I welcome our ALS family back to the Lab, and hope that the holidays were an enriching time for you and your family and friends. For me, it was a nice time to catch up on reading, and to cook for and talk with my children and wife, since my family came home from work and school for the break.
We enter 2010 with a fine budget for ALS. It appears that this year we will receive the level of funds requested by the President. We also have a large number of big projects. These include new equipment funded through stimulus dollars, the MAESTRO beamline, continued upgrades of the accelerator, infrastructure projects including HVAC and the User Support Building, new microscopes… the list is almost overwhelming… but I know we can accomplish it all.
The terrific efforts of the staff and users of the ALS in the past year have enhanced our reputation, and bolstered the high level of confidence of our sponsors, which in turn has led to continued support for our strategic plan for multi-year renewal of the ALS. We are clearly blessed to have a wonderful group of colleagues, dedicated to operating the best light source facility and doing the most important science.
With the appointment of our new Lab Director, Paul Alivisatos, and his goal of making our Lab the nation’s strongest contributor to the global challenge of finding sustainable energy systems, I know that the ALS will flourish in coming years. Paul is an ALS user, and knows the power of our facility. Of course, we enable many important research projects in energy science, as well as in many other important areas.
Thank you again for your dedication to excellence and the collegial and safe environment that characterizes the ALS, and Happy New Year!