2001 Conference Summary

April 6, 2001 

Dr. Lee Magid, Professor of Chemistry at the University of Tennessee, opened the 2001 Women in Science and Technology Conference with a talk on neutron scattering.  Having held research appointments at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and the Max Planck Institute in Goettingen, Germany, and conducted research with neutron scattering for over 20 years, she is well positioned to talk about this area of neutron science.  She is currently the University of Tennessee’s liaison for Science & Technology to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) Research Facility. 

Dr. Magid’s talk ranged from the discovery of neutrons in 1932 to the first neutron scattering research at ORNL in the late 1940s, using the Graphite Reactor.  This work became international during the 1950s, involving Canada and Europe.  In 1954 a Nobel Prize was awarded to pioneers in the neutron scattering field.  Dr. Magid briefly described neutron scattering research in more recent decades, noting that studies today are of much more complex materials with many more applications of the findings.  She noted that currently, across all ages, about 10-12% of the scientists in this field are women, but the percent female is higher among younger scientists in this field. 

Her excitement about the future of this research in Oak Ridge was evident.  She described the massive project that is underway to upgrade current neutron scattering facilities at ORNL and to build the new SNS Research Facility that will make Oak Ridge the home of the best facility for neutron scattering research in the world by 2008.  She quoted Martha Krebs, former director of the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, who in 1998 said that 2008 would be the year of neutron science.    

Realizing many of the students in attendance were not physical science students, Dr. Magid emphasized the wide range of disciplines that are either conducting R&D on the facility itself (including engineers and applied mathematicians) or that are expected to be involved as users of the completed facility (e.g., materials scientists, earth scientists and biologists in addition to chemists and physicists).  She also explained the roles of other Department of Energy facilities, such as Lawrence Berkeley, Brookhaven, and Argonne National Laboratories. 

While Magid’s talk was rather technical, she clearly wanted to inspire younger women by helping them understand the science and technology involved with neutron scattering research.  For many students it was refreshing to hear about the science and, through different examples, to learn about the improvements in materials with practical applications resulting from this scientific research.  Students were impressed with a picture of her and two colleagues working with current equipment, entitled “Neutron Scatterers at Play.”  She chose that title to make the point that the experimentation and exploration involved in this research is exciting and fun – and if you don’t ever get excited about your research then this is the wrong career for you. 

Students saw how the study of atomic and magnetic structure has applications such as the improvement of high density storage devices for computers and how neutron scattering research is helping in drug design, including the design of drugs for HIV.  These were just two of several instances where she linked the science, the research devices at ORNL and the practical applications. 

Back to Summary Contents