Award recognizes beamline scientists for significant contributions to research or instrumentation at the Advanced Photon Source

BY MARGUERITE HUBER | APRIL 23, 2024

Denis T. Keane recognized for furthering and supporting innovation that uniquely combines industrial scale testing and product development.

Physicist Denis T. Keane is the 2024 recipient of the Gopal K. Shenoy Excellence in Beamline Science Award. He is a beamline scientist and director of the Dupont-Northwestern-Dow Collaborative Access Team (DND-CAT) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Photon Source (APS) at DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory. He is also a research professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Department at Northwestern University.

The annual award recognizes active beamline scientists at the APS, a DOE Office of Science user facility, for significant contributions to research or instrumentation and support of the beamline user community. The APS Users Office, which grants the award, renamed it in 2017 in honor of the late Gopal K. Shenoy. Shenoy was an accomplished materials scientist closely involved in the inception of the APS as well as an enthusiastic supporter of scientists who conducted research there.

“It is a special honor to receive the Gopal K. Shenoy award,” said Keane. ​“Thirty years ago, Gopal welcomed us to the APS as we began building the DND beamlines, and his leadership was vital in enabling us and the APS to succeed. I am grateful to my scientific collaborators and the DND staff for our partnership, and to DuPont, Northwestern, Dow and the APS for their support.”

Keane has served as director of DND-CAT since 2005. Located in sector five of the APS, the state-of-the-art X-ray facility is unique in that it combines industrial scale testing and product development with academic vigor, meaning Keane has the challenging task of balancing the needs and expectations of both industry and academic partners. He is also taking on the job of upgrading the DND-CAT facility concurrently with the APS Upgrade.

“It is a special honor to receive the Gopal K. Shenoy award. Thirty years ago, Gopal welcomed us to the APS as we began building the DND beamlines, and his leadership was vital in enabling us and the APS to succeed. I am grateful to my scientific collaborators and the DND staff for our partnership, and to DuPont, Northwestern, Dow and the APS for their support.” — Denis T. Keane, physicist and director of DND-CAT  

During Keane’s time as director, DND-CAT has been an important contributor to the productivity of the APS, producing more than 1,200 papers. Nominators mentioned that only under truly extraordinary leadership can a beamline achieve, year after year, such a scientific impact.

Keane has also made significant direct contributions to science through his own research. He has been successful in developing and demonstrating new advanced synchrotron X-ray methods and has made an impact on the field of microtomography.

Those who nominated him commented on his patience, his problem solving ability and his dedication. They mentioned his commitment to teaching students and postdocs how to operate the beamline, and how to adapt their experiments to make the measurements possible.

Known for supporting the APS user community, Keane has served as a member of and was elected chair of the APS Partner User Council. He has also served as appointed chair of the Beamtime Allocation Committee, which is responsible for allocating general user beamtime.

Keane received his doctorate in physics from Princeton University and his undergraduate degree in physics from Harvard University.