The two-day “2026 ZNetUS Workshop”, was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from August 10-11, 2026. The workshop provided a valuable forum for participants to present scientific results from the two most recent user facility calls and to discuss new ideas for future research directions.
A total of 85 researchers participated in the event that included 33 invited presentations from representatives of government agencies, universities, and industry, along with 27 poster presentations by students ranging from the undergraduate through postdoctoral level.
Attendees of the 2026 ZNetUS workshop at Hotel Andaluz in Albuquerque, NM.
New this time was the award of two best student posters: Joshua Morgan for his development of an ultra-fast x-ray imaging camera, and Luke Filor for demonstrating current pulse shortening on a new dynamic switching platform.
Student poster award: (left-right) Joshua Morgan (Caltech), Luke Filor (Cornell), Jens Schwarz (Chair, ZNetUS)
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) generously supported travel and registration for 22 students and principal investigators, half of whom also participated in the subsequent Z Fundamental Science (ZFS) meeting. The workshop aimed to broaden the ZNetUS user community and encourage new user proposals ahead of the third call for proposals, opening September 1, 2026.
For the first time, research presented at the workshop will be featured in a peer-reviewed special issue of IEEE Transactions on Plasma Science, highlighting the significance and impact of the meeting’s scientific contributions.