Thanks to all of you who came out to hear about the state of Fermilab on Tuesday at the last all-hands meeting of 2017. This column summarizes the highlights from the presentation.
- Dec. 19 marks the official end of Fermilab’s 50th anniversary year. Thank you to everyone who contributed to the many successful celebrations, events, and activities throughout 2017. Special appreciation to the Fermi Site Office and DOE Office of High Energy Physics for their support over the past half-century and their continued guidance as we move into the future.
- LBNF/DUNE and PIP-II continue to make excellent progress. Ross shaft renovation in Lead, SD, was completed in October and preparations are underway for a 3,700-foot rock conveyor. The DUNE collaboration has 1,041 collaborators from 176 institutions in 31 countries and continues to grow. The PIP-II project team completed a successful independent project review (CD-1) in December.
- Dark Energy Survey shares exciting results. Now in its fifth year of surveying 300 million galaxies and 3000 supernovae via a telescope in Chile, DES recorded images of the first confirmed explosion from two colliding neutron stars ever seen by astronomers, following detection of gravitational waves from the collision by LIGO/Virgo. This year DES also revealed the most accurate measurement of dark matter structure in the universe.
- Safety first. Fermilab had a good safety record this past year. It’s critical for everyone to continue to maintain vigilance, plan your work, assess risk and establish controls.
- Shaping the next 50 years. To succeed, we must continue to grow our network of partners around the world; maintain a good relationship with the Department of Energy, administration and Congress; keep our projects on time and within budget; and work safely and collaboratively with each other.
On behalf of senior management, I wish everyone a happy holiday season.