The increasing momentum behind the proposed Project X accelerator facility has swept Steve Holmes into a new position at Fermilab and put in motion the search for a new associate director.
Holmes is beginning the transition out of the post of associate laboratory director for accelerators, which he has held for the past decade, so that he can focus solely on Project X. He has been acting project manager for Project X since August 2008, but could rarely dedicate more than 15 percent of his time to the development effort of the high-intensity proton facility.
Steve Holmes
“I’ve been here a long time and frankly, the lab could probably benefit from new blood in this office,” Holmes said. “I would like to dedicate myself full time to Project X. I think that is the most important thing I can do for the lab right now.”
To the Project X team he brings project management experience shepherding the Main Injector to completion. He has had a strong role in the evolution of Project X since its 2004 inception and has put together a strong team, including outside collaborators. During the past year, the team has generated two initial configuration options and cost estimates, as well as initial concepts of how Project X would further a future muon collider. He is hopeful the project will receive the first stage of DOE approval, Critical Decision-0, by the end of FY2010.
“I don’t think the US can have a world-leading, sustainable, competitive particle physics program based solely on overseas accelerators,” Holmes said. “When we build Project X, it will form the basis of a world-leading program for 30 years.”
Holmes will handle the day-to-day work of Project X, including guiding it through the DOE requirements for approval and construction.
“Project X would be an extraordinary machine at the intensity frontier for neutrino, kaon, muon and nuclear physics,” said Fermilab Director Pier Oddone. “It would develop the technologies to support a future global facility at the energy frontier. We are fortunate that Steve will lead Project X on the path forward. He has experience in leading large accelerator projects successfully, and he has repeatedly proven his ability to build collaborations and large-scale projects.”
Holmes will work closely with his replacement, who will hold management and oversight responsibilities for all Fermilab accelerator operations, accelerator science and technology R&D, and construction support for new accelerator facilities. In addition his replacement will serve as line manager for the Accelerator Division, Technical Division and Accelerator Physics Center.
Located 45 miles west of Chicago, Fermilab’s particle accelerator complex provides beam to particle physics experiments, test facilities and a cancer treatment center. The proposed Project X would replace the 40-year-old linear accelerator and booster ring.
The associate director for accelerators plays a central role in developing and implementing the strategy for future development of the accelerator complex at Fermilab and aligning this strategy within an international context.
“My replacement will be responsible for assuring there is a coherent vision for the accelerator complex into the future and that the R&D to support that vision is effectively organized and executed,” Holmes said. “The job is to figure out how to build on the base we expect to establish over the next decade: the Long Baseline Neutrino Experiment, Mu2e and Project X.” Long range opportunities are expected to include a muon collider, the ILC (organized in collaboration with the ILC program director), US contributions to upgrades of the LHC, and other options that might open up via the advanced accelerator R&D program.
“Fermilab has a vibrant and flexible plan to keep the laboratory and US particle physics on the pathway to discovery,” Oddone said. “The next associate director of accelerators at Fermilab will lead the accelerator development that is critical to research at the energy and intensity frontiers.”
The search committee includes: Maury Tigner of Cornell University (chair); Young-Kee Kim, Fermilab’s deputy director (deputy chair); Roland Garoby, of CERN; Helen Edwards, Roger Dixon, David Harding and Sergei Nagaitsev, all of Fermilab.
The committee welcomes applications from and nominations of qualified candidates from around the world. The detailed job description of the ALDA position has been posted on the Fermilab employment pages.