| Perhaps one of the best places for chemists at SLAC is the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL), where staff and visiting scientists conduct both basic and applied research. | ![[Overhead View of SSRL]](http://smb.slac.stanford.edu/user/kurtz/ssrloverhead.jpg) |
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| Above is a view of the SSRL sector at SLAC. The circular structure is a booster ring, into which electrons and positrons from SSRL's own linear accelerator, or linac, are fed. Once the particles leave the booster ring at an energy of approximately 3 GeV, they enter the SPEAR (Stanford Positron Electron Accelerating Ring) machine, where they emit high-energy synchrotron radiation in the form of UV and x-ray photons. It is this radiation that allows scientists at SSRL to probe the structures of objects ranging from proteins to silicon computer chips. | ||
![[SSRL]](http://smb.slac.stanford.edu/user/kurtz/ssrlfar.jpg)
To the left is the building that houses the protein crystallography lab where Silpa Nalam and I toiled when we weren't enhancing our webpages. Our work was quite interesting--see my projects page or her homepage for details. |
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![[Silpa]](http://smb.slac.stanford.edu/user/kurtz/silpasmall.jpg)
Silpa, pictured on the right, was the only other chemistry student in the ERULF program at SLAC. Her name is both Indian and Finnish. Interesting, eh? She is a senior at Loyola University in New Orleans. That stylish necklace/pendant combination allowed her (and the rest of us) to get beyond the security gates at SLAC. One of the first activities of our summer program, aside from a crash course in particle physics, was a radiological safety training course--note the dosimeter in front of her badge. |
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