CARS Organizational History

The impetus behind CARS came primarily from Prof. Joseph Smith, a noted mineraologist at the University of Chicago. In 1989, when the construction of the Advanced Photon Source was announced, Smith saw an opportunity to put the University immediately at the forefront of an emerging field of science by building a facility at the new light source. Smith vigorously advocated for representation across disciplines. He also sought broad support beyond the University, both in terms of funding and collaboration, including involvement with industrial partners and a close association with the synchrotron community in Australia. In its current form and focus, CARS still owes much to this early influence.

The organization was initially formed as the Consortium for Advanced Radiation Sources (CARS), with three member institutions, to build out three sectors at the APS (see timeline below). In 1992, the University of Chicago created a department-level center, the Center for Advanced Radiation Sources (also CARS), through which the operations at APS are now managed. The Consortium was unusual among the original APS Collaborative Access Teams in being a large, interdisciplinary, multi-institutional effort with an extensive central design and technology team. The Consortium continues as a framework that helps guide the scientific direction of the Center facilities.

From 2005 through 2009, the Center managed the Industrial Macromolecular Crystallography Association Collaborative Access Team (IMCA), which operates sector 17 at the APS. CARS provided technical expertise with the objective of upgrading 17-ID to a state-of-the-art high-throughput facility for structural biology in support of drug design. The upgrade is complete, and 17-ID now provides a very stable, very small beam with high flux, made possible by state-of-the-art adaptive optics. IMCA is now managed by the Hauptman Woodward Medical Research Institute.

Since the late 1980s, several CARS staff members have had a formal collaborative association with the National Synchrotron Light Source (NSLS) at Brookhaven National Laboratory that has involved work at several NSLS beamlines (including X-17, X-19, X-26A, and X-26C).

Major Organizational Milestones