Austrian Delegates Visit the Transportation Technology R&D Center

From left to right: Wolfram Rhomberg, State Secretariate; Franz Roessler, Trade Commissioner, Austrian Trade Commission, Chicago; Wolfgang Renner, Marketing Manager, Wiener Zeitung (Austrian newspaper); Murray Gibson, ANL; Christa Kranzl, State Secretary; Gertraud Oberzaucher, Head of Unit for Human Resources; Ingolf Schaedler, Deputy Director General, Phillipp Marxgut, Attache, Scientific Affairs, Office of Science and Technology, Embassy of Austria, Washington; Thomas Wallner, ANL; Robert Zischg, Consul General, Austrian Consulate General, Chicago; Hermann Priller, Personnel Advisor of State Secretary; Stefan Eichberger, Program Manager, Austrian Research Promotion Agency.

On October 3, staff from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology; the Austrian Research Center; the Austrian Consulate General and Trade Commission in Chicago; the Austrian Embassy in Washington, D.C.; and various Austrian news agencies toured Argonne. The group was in Chicago for the Austrian Science Talks and a trip to Argonne seemed like a natural extension of their visit.

Hosted by Thomas Wallner, a mechanical engineer in the Transportation Technology R&D Center (TTRDC), and Norm Peterson, Argonne Government Affairs, the group was welcomed by Bob Rosner and then toured the Advanced Photon Source, the Center for Nanoscale Materials, and the TTRDC. The visitors received an overview of Argonne’s research areas and activities, and identified areas for potential collaboration.

“The visit was extremely positive and the members of the delegation were impressed by the variety of research areas that different groups at Argonne are involved in,” stated Thomas Wallner.

A follow up meeting is planned to further discuss activities in Argonne’s Division of Educational Programs. Interest was also expressed in establishing a program for Austrian post-docs at Argonne.

October 2008