Dear Foundry Community,
It’s been a busy summer at the Foundry. We welcomed a number of interns for the summer, sponsored by programs like DOE’s SULI, Berkeley Lab’s Experiences in Research, the Energy Sciences Area’s ASPIRES, and our very own FUSE program. It’s always a pleasure to host and inspire tomorrow’s scientists and engineers and to see the Foundry through new eyes. At the end of July, staff scientist Carolin Sutter-Fella led an AI/Automation Summer School, bringing together students and early career researchers from across the community for hands-on training in machine learning and lab automation for materials research. Kudos to Carolin and everyone involved in putting together a program that is so timely given the future direction of science. Investing in the next generation of scientists is one of the most rewarding parts of what we do.
That momentum carried right into last week’s Annual User Meeting (AUM). Thank you to everyone who traveled to Berkeley to share their science, catch up with old collaborators, and meet new ones! The energy in the room over those two days was a great reminder of why the molecular foundry has thrived for two decades as user facilities. Between the talks, posters, and hallway conversations, it was clear just how much creativity and ambition our community brings to nanoscale science, and I came away energized about where we’re headed together. If you missed a session or want to revisit a talk, you can find a full recap of the meeting on our website, or view the agenda and abstracts here.
I’m also happy to introduce three new additions to our staff. Yashwanth Balaji has joined the Nanofabrication Facility as a Staff Scientist, adding new expertise and capacity for the fabrication of quantum and other advanced materials. Niko Vlahakis has joined NCEM as a member of the technical staff, where he will help support our new CryoEPIC instrumentation as we bring these new capabilities online for the user community. And Tim Kodalle has joined the Data Group as an Automation Engineer, where he will help build out the automated workflows and infrastructure that are increasingly central to how we do science at the Foundry. Please join me in giving Yashwanth, Niko, and Tim a warm welcome.
I also want to highlight a new project led by Stephanie Ribet of the NCEM facility, focused on alloy engineering and funded through the DOE’s Genesis Mission, a new national initiative to accelerate scientific discovery through AI. Stephanie’s project draws on the Foundry’s advanced characterization capabilities to speed the design and discovery of new alloys for extreme environments, and it’s a great example of how the expertise and instrumentation we’ve built here can be brought to bear on some of the nation’s most pressing scientific priorities. You can read more about the project here. I look forward to sharing more as this work develops.
Finally, I want to make sure this is on everyone’s radar: our fall proposal call opens tomorrow on September 1, with a submission deadline of September 30. We welcome proposals across all areas of nanoscale science, and I’d especially encourage you to build off of what you heard at the AUM and take advantage of our newest capabilities and staff expertise as you think through your ideas. I also encourage you to reach out to our staff members to develop your proposal ideas especially if you are a first-time user or want to know more about our capabilities. More details, including information on how to submit, are posted on our website. I look forward to seeing what you bring to us this cycle.
As always, thank you for being part of this community. It’s your ideas, energy, and collaboration that make the Foundry what it is.
Best regards,
Ashfia
Ashfia Huq Director, Molecular Foundry
Read the August 2026 Newsletter
