Interactions News Wire #81-08
15 October 2008
http://www.interactions.org
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Source: SLAC
Content: Press Release
Date Issued: 15 October 2008
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Stanford Linear Accelerator Center renamed SLAC National Accelerator
Laboratory
New Name Honors Successful Past, Launches a Future of Scientific Expansion
Menlo Park, Calif.—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has renamed
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center the SLAC National Accelerator
Laboratory.
What's in a name? Great past, great future, great science. . . .
"The new laboratory name acknowledges the distinguished accomplishments
SLAC has achieved over the years, and its exciting future as a
multi-program Department of Energy National Laboratory," said Under
Secretary for Science Dr. Raymond L. Orbach. "The laboratory's
world-leading set of core capabilities makes it a key member of the
Department's National Laboratory complex, and fuels the Office of Science
research capabilities for the future."
In recent years, SLAC's research program has broadened from its original
focus on high-energy physics to include strong photon science and particle
astrophysics programs. The lab's current science programs are expanding to
explore the ultimate structure and dynamics of matter and the properties
of energy, space and time at the smallest and largest scales. This
includes the study of ultra-fast processes in materials with a new
state-of-the-art X-ray free electron laser, the Linac Coherent Light
Source (LCLS).
"Stanford University is extremely excited with the future of discovery
that SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory will enable," said Stanford
University President John Hennessy. "Its broadening scientific portfolio
builds upon our core competencies, and the new name signifies the
continued strength of our DOE collaboration.”
Laboratory Director Persis Drell said, "Our new name, SLAC National
Accelerator Laboratory, is a strong bridge that connects our successful
past with our tremendously exciting future. We look forward to keeping
this laboratory at the forefront of innovating, building and operating
accelerator-based facilities as a Department of Energy National
Accelerator Laboratory.”
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory's multi-purpose mission covers a wide
range of science. The upcoming startup of the LCLS—planned for 2009—along
with the existing SPEAR3 synchrotron X-ray light source, will position the
lab as a world-leader in X-ray science. Using these facilities as
microscopes on the nanoworld, the lab's scientists and the national-user
communities are working out the structures of proteins and characterizing
the quantum workings of new materials. The ability to make the first
stop-motion movies of atoms and molecules in action with the LCLS will
open new frontiers of research in materials, chemistry and biology.
The lab's programs in particle astrophysics, such as the recently launched
Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and the planned Large Synoptic Survey
Telescope, are allowing us to see how the universe has evolved, and will
provide a key to understanding the mysteries of dark matter and energy.
In addition, DOE's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory will continue to
participate in accelerator-based particle physics experiments such as the
ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider.
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is operated by Stanford University
for the U.S. Department of Energy. The laboratory's mission is to explore
the frontiers of photon science, astrophysics, and accelerator and
particle physics in service to the nation and the world.
Contacts:
Rob Brown, SLAC National Accelerator Lab, Communications Director
(650) 926-8707,
robbrown@slac.stanford.edu
Jeff Sherwood, DOE Public Affairs
(202) 586-4826,
Jeff.Sherwood@hq.doe.gov
