On Sept. 25, 1998 during a portion of his visit to Argonne National Laboratory, Secretary Richardson had the opportunity to experience the lastest technology in on-line interactive collaborations being developed within DoE. From a the Visitors Reception Center at ANL, he joined a group of Middle and High School students in a distance learning session using the ANL Advanced Analytical Electron Microscope using TelePresence Microscopy (http://tpm.amc.anl.gov). At the TPM Site, he electronically connected to an on-line video conference and discussed TelePresence, Microscopy and Interactive Collaboratories for use in Research and Education.
During that seeion using the TPM WWW based GUI he controlled remotely the Advanced Analytical Electron Microscope where he studied the microstructure of a SemiConductor Chip.
The TPM Site is part of the DoE 2000 Materials Microcharacterization Collaboratory (http://tpm.amc.anl.gov/mmc) funded under DMS-BES, DMS-EE, and CTR-MICS. The MMC is developing the technology basis for accessing expertise and instrumentation at DoE Materials User Facilities from off-site locations by creating a single cohesive virtual laboratory, accessible from anywhere on the Internet.