The recipients are Dr. George Wignall, Small Angle Scattering Group Leader in the Solid State Division, and Dr. Michael M. Agamalian, Optical Components team leader in the Spallation Source Division at ORNL. The award is presented for "significant technological contributions to the conception and implementation of a new principle on instrument design, development and application."
Wignall and Agamalian were recognized for their efforts to dramatically improve ORNL's Ultra-High Resolution Small Angle Neutron Scattering (USANS) facility. Their work greatly extended the size range over which the structure of polymers (plastics), colloids and many other materials and chemicals can be studied.
Wignall initiated some of the first neutron scattering studies of polymers that used special labeling techniques to "color" polymer molecules and make them "visible" in the condensed state. He earned a doctorate in physics from England's Sheffield University and has worked at ORNL since 1979. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and is currently working to upgrade the neutron scattering facilities at the High Flux Isotope Reactor.
Agamalian in 1995 started his research at ORNL's High Flux Isotope Reactor and entered into his current position related to the Spallation Neutron Source project in 1998. He has authored more than 80 scientific papers and two patents. He earned a doctorate in physics from the St. Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute in Russia.
ORNL is a DOE multiprogram research facility and is managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corporation.
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