Peter Littlewood, Laboratory Director
Paul Kearns, Deputy Laboratory Director for Operations
As 2016 comes to a close, we both would like to thank you — for all you have accomplished this year, your contributions to building a stronger Argonne community and your continued dedication to the lab amid change. While there is much to come for all of us in 2017, we deserve to look back with pride even as we move forward with anticipation.
Peter
Peter Littlewood
As I prepare to depart Argonne for the next chapter in my career, I am pleased to look back with you on a year of diverse achievements at the lab. We supported innovation with the launch of Chain Reaction Innovations and the Integrated Imaging Institute, as well as our management of the U.S. Department of Energy’s third Big Ideas Summit. We increased external partnership through the signing of a long-term cooperative research and development agreement with Exelon and a research memorandum of understanding with the City of Detroit, as well as the expansion of the Array of Things project with City of Chicago.
2016 also saw the groundbreaking for our new Materials Design Laboratory and the installation of Theta, the bridge to the Aurora supercomputer, in the Leadership Computing Facility. The lab welcomed more than 10,000 members of the public for our 70th Anniversary Open House, while the Advanced Photon Source (APS) welcomed researchers from the Field Museum to give SUE the dinosaur’s forearm its most detailed scan ever.
Speaking of the APS, we continued to advance the upgrade in 2016, and continued to promote our X-ray capabilities along with the expertise of our whole lab in forums like the Hannover Messe International Trade Fair and National Science Lab Day on Capitol Hill.
Indeed, when looking at the year that was 2016, every employee here at Argonne has much to be proud of. I hope you’ll carry that spirit of accomplishment and optimism into next year.
Paul
Paul Kearns
Peter is right; we should all be proud of all that Argonne achieved this past year. And I urge you to join me in my confidence as we move forward. I know we will continue to thrive on the characteristics that have driven the lab’s success to date: broad scientific capabilities; achievements across an expanding spectrum of research programs; strong leadership; and accomplished, creative, dedicated professionals throughout our programmatic and operations areas.
Argonne also will move forward as we build a work environment ever more inclusive of diverse backgrounds, opinions and approaches. In 2016 the lab established its first diversity and inclusion strategic plan and engaged in a variety of labwide and directorate-level activities aimed at bringing us together in pursuit of a more inclusive workplace. I look forward to seeing how our lab evolves as we expand our understanding and put more knowledge into practice in the coming year.
It’s true that 2017, like any new year, brings some change and a little uncertainty. In response, we bring scientific and operational excellence and an ability to support one another in maintaining the momentum we have as a lab. The year’s end finds us not standing still but instead continuing to move forward: toward success in our existing priorities and initiatives and toward readiness to take on new challenges.
We both would like to wish you and your families a wonderful holiday and all the best in the New Year. Enjoy your time off and remember to be safe, so you can come back relaxed, refueled and recharged.