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Newsletter:  Dec 2001/ Issue 1
PNNL Hosts NATO Intern from Uzbekistan

Dr. Umar Salikhbayev, former senior physicist at the prestigious Dubna Research Institute, near Moscow, and, now, Deputy Director of Uzbekistan’s Nuclear Physics Institute, returned home earlier this year after completing a NATO Internship with PNNL. The Science Policy and Management Internship, which lasted two months, provided practical training and experience in the design, development, and market application of new science, and project management. Salikhbayev and PNNL colleagues used the opportunity of working together to identify possible areas of future collaboration between their institutions.

Such cooperation would be mutually beneficial. As expressed by Ghuzal Badamshina of the Battelle/PNNL Seattle Research Center, who orchestrated much of Salikhbayev’s internship activities, “Vast changes are taking place in Central Asia and it is important for the Lab to form a presence in the region and foster relations.” Conversely, Central Asian science and business communities are eager to increase interaction with their Western counterparts. As Salikhbayev stated in his internship report, “Newly Independent States are aggressively seeking new ways and systems for science management, different from the obsolete Soviet practices. Science and technology policies are being newly defined and shaped by the challenges… to enter new markets and remain competitive in them.” His principal internship goals were to study methods of commercializing new science and technologies, and to lay the groundwork for a long-term relationship with PNNL. His desire to intern with the Lab developed through contacts with PNNL scientists visiting Uzbekistan, and familiarity with the Lab’s experience in “assisting their US and foreign clients in technology and commercialization and building institutions to support this.”

Salikhbayev developed an understanding of Lab strategy, planning and management while with PNNL. He was also introduced to institutions in Seattle such as the Washington Technology Center, which unites science and industry in order to bring new developments to the marketplace, and the University of Washington, where he forged relationships with individuals such as Professor Ilse Cirtautas of the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Department, and Professor Henry Lubatti of the Physics Department. Salikhbayev also took advantage of his US visit to attend an arms control conference at the Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico to hear American and European perspectives on current arms control issues, and to meet policymakers and security experts from around the world.

An important part of Salikhbayev’s internship was his week at PNNL’s main campus in Richland, Washington during which he learned about the Lab’s extensive capabilities and explored possible areas of future collaboration. He met with 26 staff members and toured five facilities, including the Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab, the Radiological Standards and Calibration Laboratory, and the Hanford “B Reactor.”

During the visit, Associate Laboratory Director, Walter Apley, expressed willingness to host another intern from Uzbekistan for three to six months. Director of the Pacific Northwest Center for Global Security, Jim Fuller, who, in Salikhbayev’s words, has been “a particularly strong supporter of expanded collaboration between PNNL and the Uzbekistan scientific community,” demonstrated openness to “hosting interns and developing wider ties.”

Salikhbayev and PNNL scientists also explored the possibility of conducting a study on global warming in Central Asia using climate modeling. According to Salikhbayev, “Similar PNNL studies are in progress in Russia, Bulgaria, Poland and other countries… the results would forecast the impact of global warming and other environmental changes of the region’s ecology for the next 10 to 50 years.” He was also impressed to learn that the Lab hosts 900 student interns each year to participate in projects, stating, “The statistics on the US Government funding for educational programs of this kind are striking and, from my point of view, it would be very exciting for students in Uzbekistan to be able to consider similar opportunities.”