IEEE dedicates Milestone plaque at CERN...
At a ceremony on 26 September at CERN, W Cleon Anderson, president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), formally dedicated a "Milestone" plaque in recognition of the invention of electronic particle detectors at CERN. The plaque was unveiled by Anderson and Georges Charpak, the Nobel-prize winning inventor of wire-chamber technology at CERN.
With the attribution of this IEEE Milestone, CERN finds itself in good company. There are currently more than 60 Milestones around the world, awarded for such momentous achievements as the landing of the first transatlantic cable, code breaking at Bletchley Park during the Second World War, and the development of the Japanese bullet train, the Tokaido Shinkansen.
Particle-physics research was revolutionized in 1968 when Charpak published a paper describing the multi-wire proportional chamber, a forerunner to many of the particle detectors in use today. This invention, which paved the way for new discoveries in particle physics, also made it possible to increase the rate of data collection by a factor of one thousand.
Charpak, who received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1992 for his invention, has also actively contributed to the use of this type of detector in various applications in medicine and biology. The value of fundamental research institutes such as CERN in fostering innovation of this kind was a recurring theme of the ceremony. Charpak himself stressed the importance of intellectual freedom, saying of his time at the laboratory, "CERN was a fantastic place because of the freedom I had, which permitted me to do a lot of things that were unexpected."
...and honours Romeo Perin with superconductivity award
CERN engineer Romeo Perin has been awarded the IEEE Council on Superconductivity Award for Significant and Continuing Contributions to Applied Superconductivity. He has been recognized for his work in "the field of large-scale applications of superconductivity, in particular for his many contributions in both the design and construction of magnets for particle accelerators."
Perin's contributions include the realization of magnets for the Large Hadron Collider, from the design of the first models and prototypes through the critical phase of industrialization; the design and construction of quadrupoles for the Intersecting Storage Rings; and the leadership of the magnet group, which is responsible for developing magnets and superconductors at CERN.
Perin received the award on 19 September at the International Conference on Magnet Technology in Genoa, when René Flükiger of the University of Geneva was also rewarded for his work in applied superconductivity. Flükiger was recognized for his contribution to the development of useful superconductor cables, with both low and high critical temperature.