More Information on the 2006 SCIPOY Awards:

• Further endorsements of Amalia Ballarino
• Further endorsements of Jim Daley
• More about superconductors
• More about the awards panel
• More about the awards
• Download release (PDF)

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Further Endorsements of Amalia Ballarino

"Since something like a decade ago, Dr. Ballarino and her team have pursued the idea to use Bi-2223 tapes and stacks to develop the largest system of current leads ever made before with this kind of higher temperature superconductor," explained Carlo Sborchia, Head of the W7-X Fusion Experiment's Magnet Department at the Max-Planck-Institute for Plasma Physics.  "The challenges of this task have been enormous, especially at the beginning of the project when nobody would believe that the HTS tapes could achieve reasonable performances and be produced in such a large scale.  The success of this task relied on the scientific and technical capabilities of Dr. Ballarino and her overwhelming motivation to lead a team of scientists and engineers at CERN and in various companies and laboratories to complete this task. Within a single decade this small-size, laboratory-scale application has been transformed into a large-scale, industrial-production of over 3,000 components, all fully inspected during manufacture and cold tested in dedicated test facilities."

Yuh Shiohara, Director of the Superconducting Tapes and Wires Division of the Superconductivity Research Laboratory at the International Superconductivity Technology Center in Japan and former SCIPOY winner, stated, "Dr. Ballarino's energetic management, along with her enthusiastic attitude, has made the development and application of HTS current leads a success.  The first truly commercial application of HTS is current leads."

“The scale of the LHC project and the wide publicity it is having through publications in journals and conferences will help to increase the confidence of industry in the use of HTS conductors for power applications,” commented Professor C. Beduz of the Institute of Cryogenics at the University of Southampton.

From CERN, Karl Hubert Mess, Group Leader of CERN-AT/MEL, stated, "Dr. Ballarino's work is outstanding, both scientifically as well as from the industrial manufacturing point of view.  Not only did she successfully design and test extraordinarily well-performing HTS current leads, she also organized the collaboration of firms and institutes distributed over 3 continents. Her leading role in the field of HTS current leads is well illustrated by the fact that she acts as advisor for future projects here in Europe."

Reinhard Heller of the Institute for Technical Physics at the Research Center Karlsruhe said, "HTS current leads are now the standard for decreasing the cooling power needed by a system.  These leads apply to small magnets, as well as to large magnet systems in high energy and plasma physics or in fusion devices.  This development helps the entire HTS community -- since HTS current leads are now the application where reliability and efficiency under demanding conditions can be proven with many operating years.  Dr. Amalia Ballarino's enthusiastic and powerful management at CERN made the development and application of HTS current leads a success -- significantly contributing to the commercialization of superconductivity."

Thomas Taylor of the LHC at CERN, stated, "The success of the vast lead project at CERN has naturally incited other large projects to adopt the technology. As Dr Ballarino is internationally known as being the brains behind the LHC leads project, she is frequently called upon to analyze and provide advice on similar applications.  Her accumulated experience, both on the design and contractual aspects of the work on the leads, is recognized as a store of value for the entire large-scale HTS community."


About Amalia Ballarino

Dr. Ballarino received a Master’s Degree and PhD in Nuclear Engineering from the prestigious Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy.  Her PhD work was done at CERN, where she has been employed since 1997.  She is the author of more than 20 publications on current leads and HTS materials, and has made several invited presentations at international conferences.  She is an invited member of the IEC-TC90 committee, the International Electro-Technical Commission, commenting on and writing standards for superconductors, as well as an invited member of the IEC international working group writing standards on current leads.  Ballarino also served as a Lecturer at the JUAS 2007 (Joint Universities Accelerator School) school.  Her current work focuses on the commissioning of all the equipment for the LHC, as well as developing spin-off applications of the current lead technology.

