On January 3–4, 2024, FORCE held its 2nd Winter Workshop on Recent Advances in High Pressure Research. Over 50 attendees convened in Tempe, AZ to hear invited and contributed talks, attend a poster session, tour ASU experimental and analytical facilities, participate in breakout sessions, and dine together at the Workshop dinner.
Invited talks at the Workshop were presented by four experts. Tetsuo Irifune (Ehime University) presented a history of large volume high pressure research. As the PI of Botchan, Ichiban’s brother 6000 ton multi-anvil press, Dr. Irifune was able to provide context and insight into the science Ichiban will be able to help explore. Megumi Kawasaki (Oregon State University) introduced many attendees to high pressure torsion experiments and sparked ideas for experiments to be done in Twister. Carl Agee (University of New Mexico) discussed potential science questions that FORCE can help answer, and Andrew Campbell (University of Chicago) gave a summary of SEES, the new NSF geoscience beamline support program of which he is the PI.
A student and postdoc poster session allowed early career scientists to present their research to a specialized audience and helped to bolster the high pressure community post-COMPRES. Two students were presented with Corning Student Poster Awards, Luisa Chavarría and Allison Pease, both from Michigan State University. Minkyung Han (Stanford) and Luisa Chavarría received the Corning Student Travel Awards. Contributed talks provided attendees with examples of the cutting-edge high pressure science that is possible with FORCE.
Tours of ASU facilities included the CXFEL (PI: Robert Kaindl), Nano Science Lab (PI: Robert Nemanich), Eyring Materials Center aberration-corrected microscopes, and of course the newly constructed FORCE Press Hall with Twister and Ichiban.
Workshop breakout sessions covered future science directions at FORCE and how FORCE can best serve its users as it prepares to apply to become a national user facility. These discussions are invaluable to the FORCE Executive Committee and will greatly inform its thinking as the lab matures.
Thank you to our generous sponsors: Corning, Bruker AXS, and Advanced Diamond Products.
