Three Lawrence Livermore scientists—Nathan Barton, Laboratory Director William Goldstein, and Robert Kirkwood—have been selected as 2017 fellows of the American Physical Society (APS). Election to APS fellowship recognizes exceptional contributions to the field of physics through research, leadership, applications of physics, or contributions to physics education. APS fellowship is considered a distinct, prestigious honor because members are nominated and elected by their peers, and the number of APS fellows elected each year is limited to no more than one-half of one percent of the membership.
Barton, currently head of Livermore’s Materials Modeling and Simulation Group, was nominated by the APS Division of Computational Physics for “diverse contributions in computational materials science in support of national security interests, especially related to novel-state variable descriptions for material response under both static and dynamic conditions.”
Director Goldstein was nominated by the Division of Plasma Physics for “leadership at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with high levels of integrity, scientific judgment, and national impact and for pioneering research in the theory of atomic processes in high-temperature plasmas, with applications to fusion energy, astrophysics and x-ray lasers.” Goldstein is the 12th director of the Laboratory and has more than 29 years of experience at Lawrence Livermore.
Physicist Kirkwood was selected by the Division of Plasma Physics for “exceptional experimental work demonstrating the importance of energy transfer between laser beams in plasmas, and subsequent intellectual leadership of the effort to develop a two-color option on the National Ignition Facility laser that is important for achieving symmetric implosions.”
Bey Vrancken, a Lawrence Fellow at the Laboratory, was presented by the European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA) with a Powder Metallurgy Thesis Competition Award in the doctorate category for his Ph.D. thesis. The thesis—A Study of Residual Stresses in Selective Laser Melting—details his work characterizing the residual stress distribution of selective laser melting process and correlating it with anisotropic mechanical behavior of an additively manufactured part. The award was presented at the EuroPM2017 Congress, an annual meeting on powder metallurgy in Europe. Vrancken is in the first year of a three-year Lawrence Fellowship, a highly competitive postdoctoral position awarded to candidates with exceptional talent, scientific track records, and potential for significant achievements.
Lawrence Livermore researchers were among two groups recognized by HPCWire with an Editor’s Choice Award for their work in applying high-performance computing (HPC) to solve complex challenges. The awards were presented at the supercomputing conference SC17.
Laboratory scientists involved in a partnership between the Department of Energy national laboratories and the National Cancer Institute were recognized with an award for Best Use of Artificial Intelligence for their work on CANDLE (Cancer Distributed Learning Environment), a project focused on applying machine learning to personalized cancer medicine.
Livermore researchers garnered another prize for Best Use of HPC in Manufacturing in recognition of HPC4Mfg, a collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory aimed at using advanced simulation and modeling to help paper companies cut papermaking costs and energy usage. The complex models developed for HPC4Mfg targeted wet pressing, a stage in the paper-manufacturing process where water is removed from wood pulp before drying.