Paul Kearns, Jennifer Hogan, and Silvia Mulligan
Ten employees of Argonne National Laboratory received Director’s Awards, representing the best of this year’s Pacesetter Awards.
They were honored on Oct. 14 during a reception hosted by Argonne Director Paul Kearns at the Guest House.
“One of the best parts of this job is getting to formally recognize and celebrate people for their excellent work and dedication to the laboratory,” said Kearns. “The Director’s Awards represent the ‘best of the best’ of the year’s Pacesetter Awards.”
The awards recognize specific performance efforts or achievements that significantly exceed normal requirements of an employee’s position, project assignment, and individual situation. Awards may be given for innovation, discovery, extraordinary effort, program development, safety initiative, peer recognition, or a significant cost reduction.
A committee of representatives from each directorate chooses the Pacesetter Award recipients whose performance or contribution is judged worthy of additional recognition with a Director’s Award.
Shortly after the ceremony, the laboratory announced the Argonne Pacesetter Award is now the Impact Argonne Award.
Paul Kearns, Thad Heltemes, John Stillman, Earl Feldman, and David Jaluvka
The following team members went the extra mile to expertly handle projects, seized opportunities to create new programs and work more cost-effectively, and helped in times of emergency. They made a difference inside and outside Argonne, according to Kearns.
Each of them “went above and beyond in helping Argonne fulfill its scientific missions and reinforce our world-class reputation with important stakeholders,” said Kearns.
Award winners included:
Jennifer Hogan (STE-TVL) and Silvia Mulligan (CLS), who helped motivate hundreds of other Argonne support staff. They saw the need for an inspirational speaker to empower and encourage their fellow administrative staff. They invited speaker Peggy Vasquez, chief executive assistant at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the author of Not “Just an Admin!” The event gave their colleagues guidance on how to improve workplace relationships, increased respect for administrative staff and offered critical professional development.
Paul Kearns and Rachell Sierzega
John Stillman (NSE), Earl Feldman (NSE), David Jaluvka (NSE), Thad Heltemes (EGS) and Erik Wilson (NSE) a team of engineers that completed reactor conversion designs under challenging programmatic deadlines. They co-authored Preliminary Safety Analysis Reports for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Agency, which were used for low-enriched uranium conversions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Missouri University Research Reactor. They worked together and showed true teamwork.
Rachell Sierzega (STE-FD) who developed a new rapid intervention team (RIT) for hazardous materials. Before her safety program, there was no dedicated method to handle a Hazmat technician experiencing their own emergency. She recognized a problem and took the initiative to find a solution, which resulted in the innovative concept of a Hazmat RIT.
Paul Kearns and Richard Spence
Richard Spence (XSD) who took responsibility to convince others to reuse or repurpose their stored equipment. He actively supervised the riggers, hoists and pulleys that are used to move heavy machinery at the APS. His work optimized the use of storage space and promoted workplace efficiency.
Thomas Reid (PHY) who devised new cleaning and assembly procedures for new materials. His innovative and dedicated work kept the Accelerator Development Group on schedule. They were able to deliver several hundred meters of clean accelerator drift tubes for the LCLS-II project.
Paul Kearns and Thomas Reid
Photos: Mark Lopez (CPA)