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Further endorsements of Jim Daley

Dean Peterson, Leader of the Superconductivity Technology Center at Los Alamos National Laboratories, commented, “Jim Daley has consistently promoted innovative underpinning research to accelerate progress in this important energy technology.  His contributions have established the foundation for a variety of future superconductor applications ranging from power transmission through levitated trains to particle accelerators.”

Dominic Lee, Superconductivity Program Manager at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, described Daley's contributions: " Throughout his tenure, Dr. Daley has been a tireless advocate of superconductivity in general, and high temperature superconductivity (HTS) in particular.  He was instrumental in shepherding the DOE-sponsored U.S. research efforts, and greatly influenced the HTS roadmaps worldwide.  Recently, Dr. Daley has guided the DOE Superconductivity Program through successive office re-organizations with steadfast determination and support.  Consequently, the program has emerged as a highly integrated and focused effort that is more responsive to the superconductor industry and stake holders.  These efforts have enabled both major U.S. HTS wire manufacturers to achieve the milestone of 100 meter-class second-generation (2G) conductors with very high current capacities.  The rapid successes achieved by U.S. industry and research organizations would not have been possible without Dr. Daley’s professional guidance and support as well as personal commitment to superconductivity."

Patrick Duggan, R&D Project Manager at Con Edison of New York, commented, "Dr. Daley's continued ability to encourage cooperation within separate companies within the superconducting business community, and to successfully orchestrate a focus on DOE Superconductivity program participation (rather than future competition or divisive earmarks) is a singular success in the research community that is largely based on Mr. Daley's vision and persuasion.  It is almost universally unheard of to hear competing companies root for each others success, but it is a regular occurrence among the members of CCAS that I have had the privilege of working with, and at the DOE Superconductivity Peer Reviews in particular."

Alex Malozemoff, Executive Vice President and CTO of American Superconductor Corporation, commented, "Jim Daley singlehandedly led the DOE HTS program for 15 years.  Through his wise and innovative program, he nucleated an industry."

William Parks, Deputy Director of the DOE's Office of Energy Reliability and Energy Assurance, stated, "Dr. Daley had an unusual opportunity to "invent" the superconductivity program at a time when superconductivity was front page news – superconductivity was a Presidential Initiative and a law was passed (P.L. 100-697: the Superconductivity and Competitiveness Act).   Everyone wanted to participate and Dr. Daley was willing to listen to advice from many, many stakeholders and make strong and effective program-building decisions.  He was able to assemble the major participants in the program and led them to consensus on the program’s vision, mission, technical goals, and milestones.  The Council for Chemical Research recognized the success of the Program’s collaborative efforts with the 2000 “Collaborative Success” award."

About Jim Daley

Dr. Daley was manager of the High Temperature Superconductivity Program since the program’s inception in the late 1980’s.  Before joining the DOE, Dr. Daley was a staff scientist at Argonne National Laboratory for 15 years, performing research in a variety of fields that included nuclear energy, advanced heat engines, and electric utility storage systems.  His industrial experience includes work at General Electric’s Transportation Systems Division and United Technology’s Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Division.  Dr. Daley holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Connecticut, and a MS and BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Connecticut.

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Awards Recognize Innovation in High Temperature Superconductivity

The awards panel this year chose to recognize two leaders who have contributed to high-temperature superconducting technology through innovation in research and engineering as well as leadership in bringing industry, government, and public institutions together to collaborate on making high-temperature superconductors a commercial technology.

Superconductivity involves two major fields: high temperature (HTS) and low temperature (LTS) superconductors. LTS were discovered in 1911, and must be cooled to about 4 K (-269° C), using liquid helium as a refrigerant. Already highly commercially successful, LTS wire is used in the fabrication of high power magnets for medical, research, and industrial applications.  High temperature superconductivity research began in 1986 when a family of ceramics that superconduct at 77 K was discovered. This permitted the development of devices that can be cooled using liquid nitrogen, which is both inexpensive and easy to replenish.

