Fermi National Acceleratory Laboratory rolled out the red carpet on July 17 to welcome U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright for his first visit to America’s, and the world’s, neutrino research capital.
Secretary Wright had the opportunity to discover first-hand how Fermilab is driving American leadership in fundamental sciences and advancing cutting-edge fields like artificial intelligence and quantum science. He not only saw how Fermilab is pursuing groundbreaking research today, but also how the lab is preparing to maintain American momentum in the future by advancing critical flagship projects like the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, or LBNF-DUNE. Most importantly, he was able to see Fermilab’s leadership in encouraging collaboration among researchers from around the world to better tackle complex scientific challenges.
“It was an honor to host Secretary Wright during his visit to Fermilab and show him how we are helping America lead in science and innovation,” Fermilab interim director Young-Kee Kim said. “Secretary Wright made clear how much he appreciates the value of basic science and the role Fermilab and all the national laboratories play in America’s future.”
During his visit, Secretary Wright stopped at the Main Injector — one of Fermilab’s five particle accelerators, which is notable for producing the world’s most powerful high-energy neutrino beam. He traveled down more than 300 feet to Fermilab’s underground laboratory to see one of the prototype detectors for the LBNF-DUNE project, which will use neutrinos to help answer the fundamental question of why our universe is dominated by matter. He also observed work underway on the Proton Improvement Plan-II project, critical to powering LBNF-DUNE and other experiments, and even had the chance to sign one of the PIP-II cryomodules.
With the U.S. Department of Energy focused on advancing America’s preeminence in the field of artificial intelligence, Secretary Wright got to learn more about how Fermilab is leveraging its expertise in both AI and quantum computing. He toured the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center, one of DOE’s five National Quantum Information Science Research Centers and learned more about how Fermilab is supporting the development of new quantum computers that will enable unprecedented positive impacts for science and society.
The leader of the pack is right here at Fermi, where a huge amount of the effort is just trying to understand the basic structure of the cosmos.
Chris Wright, U.S. Secretary of Energy
At the iconic Wilson Hall, Secretary Wright visited the Remote Operations Center for the CMS experiment at CERN. CMS is one of two particle detectors at the Large Hadron Collider that confirmed the existence of the Higgs boson, and Fermilab is the host institution for the U.S. collaboration that contributed to the landmark discovery.
Secretary Wright capped his visit by addressing more than 1,000 Fermilab staff, interns and members of the broader laboratory community, saying he was “educated and inspired” by what he saw during the tour. Secretary Wright also reconfirmed his commitment, and that of DOE, to the types of basic scientific research at the heart of Fermilab’s mission.
“The leader of the pack is right here at Fermi, where a huge amount of the effort is just trying to understand the basic structure of the cosmos,” Secretary Wright said. “Fermilab is engaged in a noble and valued pursuit. We must pursue that path.”
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is America’s premier national laboratory for particle physics and accelerator research. Fermi Forward Discovery Group manages Fermilab for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. Visit Fermilab’s website at www.fnal.gov and follow us on social media.
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