BOULDER LABS WEEKLY BULLETIN
May 22-29, 2009

Deadline, noon on Wednesday, May 27
Send notices and subscriptions to wbsend@boulder.nist.gov

ADVANCE BULLETIN ITEMS REQUESTED!

The Bulletin will be on hiatus June 4 & June 11!

Send advance items for the May 28 Bulletin to wbsend@boulder.nist by noon, Wednesday, May 27.

Contents

Technical Talks

Reminder: Anyone outside DOC wishing to attend on-site talks must be sponsored by an employee and receive a visitor badge.

On Site:

Understanding the atmospheric circulation response to anthropogenic forcing, May 27

          Quantum Complexity and Fundamental Physics, May 29
          Low Frequency Magnetic Shielding Workshop, June 9
          Increase in Background Stratospheric Aerosol Since 2000: Is it Related to Increased Coal Burning in China? June 9
Off Site:

Announcements
           NARFE Meeting, June 5
            Postdoctoral Poster Symposium and Networking Event, Abstracts due May 31

Bike to Work Day Business Challenge, June 24
Office 2007 and Outlook 2007 Training – Register NOW!

            NOAA Gift Shop Monthly Special
            NIST Gift Shop
Library
            Quick Chemical Searches
          New Books
Site Health and Fitness Items
          26th Annual Federal Cup 5k Run/Walk Results
            Judo Club News
            Fitness Center News
            Building 1 Fitness Center Weekly Closure
            Employee Assistance Program Counseling
EMSS News
            Planned Projects
Cafe News
            NIST Café
          NOAA Cafeteria
BLEA
            Maharaja Indian Cuisine
            Tandoori Grill Discount
            Haircuts on Site
            Employee Association Info
Vacancies
            Boulder Laboratories Site Manager
          http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/

Technical Talks

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Understanding the atmospheric circulation response to anthropogenic forcing
          NOAA ESRL CSD Seminar
          David Thompson, Colorado State University
          3:30 p.m., DSRC 2A-305, DOC Boulder
          For more information, contact: Steve Brown, Steven.S.Brown@noaa.gov

Friday, May 29, 2009

Quantum Complexity and Fundamental Physics
          NIST Colloquium Series
            Scott Aaronson, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
            8:30 a.m., 1-1107, DOC Boulder (videocast)
            For more information, visit: http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/colloquium.htm

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Low Frequency Magnetic Shielding Workshop
          Quantum Electrical Metrology Division Seminar
           Larry Maltin, and Stuart Koch, Technical Products
          10 a.m.-12 p.m., Annex C Conference Room, DOC Boulder

Increase in Background Stratospheric Aerosol Since 2000: Is it Related to Increased Coal Burning in China?
            Global Monitoring Division Seminar
          Dave Hofmann, CIRES, ESRL/GMD, Boulder
            10 a.m., DSRC GC402, DOC Boulder

Announcements

NARFE MEETING, June 5

The National ACTIVE and Retired Federal Employees will meet Friday, June 5, at the West Boulder Senior Center. Lunch at 11:30 a.m. is optional; you may buy lunch there, bring your own, or just join us to be sociable. The program begins immediately following lunch at about 12:20 p.m. This month's program will be a presentation by Jeff Darling, Senior Purchasing Agent-Sustainability Officer at the CU Procurement Service Center, who will tell us what is going on at the University of Colorado.

If you have any suggestions for future programs for the organization, please send them to ProTem Program Chairman Dorothy Skinner at dorothy.skinner@comcast.net . For more information, call Dorothy Skinner at 303-494-9778 or Winston Scott at 303-494-6752.

POSTDOCTORAL POSTER SYMPOSIUM AND NETWORKING EVENT, Abstracts due May 31

Extension of Due Date for Abstracts: The 2009 (6th annual) Boulder Laboratories Postdoctoral Poster Symposium will be held on Wednesday, June 17, 2008 from 1 to 4 p.m., in the David Skaggs Research Center Multipurpose Room GC-402. The due date for abstracts (text-only, 100 to 250 words) has been extended to May 31. Contact: Joe Magee (303) 497-3298, joe.magee@nist.gov

BIKE TO WORK DAY BUSINESS CHALLENGE, June 24
The Competition Has Begun!

