Last Thursday, Berkeley Lab, the Energy Sciences Coalition, SEMATECH and other organizations, sponsored a briefing for U.S. House of Representatives staff on "Basic Research with a Purpose: How DOE Science Helps U.S. Industry Compete." SEMATECH, the U.S. semiconductor industry's research organization was represented by Bryan Rice, who spoke about the work at the Advanced Light Source and the Center for X-Ray Optics (CXRO), which is advancing chip manufacturing technologies. CXRO’s Patrick Naulleau, Ken Goldberg, and Lab Head of Federal Government Relations Don Medley attended the event and joined Rice in meetings in the offices of the Speaker of the House and the Senate Appropriations committee. The event was attended by over eighty staff and Congresswoman Judy Biggert (R-IL), co-chair of the Research and Development Caucus.
IEEE recently announced the ratification of the IEEE P802.3az Energy-Efficient Ethernet (EEE) standard, the first standard in the history of Ethernet to address proactive reduction in energy consumption for networked devices. Michael Bennett of Berkeley Lab’s IT Division is chair of the IEEE 802.3az Energy-Efficient Ethernet Task Force. The IEEE press release quotes Bennett as saying, in part: “The great advantage of using products supporting EEE is that there is no complex configuration necessary. In most cases, energy will be saved automatically.” The press release also includes quotations from Berkeley Lab CIO Rosio Alvarez and ESnet manager Steve Cotter. More>
Fire Safety: Red Flag Warning in Effect A Red Flag warning continues to be in effect through 6 a.m. tomorrow due to critical fire weather conditions. Employees are urged to exercise extreme caution and be extra diligent in watching for and avoiding potential fire problems. This includes not smoking in areas near dry grass or vegetation and making sure that all vehicles are kept on pavement and not driven off-road into grassy areas. The Lab's Fire Marshal has cancelled all exterior hot work permits and stopped all other potentially dangerous outdoor activities (e.g. chain sawing, grass mowing) until further notice. Anyone who smells smoke or sees flames should call x7911 (or 911 from a cell or off-site phone) as soon as possible. For more information call the Fire Marshal at x6370.
Facilities: Parking Program Prevents Headaches for EETD Employee Margaret Johnson arrives for work each day around 9 a.m., but finding a parking spot at that time each morning can be tough. “Sometimes I have to circle the Lab several times to find a space remotely near Building 90,” says Johnson, a 25-year veteran who works as a senior supervisor in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division. “And if you have to leave the Lab and come back before 3 p.m., it’s a challenge to find a spot.” But Johnson’s parking woes were eased when the Assisted Parking Program at the Pit lot was instituted last month. “The parking service is great,” she says. “It relieves the anxiety of finding a space, or what I call creative parking. And the parking service staff are friendly and professional.” More>
Employee Development: Microsoft Word Intro Class on Oct. 27 The Berkeley Lab Learning Institute (BLI) is offering a daylong Microsoft Word 2007 Intro (BLI 0140) class on Wednesday, Oct. 27. The class taught by CMC, is $75. The course is intended for those who want to learn the basics for creating, editing, and enhancing business documents using Word 2007. Due to limited space, interested employees are encouraged to sign up soon. Go here for information and to register. E-mail a project ID number to Karen Paris for payment.
Employees can now view the Lab’s holiday calendar or UC Berkeley’s academic calendar via their Google Calendar platform. Go here for instructions on viewing the holiday calendar, and here for the academic calendar.
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