Integrated Technologies Core

Abstract – Integrated Technologies Core The overall goal of the Integrated Technologies Core (ITC) is to provide coordinated access and cost-effective support for our facility – the Center for Biomolecular Structure (CBMS). The first role of the ITC is to enable technical and engineering support for three Technology Operations Cores. The first two are the ones that depend on hard-x-ray diffraction – the two Macromolecular Crystallography (MX) beamlines: Frontier Microfocusing Macromolecular Crystallography (FMX), and Highly Automated Macromolecular Crystallography (AMX), and on scattering – Life Science X-ray Scattering (LiX), in structural biological studies. Constructed predominantly with an award from the NIH, these three beamlines support structural biology and other disciplines, and the funding in this grant will support their operation. The third core supported through the ITC is the X-ray Footprinting Core (XFP). The XFP is a partner beamline constructed by Case Western Reserve University. It participated in our Operations and ITC meetings in the first grant cycle and joins the CBMS resource now. In the first grant cycle of the CBMS, the five imaging beamlines, built and operated mostly by DOE Basic Energy Sciences, and that provide access for life-science studies, were supported through a third technical core, the Imaging core. That core is not part of this proposal for P30 funding. Within the P30- driven operational support in this part of the grant, we will provide coordinated access to imaging facilities that integrate the research of the life-science user community, where a user’s experimental plan includes a possible use of the imaging facilities. The second role of the ITC is to coordinate standards for hardware, software, controls, and networking and computing systems. It also assures resource sharing among all technology operations cores in CBMS and supports efficient communication with the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) beamlines and the technical and engineering groups. A third role of the ITC is supporting our computing facilities: coordinating standards for hardware, software, controls, and networking and computing systems. We believe that by organizing our technical staff to function across the four beamlines, we will make better use of our resources. We estimate that our collaboration saves personnel resources equivalent to two to three FTE. By pooling spare parts, and assuming equipment failures to be random, for four beamlines the reduction in investment in spares amounts to approximately 40%. This will allow us to provide backup coverage and extra support among the beamlines, to be consistent in instrument design, and to make efficient use of accepted facilities-maintenance standards. Numerous resources within the ITC exist also in the rest of the NSLS-II; for us to share and exchange knowledge and apparatus will cross-fertilize opportunities for all of us and foster greater efficiency.