The Cosmic Ray Division - Shines Brighter Than Ev

[Siamanto]

PRESS RELEASE

Anahid Yeremian

Support Committee for Armenia's Cosmic Ray Division

P.O. Box 655, Menlo Park, CA 94026

anahid@slac.stanford.edu

650 - 926 - 4444

 

November 4, 2004

 

The Cosmic Ray Division - Shines Brighter than Ever

 

The Cosmic Ray Division (CRD) of the Alikhanian Physics Institute

(formerly known as Yerevan Physics Institute) shines in the

international scientific arena, despite the difficult conditions in

Armenia. Scientific advances at the CRD continue at a steady pace

with ties between the Diaspora and the CRD stronger than ever, making

us all proud of our joint accomplishments. For detailed information

about the CRD please visit WWW.CRDFRIENDS.ORG . Here are a few

highlights:

 

Important New Scientific Partnerships

 

CRD is a leader in ground based Space Weather Research as indicated by

endorsements from the scientific community around the world. In 2004

the CRD officially signed a memorandum of understanding for scientific

cooperation with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European

Union's Commission On Science and Technology (COST). These are

important additions to other prestigious research partners such as the

National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) in the U.S. CRD's

close scientific collaboration with EU scientific organizations will

strengthen Armenia's bid to join the EU in the future.

 

Strong Scientific Presence in International Conferences

 

During the past year CRD scientists have made important scientific

contributions at several international conferences, including the NATO

Space Weather Workshop in Moscow, the European Cosmic Ray Conference

in Florence, and the COmmittee for SPace Research (COSPAR) congress in

Paris. In many cases, CRD's participation was by special invitation.

Prof. Ashot Chilingarian, the visionary head of the CRD, is also

Armenia's representative to COSPAR, and his active participation in

the committee's activities have earned him a letter of commendation

from the Executive Director of COSPAR: "... I would like to take the

opportunity of this letter to thank you [Prof. Chilingarian], as

Armenian National Representative, for participating actively in the

committee's activities. It is rare for new members to participate to

the degree that you have, e.g., attending committee meetings,

nominating candidates for awards, seeking COSPAR's assistance in

obtaining EU funding, etc. Armenia's participation has added to the

value of our Committee's work and been remarked by our officers and

certainly other national and international scientific union members as

well. We look forward to future close relations, to widening

participation by Armenian scientists in the international space

research community, and trust you will not hesitate to contact us

concerning capacity building activities or other matters in which our

collaboration may be of assistance. Sincerely yours, Dr. I. Revah,

Executive Director, COSPAR"

 

5 International Organizations Reviewed CRD in 2004.

 

>From February through September, five different review commission from

the United states and Europe visited CRD's research stations on Mt.

Aragats and headquarters in Yerevan. Visitors were introduced to the

CRD's vision and the progress of the various projects by Prof. Ashot

Chilingarian. Discussions regarding sensible science policy,

particularly as it relates to Armenia, ensued. Several visitors, who

made their visit in the summer months and were able to go to the

mountain stations, emphasized that, although they already had plenty

of knowledge about the Aragats research center, only after detailed

examination of the facilities and the explanations presented to them,

did they fully appreciate the importance of CRD to the world-wide

attempts to create a reliable and timely service for Space Weather

forecasting. In his oral close-out report to the CRD group on

September 25, Dr. Manfred Fleischer, deputy director in charge of

research at the Deutsches Elektronen SYnchrotron (DESY), emphasized

the 3 main ingredients that characterize the relevance and importance

of good research to the world. He congratulated the CRD staff for

fully satisfying these rather severe requirements: 1. incorporation of

their research activities into numerous world-wide scientific

networks, 2. co-authorship of joint papers with other scientific

organizations, 3. the attraction of very large fraction of CRD's

funding from international sources. All the visitors rated CRD's

performance as outstanding and commended CRD's important contributions

to the international scientific community.

