EG&G leads review of LHC triplet design-build process

First row, left to right: John Mammosser, JLAB; Louis Tucciarone, URS; Bob Grant, FRA. Second row, left to right: Bruce Strauss, DOE; Louis Smith, EG&G; Jeff Cotton, EG&G; Jim Eckhardt, URS; Gordon Kennedy, EG&G.

While repair efforts get underway on the LHC triplets at CERN, Fermilab is taking action at home to analyze and understand the causes of the triplet failure. A review team led by EG&G, a division of the engineering firm URS, will examine the design-build process with the goal of ensuring that such failures don't happen again.

"Part of repairing the triplets is learning what went wrong," said Fermilab Director Pier Oddone. "By reviewing the process of building the LHC components, we will find out where we need to change."

For the next 12 weeks, a jointly appointed team of experts in high-energy physics, project management, engineering process improvement and quality assurance will meet on- and off-site to conduct interviews and review documentation. Team members will review the entire LHC project from inception to conclusion. Fermilab hosted the team from May 29-31 to begin the review process.

"We take this review very seriously," said EG&G representative Louis Smith, the team's leader. "We look forward to providing this service to Fermilab and appreciate the confidence in us to get the job done."

Oddone, Smith, and members of Fermilab management stressed the process review's intention to improve engineering practices at Fermilab.

"The review is straightforward and will be conducted in a professional manner," said Jeff Cotton, a team member and EG&G's onsite contract mananger. "This is purely a process review to pinpoint the causes that allowed Fermilab to get into this situation. It is not a search for a guilty party. "

The review will culminate with a briefing and presentation of a final report for Fermilab's consideration. EG&G will suggest current practice modifications to reduce the likelihood of recurrence.

"The lessons learned from this review should result in a stronger institution and prepare us to manage future international efforts at Fermilab," said Cotton.

Accelerator Physics Center to forge Fermilab future

From left to right: Argonne Accelerator Systems Director Rod Gerig, AD's Vladimir Shiltsev, Fermilab Deputy Director Young-Kee Kim and Steve Holmes, Associate Director for Accelerators celebrate the opening of the Accelerator Physics Center at Fermilab.

A champagne celebration and a Noah's Ark comparison yesterday marked the launch of what Fermilab's accelerator scientists hope will be the foundation for the lab's future. The new Accelerator Physics Center will begin its work on accelerator research and development today.

"The Fermilab accelerator-based program is approaching troubled waters. In a few years, Tevatron Collider Run II operations will wind down slowly, so Fermilab decided to equip some kind of Noah's Ark," said Vladimir Shiltsev. "My job is to captain the boat to the promised land."

Shiltsev will direct the new Accelerator Physics Center. Through efforts at the APC, Shiltsev hopes that Fermilab will be able to develop modern simulation tools and improve beam theory; to conduct experimental accelerator research for muon colliders and high-intensity neutrino sources; and to come up with new methods for advanced accelerator research and development.

"There really is a need to get an acceptable focus on accelerator R&D, and the Accelerator Physics Center is our attempt to do that - to get a dedicated core of people to think about accelerator research and development full-time, and to have a home for those who are still involved in operations but want to dedicate a fraction of their time to accelerator R&D," said Steve Holmes, associate director for accelerators.

The APC will provide a physical location and an organizational structure for Fermilab accelerator scientists and engineers as well as collaborators from other institutions. More than 40 Fermilab employees will transfer to the APC from their positions in the Accelerator, Particle Physics and Technical Divisions to focus solely on accelerator research and development. Shiltsev also expects the APC to become part-time home to 40-50 collaborators.

Another goal of the APC is training the next generation of accelerator scientists. The new Center will host the US Particle Accelerator School. It will provide the opportunity to expand the current PhD program for students interested in accelerator physics. This effort is a collaboration between Fermilab and Argonne, and talks have already begun between the two labs and universities in Northern Illinois. Currently, there are eight students involved in the PhD program, a number that Fermilab's Deputy Director Young-Kee.Kim - one of initiators of the Center - hopes can rapidly expand to at least 20.

The new Center physically resides on the 12th and 13th floors of Wilson Hall, although it will involve experimental facilities all over the site, including the Muon Test Area, the Meson Detector Building and the New Muon Lab. For more information on the APC, visit the Center's web site.

-- Rhianna Wisniewski

ILC industry thinks outside the box

FALC has commissioned a study on the technical benefits of the ILC, something that will push scientists to think outside the box.

What do the International Linear Collider and nuclear waste transmutation, cargo inspection or food and water sterilisation have in common? Technology. The same technology that the ILC will use to explore the fundamental nature of the universe may also have potential applications in other areas of science and industry. This is what a group of ILC scientists and industry met to discuss at an ILC Technical Applications Workshop on 15 May in Dulles, Virginia.

-- Elizabeth Clements