After a brief introduction by Roger Falcone (Univ. of California, Berkeley), the incoming UEC chair for 2002, Berkeley Lab Director Charles Shank began the Monday morning update session by looking forward to the considerable scientific impact expected for the new superbend era. Patricia Dehmer, U.S. Department of Energy Associate Director for Basic Energy Sciences (BES), pointedly noted that ALS funding was up in an era of flat BES budgets and also called attention to the adaptations required if an institution is to thrive in a changing world. Among many topics in his detailed facility report, ALS Director Daniel Chemla highlighted the complementary roles of Yves Petroff (Senior Advisor on sabbatical from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility) and Neville Smith (ALS Deputy for Science) in a reassessment of facility policies, procedures, and organizational structure to optimize resources and productivity.

David Robin, ALS Accelerator Physics Group Leader, reported on the many challenges met and overcome in installing and commissioning the superbends ahead of a tight schedule while meeting or exceeding performance specifications. Outgoing UEC Chair Harald Ade (North Carolina State Univ.) conducted a user town meeting in which he explained the many ways in which the UEC contributes to ALS planning, introduced the new electronic voting system, and summarized interactions with Congress in collaboration with the UECs of other synchrotron sources. Michael Lubell (Director of Public Affairs, American Physical Society) concluded the update session with a review of the changes in Washington brought on by the soft economy and the new war on terrorism, contributing to which is becoming the top priority for federally funded science.

Commencing a series of three sessions on science highlights at the ALS and highlights from young researchers, Petroff presented preliminary results of his investigation of ALS operations and scientific productivity, calling favorable attention to many areas of technical and scientific success. He also recommended increasing support for users, lowering the cost of experimental facilities, use of standardization and automation, continuing past successes with industrial beamlines, prioritizing research areas, making time for in-house research by ALS staff, and more cooperation with the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (SSRL).