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NEWS

March 2026 ESRFnews

Cavitation videos impress

audience

Outi Supponen of ETH Zurich has been

named this year ’ s recipient of the ESRF

Young Scientist Award , recognising

her pioneering use of ultra - high - speed

X - ray imaging to probe fluid dynamics .

Her plenary presentation at the ESRF

User Meeting excited many in the

audience , in particular the videos

she shared of cavitation and bubble

dynamics captured at the ESRF ’ s ID19

beamline .

Supponen , an assistant professor in

mechanical engineering , specialises

in the experimental study of interfacial

and multiphase fluid dynamics , where

vapour bubbles form , collapse and

interact with complex flows . These

phenomena are fundamental to fields

ranging from biomedical therapies

‒ such as targeted drug delivery and

ultrasonic treatments ‒ to process and

energy engineering . However , they

have long eluded detailed observation

because they occur at extremely small

scales and at very high speeds .

Chaired by Christian Gutt , the award

jury praised Supponen for exploiting

EBS - driven , ultra - high - speed X - ray

phase - contrast imaging . “ Her work

bridges fundamental fluid dynamics

with applications in biomedical ,

process and energy engineering ,

and has led to a series of high -

impact publications as well as new

experimental methodologies now

influencing the broader fluid - dynamics

community they said

In addition to the Young Scientist

Award Supponen recently began a

European Research Council ERC

Starting Grant which will allow her

to deepen her investigations into

cavitation bubble formation and

their interactions with surrounding

media including combining high

speed imaging with computed

microtomography for three

dimensional insights She has been an

ESRF user since 2022

E S R F

They have found that the outer

cementum follows the tusk ’ s familiar

spiral , while the inner dentine has the

opposite ( right - handed ) spiral in its

mineral orientation . According to

Birkedal , it is this counter - twist that

explains how the tusk can be strongly

helical in structure yet grow perfectly

straight –   unlike elephant tusks , for

instance , which tend to curve with age .

“ These results rely on the ESRF , ” he

says . “ It ’ s that special combination of

tightly focused beam and high energy . ”

The fourth keynote was a report on

the upgrade of the Advanced Photon

Source ( APS ) at Argonne National

Laboratory in the US . Stefan Vogt ,

the associate director of Argonne ’ s

X - ray Science Division , outlined how

increased brightness and coherence

are opening new possibilities in

imaging , dynamics and diffraction .

In addition , he highlighted a growing

emphasis on automation and the use

of machine - learning and AI tools to

improve and streamline beamline

performance . As part of a public –

private partnership between the US

Department of Energy and the US

chip manufacturer Nvidia , Argonne

is set to receive five supercomputers to

accelerate scientific research .

The result could be beamlines

that execute experiments and

analyse their data autonomously ,

Vogt said . Referring to research into

connectomics , where petabyte - scale

datasets of animal brains are now

being generated , he added : “ We ’ re

going to need AI to make sense of

what we ’ re seeing . ”

Between the scientific presentations ,

the ESRF director - general Jean

Daillant reviewed some of the

accomplishments of the ESRF – EBS

in its five years of user operation :

the building or refurbishment of

10 beamlines , a 21 % reduction in

overall energy consumption and a

host of instrumentation upgrades ,

not to mention an overhaul in the

data strategy and access modes .

Providing information about budget

constraints and Council decisions ,

he nevertheless pointed out that a

one - time exceptional Members ’ and

Associates ’ contribution would permit

upgrades of the storage - ring injector

and the construction of a 4th harmonic

radio - frequency system , as well as the

construction of a new life - sciences

nano - imaging beamline at ID18 .

Daillant concluded his presentation

with a look to the future , and the

drafting of a new long - term scientific

plan . This will see the next decade

fully exploiting the EBS by running

beamlines as coordinated , data - driven

platforms that are easier for users to

work with , he said , while at the same

time preparing the technological and

scientific ground for a future , post -

EBS X - ray source .

After the plenary session , there were

poster clips , the presentation of the

annual Young Scientist Award ( see

story , right ) and an evening reception ,

ahead of the final day ’ s microsymposia .

A L L P H O T O S B Y E S R F

“ We ’ re going to

need AI to make

sense of what

we ’ re seeing . ”