Director’s Corner 15 January 2009 Barry Barish Plug compatibility: rationale and technical aspects addressed An interesting and challenging concept that has emerged in developing the ILC’s technical design is that of plug compatibility for the superconducting radio frequency (SCRF) accelerating systems. Plug compatibility is not a new term invented for ILC – a common definition […]
Large-scale international research facilities
A paper for the National Science and Technology Summit
The nature of modern scientific research has been changing due to the increased reliance on large-scale scientific facilities for forefront research. The programmes at our DOE National Laboratories have become focused more and more around large facilities and the programme of Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC) has emerged as a very important part […]
A New Year
Director’s Corner 8 January 2009 Barry Barish A New Year Greetings and best wishes for the New Year! We all greet each New Year with hopes, dreams and anticipation of things to come. As we all know, this was just not the case for the ILC community as we entered 2008 a year ago. In […]
A low-energy gamma-gamma collider as a first step toward the ILC
Director’s Corner 11 December 2008 Barry Barish A low-energy gamma-gamma collider as a first step toward the ILC? The International Linear Collider Steering Committee (ILCSC) met immediately after last month’s International Committee on Future Accelerators (ICFA) Seminar on future prospects for particle physics. The spirit of new ideas that prevailed at the ICFA meeting continued […]
Discussing the future – SLAC ICFA Seminar
Director’s Corner 4 December 2008 Barry Barish Discussing the future — SLAC ICFA Seminar Visionary thinkers converged at SLAC for an ICFA Seminar (International Committee for Future Accelerators) on possible future projects for particle physics during the last week in October. This was the ninth such ICFA-sponsored seminar, held every three years with the expressed […]
The legacy of Edoardo Amaldi
Director’s Corner 20 November 2008 Barry Barish The legacy of Edoardo Amaldi Edoardo Amaldi was one of the giants who shaped our field. He was celebrated last month at the University of Rome on the 100th anniversary of his birth in the inspiring meeting “The Legacy of Edoardo Amaldi in Science and Society.” I was […]
Formalising the CLIC-ILC collaboration
Director’s Corner 13 November 2008 Barry Barish Formalising the CLIC-ILC collaboration Collaboration between our ILC R&D and design work and the parallel effort towards the CLIC concept stands to be of benefit to both groups. This direction also promises to help break down barriers between the two groups, making the worldwide effort towards a linear […]
The first Project Advisory Committee review
Director’s Corner 6 November 2008 Barry Barish The first Project Advisory Committee review An integral part of process of carrying out a project is the review system. It takes a lot of effort (we commonly feel that is it too much effort) to prepare for, present and respond to review committees. However, the other side […]
2nd Asia ILC R&D Seminar
Director’s Corner 23 October 2008 Barry Barish 2nd Asia ILC R&D Seminar One year ago, I participated in an ILC R&D seminar organised during the China Center for Advanced Science and Technology (CCAST) workshop in Beijing. That successful seminar provided a forum for discussing all the Asian ILC R&D technical work, as well as giving […]
Progress and plans for ILC R&D at JLab
Director’s Corner 16 October 2008 Barry Barish Progress and plans for ILC R&D at JLab Jefferson Laboratory (JLab) in Newport News, Virginia, is a major DOE laboratory for Nuclear Physics. The laboratory has a pioneering 6-GeV electron accelerator that is based on superconducting radiofrequencey (RF) accelerating technology. JLab has a great deal of expertise, experience […]