As of Monday (5/18/09), both NIST and NOAA have signed up for the Bike To Work Day (BTWD) Business Challenge. NIST has 12 people signed up, putting them at 72nd place while NOAA has 4 people signed up putting them at 113th place.

Visit http://www.drcog.org/btwd2009/index.cfm to register and for more info on how teams are ranked and/or click here to see how our company/team stacks up against others in Boulder County.

All you have to do is commit to use alternate transportation (minimize fossil fuel usage on BTWD via biking, unicycling, walking, busing, carpooling, skateboarding, or rollerblading to work on Wednesday, June 24. There are incentives like prizes, gear give-aways, and free food! (The Boulder Laboratories Employee Association, BLEA, has offered to help us purchase yummy food and beverages for a 2nd Breakfast at 10:30 a.m. for BTWD participants.

Note: Register as an "Individual" and select "NIST" or "NOAA" in the drop down Employer list. Be sure to register early as the site has experienced heavy loads in the past as BTWD approaches.

Note: NOAA has decided to register all employees together rather than separately as in the past. That means that affiliates like CIRES and CIRA employees as well as GSA-Boulder employees can sign up with "NOAA" as their "employer."

*If you have already signed up as an individual, we can transfer you to the NIST or NOAA team. Just contact Mary Gorman mgorman@boulder.nist.gov for NIST or the NOAA team noaabike2work@gmail.com for NOAA.

Volunteer

If you're interested in volunteering to help out the BTWD effort for the Department of Commerce, contact Alex Hsia via e-mail at Alex.Hsia@noaa.gov. We're looking for help in the following areas:

•           Business challenge coordinator for NTIA/ITS
•           Second breakfast planning (possible zero waste event)
•           Setup/cleanup for the second breakfast
•           Soliciting business donations for prizes
•           Running a tuneup station during the second breakfast
•           Site preparation for bike to work day
•           Content development for the TAC website related to BTWD

If we don't get volunteers for a particular area, then we'll just forgo that effort.

In the meanwhile, get in shape and learn the bike routes around Boulder by participating in the...

Eleventh Annual "Circle Boulder by Bicycle" (B-360)

The city of Boulder’s Greenways Program hosts the Eleventh Annual Circle Boulder by Bicycle, B-360 (approx. 23 miles) or B-180 self-guided ride, on Sunday, May 31, rain or shine, 3-5 pm.

This non-competitive ride follows the city’s bikeways beginning and ending at Scott Carpenter Park, 30th Street and Arapahoe Avenue, and is open to all ages. Registration for both rides is free and is available the day of the ride at Scott Carpenter Park.

OFFICE 2007 AND OUTLOOK 2007 TRAINING – REGISTER NOW!
Getting Started with Outlook – 3 hour class

5/26/09 – 1-4 p.m.

5/27/09 – 8-11 a.m.

6/10/09 – 1-4 p.m.

MS Office 2007 – Getting Started with the new user interface – 90 minute class

5/26/09 – 9:30-11 a.m.

5/27/09 – 1-2:30 p.m.

6/10/09 – 9:30-11 p.m.

To register for these classes, log into the CLC (https://doc.learn.com/nist). Select Training and Development on the left side of the screen. Boulder Instructor Led Training then appears at the top of the screen in red and blue. If you have any questions or need your CLC password reset, please contact iTAC at ext. 5375.

Cost for the 3 hour class is $100 – the 90 minute class is $75 – all charges will come out of cost centers already provided by the OUs. There is no need to complete any other paperwork for this training – just the CLC registration!

NOAA GIFT SHOP MONTHLY SPECIAL

The NOAA Gift Shop’s monthly special for May: $2 off any women’s clothing item. Normal hours are 12-1 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday. The shop is located in DSRC 1C307.

NIST GIFT SHOP

The NIST store is located under the lobby stairs near the Building 1 cafeteria. If you would like to purchase any NIST merchandise, please call ext. 5453, 3832, 3988, or 3378. See pictures of their NIST t-shirts, hats, post cards, and more at the BLEA web site by clicking "sales" - http://blea.doc.gov/

SITE HEALTH AND FITNESS ITEMS

26TH ANNUAL FEDERAL CUP 5K RUN/WALK RESULTS

The Merry Mountain Ramblers walking team from DOC Boulder placed second in a very competitive race on Saturday, May 16 at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood.

