The Physical Sciences and Engineering (PSE) Employees of the Month program recognizes individuals from two categories each month — programmatic and operations — based on the excellence of their work and demonstration of Argonne’s Core Values: Impact, Safety, Respect, Integrity and Teamwork.

February 2021 PSE Employee of the Month — Operations category

• Dean Carbaugh, an electromechanical technician for Argonne’s Nanoscience and Technology division and the Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM), provided significant assistance in addressing technical problems with a turbo pump for the Raith 150 tool, an electron lithography system. He successfully interfaced with the Raith team and the CNM tool custodian to diagnose and solve the problems, displaying operational excellence. Carbaugh’s work demonstrates Argonne’s Core Values of Impact, Safety, Respect and Teamwork.

February 2021 PSE Employee of the Month — Programmatic Category

• Stephen Southworth, a physicist in Argonne’s Chemical Sciences and Engineering division, led a multidisciplinary team of people to facilitate the acquisition of a high-energy photoelectron spectrometer at the Advanced Photon Source. The first experiment conducted using the capability led to insight into decay processes relevant for understanding processes for cancer therapy. The work elicited interest from remote collaborators from Europe, and the achievements present a fruitful direction for future studies.

Each month, the PSE Associate Laboratory Director and Division Directors review PSE Employees of the Month nominations and select recipients. All Argonne employees are eligible for nomination, including people within PSE and those who work with PSE. All PSE staff, postdocs and students are welcome to submit nominations. The call for nominations opens on the first of each month.