January 2019 – July 2022
Bioscience’s Richmond Sarpong has been announced as the 2021 Edward Leete awardee by the American Chemical Society. Sarpong, who is also a UC Berkeley chemistry professor, is being recognized for his outstanding contributions to research in organic chemistry and teaching. https://biosciences.lbl.gov/2021/10/06/richmond-sarpong-receives-acs-edward-leete-award/
Carol Burns joined the Lab on Aug. 1, taking over for Horst Simon as Deputy Lab Director for Research and Chief Research Officer. In this video, learn what she is excited about at the Lab, who her heroes are, and what she does for fun. https://youtu.be/E2iT08xQB3E
Twelve SLAM finalists from Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, Sandia, and SLAC labs will take the virtual stage in the inaugural Bay Area Research SLAM on Thursday, Oct. 28, at 3 p.m. Each finalist will have three minutes to present their research topic to a non-specialist audience. https://sites.google.com/lbl.gov/bay-area-research-slam/home/slam-finalists
It’s National Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Day. Hear more about how the Lab plays a leading role in the research and development of clean hydrogen, both on the fundamental science and applied technologies side, in this Q&A with Energy Technology Area’s Adam Weber and Ahmet Kusoglu. https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2021/10/08/hydrogen-can-play-key-role-in-u-s-decarbonization/
In a new Elements feature on Fridays, meet one of the 12 early-career scientists who competed in the Lab’s 2021 Research SLAM. Yoseob Yoon from Materials Sciences is working to make real-life lightsabers! Find out how he harnesses the Force to make a better generation of computers. https://slam.lbl.gov/2021-slam/2021-slam-finalists/yoseob-yoon
Osman Malik, the newest Berkeley Lab Alvarez Fellow, joined the Applied Math and Computational Research Division’s Scalable Solvers Group in September. The Alvarez Fellowship was named after the Lab’s Luis W. Alvarez, one of the first scientists to propose using computers to analyze scientific data. https://cs.lbl.gov/news-media/news/2021/new-alvarez-fellow-eyes-new-applications-for-math-and-machine-learning/
Kathy Yelick has been named as UC Berkeley’s next vice chancellor for research. Yelick has a long history with the Lab, including serving as Associate Lab Director for Computing Sciences from 2010-2019. https://news.berkeley.edu/2021/09/30/kathy-yelick-named-uc-berkeleys-new-vice-chancellor-for-research/
Deb Agarwal became interim division director of the Computing Sciences Area’s newest division, the Scientific Data Division, on Oct. 1. A strong advocate for diversity, inclusion, and mentoring, she shares her thoughts about the new Division and the value of data science. https://we-are-berkeley-lab.lbl.gov/driving-research/deb-agarwal
Advanced Quantum Testbed Director Irfan Siddiqi was recently featured in the Nature Reviews Materials journal addressing, among other questions, what it takes to engineer superconducting qubits with improved coherence times for quantum computing. https://aqt.lbl.gov/aqt-director-irfan-siddiqi-featured-at-nature-reviews/
Kryshna Aviña credits his parents’ tenaciousness, reverence for their Mexican heritage, and a love of Beatles music and American culture with helping his family thrive in the United States. Aviña, an 18-year Lab veteran with the Information Technologies division, shares his story with Elements. https://sites.google.com/lbl.gov/weareberkeleylab/building-community/kryshna-avi%C3%B1a