9/2025: Charles Majkrzak and Brian Maranville from the NIST Center for Neutron Research visited MURR, bringing supermirrors for both the spin polarizer and analyzer, along with a standard 1000 Å nickel film sample. They assisted us in installing and commissioning the polarization capability, which enables the characterization of magnetic structures at the instrument.

6/2025: Coby Chapman joined our team as a summer intern under MURR's inaugural Nuclear Career Academy internship program. During this internship, Coby will assist in upgrading the electrical system, which includes installing micro-stepping motors with encoders for all components and constructing new electrical housings for controllers (Galils), amplifiers, and power supplies. This initiative aims to minimize electrical and electronic noise in the detector area, enabling reflectivity measurements to achieve a higher maximum Q. 

[Update] Coby successfully transitioned to a student research assistant role at MURR and continued to work with us until June 2026.

3/2025: Roberto Herrera and Louis Smith have joined our instrument team as student research assistants. Roberto is a senior undergraduate majoring in computer science. He will develop a Python-based graphical user interface (GUI) to enhance our current "spec" control software. This new interface will be more interactive and user-friendly, facilitating automated sample alignment and data acquisition. 

Louis, a junior undergraduate majoring in mechanical engineering, will assist with all CAD designs for the new components of the GANS reflectometer. He will also collaborate with the renowned machine shops from the Physics Department and MURR to fabricate those parts.

11/2024: David Hoogerheide and Megan Mitchell from the NIST Center for Neutron Research visited MURR, bringing a standard sample of a well-defined 100 Å SiO2 film and helping to assess the condition of the GANS instrument.