Reminder to Working Group Convenors
[Letter from the FRIB Users Organization, Jan. 26, 2010]
Suggestions for POC’s and Conveners for Working Groups at the FRIB Equipment Workshop
Feb. 20 - 22, 2010, East Lansing, Michigan
There have been many inquiries from FRIB Users, Conveners, and “Points of Contact” for the
Working Groups enquiring about the format of the Workshop and the key issues for the
Working Groups. This note is aimed at clarifying some of the Frequently Asked Questions.
First, we would like to mention that format of the Workshop is a work in progress, and the Organizers
welcome your suggestions directed at how to most effectively collect and distribute information on
equipment for FRIB, and how to turn these plans into working devices. However, it should be realized
that there is no perfect solution: the Working Groups are dramatically different, there are broad
overlaps in interest between Groups, and there are even differing opinions over which devices should
be built. In principle, having various ideas floated, even if they are not in agreement, is useful
at this stage, as it gives us a platform to reach consensus in the future.
The Working Groups
Different Working Groups are choosing different formats for their sessions at the Workshop.
In some Working Groups, the experimental equipment is well defined (GRETINA, Helios, S800,
Astrophysics Separator) and the discussion will be centered on refining design,
clarifying physics goals, and educating and getting support from the broad community.
In other Groups, there is still a wide range of ideas about devices (silicon arrays,
decay stations) or a broad range of topics to cover (neutrons, data acquisition), so
the discussion will require presentation and compilation of equipment ideas. In all cases,
it is imperative that the Working Groups start now to
(a) complete and refine their 2 page “Questionnaires” for the FRIB Science Advisory Committee (SAC), and
(b) construct a presentation for the plenary sessions of the Workshop
Groups might also consider how to improve their web presence to better capture and disseminate their ideas,
and discuss how to grow their collaborations in the future. Some groups have opted to put up their own web
sites which are linked to the FRIB User site, while others have sent material to Michael Smith
(smithms at ornl.gov) directly for posting at fribusers.org.
The Questionnaire
The SAC needs a preliminary version of every questionnaire by February 15th, so they can start their deliberative tasks.
To be fully considered by the SAC, each Working Group must have a single 2-page questionnaire filled in and
submitted to Kim Lister (lister at anl.gov) by February 15th. Kim Lister will collect the documents and forward
these to Rick Casten (SAC Chair), as well as to Michael Smith for posting on fribusers.org. This procedure does
NOT preclude discussion and refinement during the working group meetings: these "2-pagers" are a work in
progress which will lead to more refined proposals in the future. In cases where several proposals are being
covered by a single Group, we still need the Working Groups to condense the discussion of the devices and
technical options and present side-by-side comparisons in a single top-level 2-page document for the SAC.
We understand that in some cases this will be a difficult and demanding task, so we suggest starting early.
In cases where there are several different devices on the table (e.g., silicon arrays, gamma arrays,
neutron arrays), we encourage separate 2-page documents to be prepared to capture the ideas and designs
for individual devices. This supporting second-level material, which will be invaluable for discussions
at the Workshop, should also be sent to Kim Lister for forwarding to the SAC and will be posted on the
fribusers.org website.
Broadcast e-mails
We have been inundated by requests to broadcast emails from Working Group Conveners, with information
ranging from session agendas to a general "welcome" message, to the entire potential FRIB
mailing list (over 1000 e-mails). After lengthy discussion, we decided this would lead to
just too many unwanted e-mails being sent. We STRONGLY recommend the groups to post
material on the FRIB Users web site fribusers.org, where users can easily select which Working Groups
they would like to get more information on. Contact Michael Smith (smithms at ornl.gov) to get
material posted online. We will send out regular e-mail updates to remind people to visit
http://fribusers.org often and keep them in touch with recent progress. We encourage you to
visit the FRIB conference site http://meetings.nscl.msu.edu/frib-equipment-workshop2010/ as well,
which has a list of signed-up participants. Also, please remind your colleagues to register as
a member of the FRIB Users organization http://fribusers.org/6_JOIN/join.html, if they have not already done so.
Lodgings
We encourage you to make your lodging reservations soon as the Workshop hotel, the East Lansing Marriott, is filling up. Please visit
http://meetings.nscl.msu.edu/frib-equipment-workshop2010/accommodations.html for more information.