An official groundbreaking took place yesterday in Newport News, Va., for renovations and additions at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, or JLab, a center that University professors and students rely on for research.
The project, which cost $73.2 million and was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, will include new additions to the complex, including much-needed space for engineering, cleaning and testing equipment, said Dean Golembeski, public affairs manager for JLab.
The JLab's NASA building also will be renovated to continue the work being done by the machine it houses, the electron beam accelerator, which is currently under construction to double the machine's energy output.
The University always has had an beneficial relationship with JLab, which has provided research facilities and opportunities for professors and students since its founding.\n"U.Va. first proposed the lab," Golembeski said. "We've had a relationship with U.Va. from before the lab was created."
Since then, University professors and students have taken full advantage of the facility.
At a place like JLab, scientists can collaborate and propose experiments, University Physics Prof. Gordon Cates said.
University professors will continue to play an integral role in the research conducted at the lab. Cates outlined a few significant experiments that the University will take part in when the facility is complete.
One of these experiments will measure electroweak mixing angles, he said.
"If measured accurately, it will tell us about new physics that occurs at high-energy scales; we could discover new types of particles that we don't even know about yet," he said.
Another experiment measuring the electric form factor of the neutron would allow scientists to construct the highest resolution image of the neutron that has ever been produced, Cates said.\n"Just the existence of the lab in general expands our knowledge of the universe, and through our scientific exploration, new technologies have evolved," Golembeski said.
In addition, entrepreneurs often find applications for the research performed at the lab.
"Entrepreneurs and people at the lab find commercial use for the technology," he said, including technology such as computer chips, microwave ovens and mammography machines.
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