KNOXVILLE –- Thomas E. Mason, the associate laboratory director in charge of the recently opened Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will speak at a Nov. 1 luncheon sponsored by the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy.
The luncheon begins at 11:30 a.m. at the University Club on Neyland Drive.
The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) — which allows scientists to study materials at the atomic level — represents a pinnacle in more than 60 years of collaboration between the University of Tennessee and ORNL. The relationship between the two institutions was greatly enhanced in 2000 when UT, in partnership with Battelle, took over management of the lab for the U.S. Department of Energy. Mason also serves as vice president of UT-Battelle.
The SNS and the Center for Nanophase Materials Science, also at ORNL, “provide tools that are unique -– and I mean unique in the world -– to see and manipulate materials on a size scale we could only dream about a few years ago,” said Michael Simpson, a UT-ORNL joint faculty member. “We are now in a position to develop the science that will enable technology that touches almost every aspect of our lives, from intervening in disease at its earliest and most treatable stages to computing and telecommunications seamlessly integrated into everything we do.”
A native of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Mason has a doctorate in experimental condensed matter physics from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Mason has worked at AT&T Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J., served as senior scientist at Risø National Laboratory in Denmark and been on the physics faculty at the University of Toronto.
In May 1998, Mason became scientific director for the SNS at ORNL, and in April 2001 he became vice president of UT-Battelle LLC and SNS associate laboratory director.
Cost of the luncheon is $15, payable by cash or check, and can be paid at the luncheon. Reservations are required and must be made no later than Oct. 26. Call Patti Rebholz at (865) 974-0931 or e-mail prebholz@tennessee.edu to reserve your seat.
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Contacts:
Amy Blakely, (865) 974-5034, amy.blakely@tennessee.edu
Alan Lowe, (865) 974-8515, alowe4@tennessee.edu
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