The 2016 Fermilab Users Meeting was a resounding success. Attendees learned about progress on neutrino programs, the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN, muon experiments, accelerator science and technology, and dark matter and dark energy research. They also heard about the Fermilab Campus Master Plan, the laboratory’s outreach efforts and news from each of the laboratory’s scientific divisions.
Industry vendors set up booths in the Wilson Hall atrium for the first time at a Users Meeting. Companies had the opportunity to present their state-of-the-art equipment and new industry advances to the user community.
As always, Festa Italiana was a big hit. Barry Barish of the Caltech talked about LIGO’s discovery of gravitational waves at this year’s public lecture. And attendees honored the MINOS neutrino experiment, which will conclude its final data-taking period at the end of the current NuMI run.
Here’s a by-the-numbers rundown of this year’s Users Meeting:
551 meeting registrants – the most since 2011
45 presentations given over two days
40 posters at the poster session (chosen from 60 submitted; three winners chosen)
18 vendors at the meeting
107 people who signed in to the American Physical Society table at the poster session
33 pages in the 2016 Users Meeting Program Book
400 cannolis served at Festa Italiana
845 tickets sold for the public lecture given by Barry Barish about detecting gravitational waves
46 slides in Fermilab Director Nigel Lockyer’s Director’s Report
1 recipient of the URA Tollestrup Award
1 recipient of the URA Thesis Award
118 PhDs received since the previous Users Meeting by students who had an affiliation with Fermilab

Users Meeting 2016
Light shines through Kuhn Barn at Festa Italiana. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
Summertime grilling at Festa Italiana kicks off the Users Meeting. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
It's the classic combo: mozzarella, tomatoes and basil.

Users Meeting 2016
Festa Italiana featured a meat slicer this year. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
The New Perspectives young scientist poster session was a lively event. Attendees actively engaged with the scientists. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
This year's breaks featured upgraded food and coffee. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
Users Meeting Co-chair Thomas Strauss

Users Meeting 2016
Timothy Meyer discusses the future of Fermilab. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
Do you see anything interesting? Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
Alan Robinson talks about dark matter experiments. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
Michelle Medeiros discusses the SeaQuest experiment. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
Ketino Kaadze of Kansas State University discussed the latest results from the ATLAS and CMS experiments. With all eyes on an anomalous bump in both experiments' data at 750 GeV, Kaadze said more data would be needed to determine just what the detectors are seeing. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
Pushpa Bhat enjoys a conversation with Jim Pivarski during a break. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
URA Executive Director Marta Cehelsky presents scientist Daniel Grün with the URA Thesis Award. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
Fermilab scientist Alvin Tollestrup and URA Executive Director Marta Cehelsky present scientist Alex Drlica-Wagner with the URA Tollestrup Award. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
At the end of the first day of the Users Meeting, Fermilab Director Nigel Lockyer gives his director's report. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
A vendor fair was a new addition to this year's Users Meeting. And it's always nice to play around with framing devices. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
The vendor fair took place in the Wilson Hall atrium. Companies had the chance to present their state-of-the-art equipment and new industry advances to the user community. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
Caltech's Barry Barish, right, gave a public talk on the discovery of gravitational waves by the LIGO experiment. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
Deputy Director for LBNF Chris Mossey talks about the progress being made on the future Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
Users mill about the atrium. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
MINOS+ co-spokesperson Karol Lang speaks at the End of MINOS reception. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
Rob Plunkett, former MINOS co-spokesperson, listens to Karol Lang's remarks on the contributions MINOS made to neutrino research. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Users Meeting 2016
Lots of users attended the MINOS reception. Photo: Reidar Hahn