By Dave Bukey (CPA)
How can Argonne continue to push the boundaries of science and technology? One way is to work together across divisions. Teamwork helps us meet the types of ambitious goals that our sponsors expect and often leads to groundbreaking work. Indeed, each of Argonne’s strategic initiatives — from Advanced Computing to Manufacturing Science and Engineering — rely not only on world-class talent, but the willingness to collaborate.
The laboratory recently gave several sets of Pacesetter awards to employees who reached across divisions to help colleagues succeed.
One set of awards went to a group of intrepid employees who helped the Decision and Infrastructure Sciences (DIS) division avoid a gap in funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Pacesetter winners were Diane Hart, Bill Luck and Angie Alfaro from Technology Commercialization & Partnerships, supported by Kay Duffy and Blanca Arroyo from the Energy & Global Security finance team. “By meeting unreasonable deadlines, the group ensured that critical DIS projects, nearly derailed due to unexpected sponsor delays, continued as normal,” said Dave Brannegan, DIS division director.
Another award went to Roger Kellogg, a mechanical engineer in the Experimental Operations and Facilities division, who surprised Thomas Wallner, a manager in the Energy Systems division, with his knack for redesigning a new engine support fixture. “Roger spent his spare time on evenings and weekends to come up with an alternative design,” said Wallner. “This shows what can be achieved when we help others for joint success at Argonne.”
Meanwhile, a team that supports the X-Ray Science division earned Pacesetter awards for helping researchers at the Advanced Photon Source’s (APS’s) High-Pressure Collaborative Access Team (HPCAT) join the lab as full-time employees. Stephen Streiffer, Argonne associate laboratory director for Photon Sciences and director of the APS, awarded Pacesetters to team members from three areas across the lab — Kevin D’Amico and Christine McGhee from Photon Sciences, Karen Mellen from Communications and Public Affairs, as well as Thomas Padilla, Michelle Leisten and Michael Sullivan from Human Resource Services.
“We are proud to welcome the HPCAT scientists who make pivotal geologic discoveries about the high-pressure environment of the earth’s interior,” said Streiffer. “These researchers and support staff worked well together to ensure HPCAT’s scientific work continued without interruption.”
As these examples show, teamwork — one of Argonne’s five core values — can boost our potential and inspire us to do more together.
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Photo: Roger Kellogg received a Pacesetter award from Thomas Wallner and Suresh Sunderrajan for redesigning a new engine support fixture. Kellogg’s award is one of many that feature teamwork across divisions, an important goal for the laboratory. From left to right: Dan Carlson, Thomas Wallner, Patrick McPartlin, Roger Kellogg, Jim Grudzinski, Linda Pierce, Suresh Sunderrajan.