Dear CHESS community,

I am excited to share with you some of the recent and upcoming events at CHESS, including the CHESS User Meeting on June 4th, followed by the X-CITE workshop. The theme of the X-CITE workshop is cyberinfrastructure (CI) training for the community of scientists and researchers using the CHESS synchrotron X-ray facility and similar light sources. I encourage you to register for this day-long workshop to engage in a mix of lectures and training materials customized for CHESS users and hands-on sessions with workshop instructors.

I would also like to take a moment to extend my warmest congratulations to this year’s student paper prize winner, Tanvi Jakkampudi from Prof. Stephanie Tristram-Nagle’s group at Carnegie Mellon, for their work at 7b2. We are thrilled to have Tanvi present this research at the upcoming CHESS User Meeting. Congratulations on this well-deserved award!

Additionally, I am pleased to report the success of last month’s Wilson Synchrotron Lab Open House. This was one of the biggest events we have had in decades.  Over four hundred members of our community visited Wilson Synchrotron Laboratory to tour the tunnel, engage with staff, and see first-hand the excitement that CHESS science can bring. Thanks to all who volunteered and organized, we hope to do this again next year.

On May 14-15, we held the 2024 High Energy X-Ray Techniques (HEXT) workshop. This workshop prepares students from Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to become CHESS users through a blend of educational lectures, interactive demonstrations, and proposal writing training. HEXT is funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and focuses on practical skills to cultivate a more inclusive and vibrant environment for synchrotron research. Thanks to all our staff and students who participated in this important venture.

Thank you for your continued support of CHESS, and we hope to see you around the lab!

Joel Brock, CHESS Director