Team members Jennifer Harris, NOAA, Mindy Marion, former NOAA now VA, Mindy's son Jay Parker, Michele Fass, DOD, and Joan Tomek, NOAA all placed in their respective age groups: Jennifer Harris 2nd, Mindy Marion 2nd, Jay Parker, 1st, and Michelle Fass 3rd, Joan came in 5th overall and was 2nd woman walker with a time of 33:57 minutes.

Zdenka Smith ran the 5k race with her grandchildren: a muddy rabbit hole proved too enticing for 4 year-old Noah, so they did not complete properly.

All enjoyed the event and had a great time; a day that started out gray turned sunny and just warm enough. We are making plans for next year. It's not too soon to start walking or running! Please join us next time!

JUDO CLUB NEWS

The DOC Judo club was privileged to receive guest instruction on Monday, May 11, from Sensei Allen Gordon who is a national judo referee and coach, and US National Master's Championship medal winner. Contact Wayde Allen at x5871 if you interested in practicing Judo Mondays and Wednesdays from 4-5pm.

FITNESS CENTER NEWS

If you want to receive information on activities going on in the Fitness Centers, if you want to find someone to work out with, if you have questions about the equipment, or if you want to talk to others about fitness in general, you should subscribe to the DoC Boulder Laboratories FitCenter mailing list located on the web at: http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/mailman/listinfo/fitcenter

BUILDING 1 FITNESS CENTER WEEKLY CLOSURE

Beginning on May 12, the Building 1 Fitness Center will close for cleaning from 7-10 a.m. every Tuesday. Please do not attempt to use the Fitness Center during those times. The DSRC Fitness Center will remain open for your use. The Women’s Locker Room will also close from 7-8 a.m. on Tuesday. An alternate shower can be found in the Women’s restroom at the west end of the 4th floor, Main Spine.

If you have questions or concerns about this new policy, please contact Joan Tomek, x5287.

EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM COUNSELING

Have a problem that you want to discuss?? Feel as though you have too much stress in your life?

WORK.MONEY......FAMILY........STRESS......MENTAL

HEALTH.......ADDICTION.......RELATIONSHIPS........

Free counseling is available to all Boulder DOC Employees and their immediate families who are experiencing personal and/or work problems. Our EAP counselor, Shaneen Meskew-Stacer, is available every Friday by appointment. The Employee Assistance Program is voluntary and confidential and there is no charge for appointments on site. Please call ext. 3801 to schedule an appointment.

EMSS NEWS
Questions? Please call the below listed contacts, call ext. 3191, or email: svcdesk@boulder.nist.gov

NIST EXCESS: The NIST Property office has excess items available in Building 4, if you are interested; please contact Dale Devoe, ext. 7598, or Eva Baca, ext. 5083.

GSA EXCESS: If we do not have what you are looking for, go to the GSA’s website: http://gsaxcess.gov/. You will need to register; once that is complete; you will have access to excess property from other Federal Government agencies.

PLANNED PROJECTS

Building 1

1. EMSS is doing an electrical renovation in 1-3555. Work is scheduled to be complete by May 22. Contact Lanny Scarlett, ext. 4466.

Building 1 Extension (B1E)

1. Excavation & construction between Building 1 and 2 is continuing. Contact: Bryan Faktor, ext. 7841.

Building 26

1. EMSS is installing rooftop anchor to be used with fall protection systems worn by workers on the roof. This work is scheduled to be complete by May 22. Contact Dave Stewart, ext. 7865.

Site Wide

1. Exit signs have been replaced throughout Building 1 and 3 with LED signs that use considerably less energy than the existing incandescent units do. Contact: Bill Seader, ext. 6314.

2. The B1E contractor will continue to redirect traffic entering the DOC site. Contact: Gary Herrli, ext. 4460.

CAFE NEWS

NIST CAFETERIA - Building 1
303-497-5938, http://www.nistcafe.com/page/page/5591285.htm

Menu for NIST Café, May 18-22
Monday-Tacos, Tamales or Quesadillas
Tuesday-Chicken, Beef or Vegetarian Curry
Wednesday-Chicken with Orzo Pasta or Meatball Hoagies
Thursday-Burgers: Bratwurst, Veggie, or Chicken and Feta
Friday-Chef’s Choice

NOAA DELI - DSRC
Info: ext. 5771

Stop by to see our daily specials!

BLEA - BOULDER LABS EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION

MAHARAJA INDIAN CUISINE DISCOUNT FOR BOULDER LABS STAFF

Maharaja Indian Cuisine is offering Boulder Labs employees 15% discount for lunch & dinner. Just show us your Government ID. Lunch hours: 11 a.m.- 2:30 p.m., Dinner hours: 5-9:30 p.m. There is a lunch & dinner buffet or you can choose to order from our menu. Location: 1915 28th St., Boulder, 80301 (Next to Office Depot & Ultimate Electronics). Phone: 303-442-2770. Offer valid until 09/01/09.

TANDOORI GRILL DISCOUNT FOR BOULDER LABS STAFF

The Tandoori Grill is offering Boulder Labs staff a 15% discount on their lunch buffet. Please print and present a copy of this announcement to receive the discount. Lunch Hours: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Monday-Saturday. Location: 619 S. Broadway, 80305 (N.E. side, Table Mesa Shopping Center, Ground Floor). Phone: 303-543-7339.

HAIRCUTS ON SITE

We specialize in Haircuts and Styling - Fun, Funky, or Traditional, we've got you covered! Please stop in and see us! Walk-ins always welcome! We are located on the bottom floor of Building One, Wing 5 (bomb shelter) around the corner from the gym. Hours are Thursdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Relax, Unwind, get a haircut and feel fresh and rejuvenated! Haircut for men and women are $18.00. Paul Mitchell products15% off retail. Schedule your appointment at http://www.haironwheels.net or call us at the last minute at 303-667-0656.

EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION INFO

Find out more about BLEA's special deals and activities at http://blea.doc.gov. If you work here, you're already a member of the Boulder Labs Employees' Association. See what it has to offer!

LIBRARY NEWS

PHYSICAL REVIEW FOCUS

Physical Review Focus (focus.aps.org) is a free service of the American Physical Society (APS). Selected physics research published in Physical Review (PR) and Physical Review Letters (PRL) are highlighted, including videos.

The site also provides an archive of links to Physics News Update stories from the American Institute of Physics that cover papers from APS journals.

    * Archive
    * Image Index
    * Physics News Archive

Story Highlights

* Landmarks: Laser Cooling of Atoms

"In the 1970s and 80s, researchers developed techniques for cooling atoms to very low temperatures using laser light. The work led to improvements in atomic clocks and the observation of a new ultracold state of matter..."

* Quantum Blurring

"A coral reef looks a bit blurry to a scuba diver, in part because of light bouncing off of the water's continual density fluctuations, which come from random motions of the warm water molecules. But some of the blurring comes from a constant quantum jiggling of molecules that occurs even close to absolute zero temperature..."

Library News: http://library.bldrdoc.gov/news.html; RSS / XML: http://library.bldrdoc.gov/rss.html

NEW LIBRARY BOOKS, 1/23/09

Online: library.bldrdoc.gov/libnote.html

- ARCHIVES QC 100 U57 no.260-171. Charpy machine verification : limits and uncertainty / J. D. Splett, C.-M. Wang, C. N. McCowan. 2008

- BRANCH QC 874.3 S63 2007. Spatial interpolation for climate data : the use of GIS in climatology and meteorology / edited by Hartwig Dobesch, Pierre Dumolard, Izabela Dyras.

- QA 276.3 F73 2008. How to display data / Jenny V. Freeman, Stephen J. Walters, Michael J. Campbell.

- QA 303.2 H83 2007. Vector calculus, linear algebra, and differential forms : a unified approach / John Hamal Hubbard, Barbara Burke Hubbard. 3rd ed.

- QC 446.2 G73 2007. Optics and photonics : an introduction / F. Graham Smith, Terry A. King, Dan Wilkins. 2nd ed.

- TA 340 R93 2007. Modern engineering statistics / Thomas P. Ryan.

- TJ 1075 N36 2008. Nanolubricants / edited by Jean Michel Martin, Nobuo Ohmae.

- TK 145 E44 2007. Electromechanical devices and components illustrated sourcebook / Brian S. Elliott.

- TK 5103.45 C53 2007. Next generation CDMA technologies / Hsiao-Hwa Chen.

New acquisitions are announced each Friday and displayed at the Main and Branch Libraries for one week. You can reserve item(s) by completing the online form (library.bldrdoc.gov/libnote.html) and then you’ll be notified when they're available for pick up or office delivery.

The library encourages your recommendations for books or journals. The recommendation form is available online at: library.bldrdoc.gov/bookrec.html

LIBRARY NEWS
Library News: http://library.bldrdoc.gov/news.html
RSS / XML: http://library.bldrdoc.gov/rss.html

QUICK CHEMICAL SEARCHES

* Common Chemistry (commonchemistry.org) CAS Registry Number and Chemical Name search for approximately 7,800 chemicals

* Chemical Structure Lookup Service (cactus.nci.nih.gov/lookup) Search by molecular structure files (SDF, SMILES, and many other formats), Optical Structure Recognition, and chemical structure

* Chemical Structure Search (chemsynthesis.com/structure-search.html) Locate substances by chemical structure by drawing a structure or structure fragment in the editor (ChemSynthesis)

* ChemSynthesis Database (chemsynthesis.com) Search for substances by IUPAC, full and partial trade name, InChIKey, CAS Registry Number, molecular formula, molecular weight and journal title

* eMolecules (emolecules.com) Search by drawing, text, SMILES, and more

* NIST Chemistry WebBook (webbook.nist.gov/chemistry) Contains chemical and physical property data organized by chemical species

* Periodic Table (chemiplus.net) Use this visual table to determine element properties, including energies, reactions, conductivity, abundance and more

NEW LIBRARY BOOKS, 5/22
Online: library.bldrdoc.gov/libnote.html

- BRANCH GC 221.2 T78 2009. Tsunamis / edited by Eddie N. Bernard and Allan R. Robinson. 1st ed.

- BRANCH QC 806 P74 2004. Physics of the Earth's space environment : an introduction / Gerd W. Prolss.

- BRANCH QC 880 E25 2006. Proceedings of the ECMWF/GEO Workshop on Atmospheric Reanalysis, 19-22 June 2006 / European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.

- BRANCH QC 996 E57 2007. Proceedings of the ECMWF Workshop on Ensemble Prediction, 7-9 November 2007 / European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.

- REF JK 671 F385 2009. Federal employees almanac. Main, Branch

- REF JK 671 F43 2009. Federal personnel guide 2009. Main, Branch

- REF QB 9 U55 2010. Astronomical phenomena for the year 2010. Main, Branch

- QA 371 C36 2002. Introduction to symmetry analysis / Brian J. Cantwell.

- QC 145 A57. Annual review of fluid mechanics. 2009. v.41

- TA 418.52 H54 2009. High-temperature measurements of materials / Hiroyuki Fukuyama, Yoshio Waseda, eds.

- TK 7876 I18 2007. IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium Digest. v. 1-6

The library encourages your recommendations for books or journals. The recommendation form is available online at: library.bldrdoc.gov/bookrec.html

VACANCIES

Boulder Laboratories Site Manager
NIST-08-2164/SES
NIST, Boulder
Closes: 6/1/2009

Please check the web sites for official announcements: http://www.usajobs.gov/. These listings are compiled for your information, but should not be considered complete. If your group has a job vacancy to list, please send it to wbsend@boulder.nist.gov by noon on Wednesday.

The Boulder Labs Weekly Bulletin, brought to you by the NIST Publications Office, is available online at http://www.boulder.nist.gov/bulletin/. Submit announcements and or subscribe at wbsend@boulder.nist.gov. The deadline is noon on Wednesdays.

Managing Editor: Cindy Kotary, 303-497-3319, kotary@boulder.nist.gov
Webmaster: Paul Franchois, 303-497-5674, paulf@boulder.nist.gov