Students and instructors in the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) School of Neutron Scattering enjoy dinner Wednesday night at Fuller Lodge. photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
Students and instructors in the LANSCE School of Neutron Scattering Wednesday night at Fuller Lodge. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
When 36 young scientists and engineers paid a recent visit to Los Alamos, it was more than just an opportunity to step outside the classroom.
Participants in the 11th Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) School of Neutron Scattering gained knowledge in materials at the mesoscale, were introduced to the LANSCE facility and forged new connections with colleagues and teachers, all of which can benefit them throughout their careers.
Students from across the U.S. and Europe arrived in Los Alamos Feb. 19 to attend the program, which ends today. The daily schedule included morning lectures followed by hands-on work. Additionally, students were given opportunities to explore the area with trips to Bandelier National Monument, Jemez Springs and Santa Fe and attend a special dinner Wednesday night at Fuller Lodge.
Each year, the program focuses on a particular topic. Program Co-director Anna Llobet said this year’s topic focused on studying materials at the mesoscale. The program addressed characterizing the hierarchical structure of materials from the nano- to the meso-scale, and the tailored control of their properties that have impact on society, according to a LANSCE press release.
Llobet said the school serves several purposes. “On the one hand, we grow the neutron scattering community,” she said. Additionally, the school also shines the spotlight on Los Alamos.
For the students, it is a chance to meet expert speakers and forge collaborations with fellow students and speakers, Committee Co-Chair Graham King said. He added, “It’s an opportunity to teach … it is fun to do that (and it’s) fun to bring a group of new people (together).”
The school has made quite an impression on some students; Llobet said some have returned to be speakers themselves.
Committee Co-Chair Jarck Majewski said, “In my view, this is a great success.”
One of the students, Joshua Kim from Rutgers University in New Jersey, said, “It is a nice introductory experience; so for we’re just getting a really broad feel.” He added neutrons are an exotic type of science that is not commonly focused on in the U.S. In fact, Kim said this was the only opportunity he has gotten to be introduced to this type of work.
Besides the educational component, Kim said, “It is also good to get to know fellow students.”
Heinz Nakotte, a physics professor at New Mexico State University and one of the sponsors of the school said, “It is a great experience for them.”
Nakotte said the school was founded in 2004. The school is free to students, he added. Sponsors for the school include the National Science Foundation, Los Alamos National Laboratory, NMSU, the Institute for Materials Science at LANL, LANSCE, Matter Radiation Interactions in Extremes and Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies.