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DOE Pulse
  • Number 427  |
  • November 24, 2014

Jaime Farrington helps commercialize tools for synchrotron science

Jaime Farrington

Jaime Farrington.

As a technology development scientist with Sydor Instruments, Jaime Farrington truly enjoys his work on innovative research applications. Farrington works on custom diagnostics and imaging systems for a variety of applications, and serves as a liaison between Sydor Instruments and scientists at research facilities such as the National Synchrotron Light Source II at DOE's Brookhaven Lab.

His relationship with Brookhaven Lab started right after he earned his Ph.D. in physics in 2010.

“I was hired by the Chemistry Department to develop an infrared beamline at the Laser-Electron Accelerator Facility (LEAF),” he said. “They needed someone with a technical science background who had experience developing instrumentation. I worked on the physical layout of the new beamline, component testing, and developing beamline control systems.”

One day he attended a seminar at Brookhaven where representatives from Sydor Instruments were giving a talk. He approached the speakers, curious to learn how he could translate his skillset to industry.

“They offered me a position a short time later, specifically to help them break into the light source market,” he said.

The new position enabled him to stay on Long Island and work with different groups at Brookhaven’s first synchrotron—the National Synchrotron Light Source, which shut down at the end of September after 32 years of distinguished operation—and its successor, NSLS-II, a brand new synchrotron light source just about to begin first experiments. He works with Brookhaven scientists to commercialize technologies developed at the Lab so they can benefit more scientists. Examples include an x-ray linear detector and a diamond beam position monitor.

“These innovative devices have the potential to be extremely useful to many scientists, but they need to be fine-tuned so that they are broadly applicable. My role is to work on the technology transfer and commercialization of these technologies to make them available to a much larger group of scientists at labs around the world.”

Farrington’s work involves listening closely to the community of scientists who come to Brookhaven’s light sources and other Office of Science user facilities to understand their needs—how they would use the device, what features it needs, “and how we at Sydor Instruments can develop a better device in terms of quality, utility, and overall advancement in the industry,” he said.

The opening of NSLS-II is an exciting time of opportunity for Farrington and Sydor.

“NSLS-II will be the most advanced synchrotron in the world,” he said. “We need the best detectors and diagnostics to fully take advantage of a new generation of light sources such as NSLS-II.” Geographic proximity to Sydor’s Rochester headquarters makes it a natural for the company to develop new technologies there, and then transfer that knowledge to benefit other DOE labs. 

“I believe that diagnostics and detector technology development shouldn't stay within one lab. Collaboration between different facilities needs to be fostered to make these technologies widely available for all of the light source community,” he said. As an example, he is working with scientists at Berkeley Lab to develop a high-resolution camera for soft x-ray research that will be useful at NSLS-II and other light sources.

“Many research institutions are focused on developing new technologies, but not necessarily manufacturing them,” he said. But the federal government has created mechanisms to bridge this gap by encouraging industry to team up with research institutions, he says.

“My projects are funded by grants from the federal Small Business Innovation Research program, which encourages small businesses to link up with federally sponsored research programs, such as those at national labs, and bring these laboratory-developed technologies to market.”

As Farrington’s experience illustrates, these partnerships can be a win for both science and industry.

Submitted by DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory