Mike is the Director of the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), an internationally leading research facility, operated by Stanford University on behalf of the US Department of Energy, open to users from around the world. He is an Associate Laboratory Director of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, and a full Professor of Photon Science at Stanford University.

LCLS represents a revolution in x-ray science. The x-rays produced by LCLS are a billion times brighter than can be produced by conventional sources, such as a synchrotron, and are delivered in ultrafast bursts - typically a few tens of femtoseconds (10^-15 seconds). This opens up transformational opportunities for the study of structural biology, quantum materials, ultrafast chemistry, and novel states of matter. Since its initial operation in 2009, LCLS has enabled a remarkable series of studies, via its ability to provide atomic resolution information, with freeze-frame ‘movies’ of how atomic, chemical and biological systems evolve on ultrafast timescales.