Gas-Phase MRI Applied
To Microfluidic Catalysis

Bouchard
Burt

A research team led by Berkeley Lab’s Alex Pines and including Louis Bouchard and Scott Burt has taken a significant step towards improving the design of future catalysts and catalytic reactors, especially for microfluidic “lab-on-a-chip” devices. Pines and his collaborators have developed a technique in which parahydrogen-polarized gas is used to make an MRI signal strong enough to provide direct visualization of the gas-phase flow of active catalysts in microreactors. This work, the first application of gas-phase MRI to microfluidic catalysis, shows that parahydrogen-enhanced MRI can be used to track gases and liquids in microfluidic devices as well as in the void spaces of a tightly packed catalyst reactor bed. Full story.

Creating a Better World
Through Engineering

Darfur cookstove

The Bay Area is an active region for volunteer engineers looking to reduce global inequities in access to basic amenities. The San Francisco chapter of Engineers Without Borders has joined in the high-profile "Berkeley Darfur Stove" project. The group teamed with Berkeley Lab, including Ashok Gadgil with the Environmental Energy Technologies Division, to help design a stove that burns wood far more efficiently than the open pits used by residents of temporary camps in Darfur, Sudan. Gadgil is one of the world's authorities on developing technical solutions that work in "resource-constrained settings." Full story.

Let Dining Services
Know Your Thoughts

Cal Dining, Berkeley Lab's new food service provider, invites employees to offer their comments on the recent changes at the cafeteria by filling out a brief survey. The information will assist Cal Dining in providing the best possible service and menu to staff. Go here to take the survey.

Expo for Current, Future
Inventors Tomorrow

Researchers interested in learning more about bringing their inventions to the marketplace are invited to attend the “Entrepreneur Session” of the Technology and Inventors Expo at the Lab tomorrow. The session runs from 9 to 9:45 a.m. in the Building 66 Auditorium. Marc van den Berg of VantagePoint Ventures will talk about how potential investors evaluate technology, and engineer Christophe Sevrain will describe how he brought Delphi Medical from zero to nine-figure revenue in 18 months.  Limited seating is available for sessions with Lab Director Steve Chu and others on clean energy and nanotech programs, as well as presentations by the Molecular Foundry and Materials Sciences Division to venture capitalists. For more information, contact the Technology Transfer Department’s Robin Johnston (x5947).

Breast Cancer Retreat
Thursday and Friday

Breast cancer cell

Joe Gray, Associate Lab Director and leader of the UC San Francisco Breast Oncology program, invites the Lab community to attend a retreat on breast cancer research this Thursday and Friday.  The 2008 Breast Oncology Program Retreat will focus on population sciences, experimental therapeutics, computational biology, and epigenetics. A juried poster session will take place on Thursday. The event takes place at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. Go here for more information.

School for Health
Physics at Accelerators

Accelerator tunnel