HTS materials may someday provide the basis for large-scale applications in electric power transmission and distribution, power quality and storage devices, motors, and generators. HTS may also offer lower cost or higher performance alternatives for some areas already using LTS materials, such as sensors or ultra high field magnet coil inserts. 

"The problem with HTS ceramics, known as perovskites," explained Mark Bitterman, Executive Editor at Superconductor Week, "is that they are essentially powders, or at best, fine filaments. As such, they do not form easily into durable, workable materials. HTS wires were first produced by incorporating BSCCO compounds in a silver matrix, and extruding it to form a wire. This first generation (1G) wire has been used to demonstrate some of the potential uses of HTS wire. However, the commercial potential of BSCCO remains extremely limited due to its high cost to manufacture."

HTS wires now under development can conduct almost 150 times the electrical current of copper wires of the same dimensions, and unlike copper, they are 100% efficient. Conventional generators and transmission lines suffer from a 7 to 11% energy loss. With the goal of making HTS wire affordable, researchers have developed various methods for coating HTS materials onto cheap metal strips, and slicing these strips to form wire. It is hoped that this second generation (2G) manufacturing technology will provide cost-effective, high performance HTS wire. 

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Panel of 8 Leaders Selected Winners from Dozens of Nominees

Nominations for the awards came from virtually every country with programs in superconductivity. The winners were determined by a panel of leaders from North America, Europe, and Asia, assembled by Superconductor Week. The selection criteria for the award included leadership, personal achievement, support from peers, and advocacy. 

Describing the panel's deliberations, Bitterman commented: "The diligence, discernment, and strength of conviction shown by our extraordinary panelists affirms the vital importance of individual achievement in the global effort to develop advanced technology." 

The panelists for Superconductor Week's Superconductor Industry Person of the Year 2006 were: 

• Arnaud Devred, Ph.D, Program Manager at CEA, Project Associate at CERN, CARE/NED Joint Research Activity Coordinator (EU-FP6)
• Donald U. Gubser, Ph.D, Superintendent of the Materials Science and Technology Division at the Naval Research Laboratory and co-Editor of the Journal of Superconductivity
• Alex Malozemoff, Ph.D, Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer, American Superconductor Corporation
• Ken Marken, Ph.D, Deputy Center Leader, Superconducting Technology Center, Los Alamos National Lab
• Justin Schwartz, Ph.D, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Leader, HTS Magnets & Materials Group of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University
• Venkat "Selva" Selvamanickam, Ph.D, Program Manager of Materials Technology at SuperPower, Inc.

• Yuh Shiohara, Ph.D., Director, Superconducting Tapes and Wires Division of the Superconductivity Research Laboratory at the International Superconductivity Technology Center

• Bruce Strauss, Ph.D, Office of High Energy Physics, U.S. Department of Energy

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About the Superconductor Industry Person of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Awards

Superconductor Week's Superconductor Industry Person of the Year is the only international award recognizing individual achievement in the global effort to develop and commercialize both high and low temperature superconductors. The newly instituted Lifetime Achievement award recognizes those individuals whose entire careers have included outstanding achievement and a personal commitment to the industry. 

The award's official plaques will be presented to the winners at the 20th International Conference on Magnet Technology (MT20) in Philadelphia and the DOE Superconductivity for Electric Systems Peer Review  in Crystal City, Virginia in August, and at the 8th European Conference on Applied Superconductivity (EUCAS 2007) in Brussels in September.

Last year Superconductor Week declared Yuh Shiohara "Superconductor Industry Person of the Year" for 2005, and awarded Seung Hong the Lifetime Achievement Award. Prior recipients of the award include Alex Malozemoff and Selva Selvamanicam, Allan Hoffman, Carl Rosner, and Sungho Jin. This is the first year that "Superconductor Industry Lifetime Achievement" has been awarded. 

A call for nominations for the 2006 Person of the Year will be sent out on September 1, 2006. To be included in the call for nominations, send your email address to: service@superconductorweek.com. 

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