance the photon-beam performance of the ALS.”
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.
Renner Award
The Tim Renner User Services Award for Outstanding Support to the ALS User Community was awarded to Andrea Jones, “for her dedication and commitment in supporting the User Services Office that have allowed efficient proposal reviews and beamtime allocations during the pandemic.”
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.
Student Poster Awards
The Neville Smith Student Poster Award, First Prize, went to Abe Levitan (MIT) for “Spectroscopic soft x-ray imaging with RPI.” For Second Prize, there was a three-way tie: Alauna Wheeler (UC Merced) for “Structural study of gel inside electro-sensory organs of cartilaginous fishes,” Ian Wang (Yale) for “Sub-resolution energy gap extraction,” and Megan Finnigan (Univ. of Colorado Boulder) for “Zooming in on STXM analysis.”
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.