 

New PhD Student, Artur Reimers

 

The CRD has 18 students and young trainees who are completing various

stages of their education at Yerevan State University. These students

come to the CRD for lectures on astrophysics and some of them elect to

conduct their undergraduate, masters, or PhD thesis in the field of

Cosmic Rays and Space Weather. Graduates from the CRD program are

offered research opportunities at the CRD - first as young trainees,

and then as full employees. This academic year the Support Committee

for Armenia's Cosmic Ray Division (SACRD) welcomes our new PhD

student, Artur Reimers, who developed an interest in Cosmic Ray

Physics as an undergraduate student of Prof. Chilingarian.

 

Social Responsibility at the CRD

 

In addition to its outstanding international scientific

accomplishments, the CRD takes social responsibility in Armenia

seriously. As CRD's computer systems were upgraded, the older

computers were donated to a school in the village of Antarout on

Mt. Aragats. CRD's university students supported the school by

installing the computers and providing technical assistance to the

students and staff. Three years ago when Dr. Art Hazarabedian,

founder of the Armenian Technology Group (ATG), donated 20 beehives

with bees to the CRD to make honey for CRD's staff stationed on

Mt. Aragats, the CRD decided to committed 10% of the honey to

soup-kitchens and orphanages in Armenia. The CRD has donated at least

10% of the honey to the less fortunate every year since.

 

Diaspora's involvement with the CRD.

 

SCACRD member, Joe Dagdigian, recently returned from Armenia where he

visited the CRD for the 3rd time. "I am so impressed with these

people", says Dagdigian. "They accomplish so much with so little, and

are determined to stay and prosper in Armenia. My wife Lisa and I are

extremely honored to be associated with such people, and with CRD's

head Prof. Ashot Chilingarian. These people are both superb

scientists and dedicated Armenians. They are setting an example of

how to revitalize Armenian Science. While a lot of challenges remain,

the advances CRD has made during the past 5 years under

Prof. Chilingarian's leadership are astounding. "

 

The SCACRD thanks the AAA, ANC, ARS, ATG, KoV, UAF, and the Armenian

Diaspora press for its continued support. We thank Hairenik and NAASR

bookstores in Watertown and Belmont, MA and the Sardarabad bookstore

in Glendale, CA for carrying the CRD calendars featuring beautiful

sights from Armenia. The proceeds from the sale of these calendars

benefits the CRD.

 

Special thanks also go to the Armenian Engineers and Scientists of

America (AESA), 417 West Arden St., #112C, Glendale, CA 91203; the

AESA - MI Section, P.O. Box 4867, Troy, MI 48099; and the Bay Area

Friends of Armenia (BAFA), P.O. box 3584, Daly City, CA 94015 for

accepting tax deductible contributions designated specifically for the

CRD. We especially thank you, the individual Diaspora members, who

have caught the vision of Prof. Chilingarian and continue to stay with

us on this exciting journey. Most of all we thank Prof. Ashot

Chilingarian, the 80 dedicated scientists and technicians, and the 18

students of the CRD, who stay in Armenia and contribute to our

motherland's accelerated development with their talents.

 

Photo: Prof. Ashot Chilingarian (left), showing the new detectors

being designed for CRD's Space Weather program, to a US delegation

from the International Science and Technology Center.

 

 

http://groong.usc.edu/news/msg96566.html

[Sip]

Received through email:

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NASA Includes Armenia’s Cosmic Ray Stations on its Observatory List:

 

In preparation for the International Heliophysical Year (IHY – 2007), NASA has founded a collaboration of international spacecraft and observatories that conduct solar research. The first step of this collaboration is to display the participating observatories and their internet links on the NASA internet site. The Aragats Space Environmental Center (ASEC) of the Cosmic Ray Division (CRD) of the Alikhanian Physics Institute in Armenia is number two on the NASA site. To see it please visit

 

http://orpheus.nascom.nasa.gov/~zarro/ihy/ , click on “VIEW Participating Observatories List” and scroll down to the second entry on the “Spacecraft and Observatory” list.

 

For Continually updated information about the Cosmic Ray Division, please visit www.crdfriends.org

 

Those of you who have your own lists, I would appreciate it if you would pass on this latest outstanding achievement of the CRD and Armenia to your lists.

 

Best wishes and many thanks for your continued support.

 

Anahid

 

 

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Anahid Dian Yeremian

Accelerator Physicist

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center

[armjan]

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