KEK Director General Atsuto Suzuki joined the ILC scientists and engineers to exchange ideas and opinions for the future.

Just like other particle physics laboratories around the world, KEK is now at a cross roads to make a bold decision about its future. The KEKB factory is now improving world record luminosity day by day; a brand new powerful proton accelerator J-PARC will be almost ready to operate next year; a study for renovating the Photon Factory with a next generation light source facility has begun, and KEK is participating vigorously in the world-wide efforts of the large scale ILC R&D such as ATF-II and STF. The role of the Director General is not only to define the goals of the laboratory, but also to set the course for the field of accelerator physics. Many important developments and foresights are emerging day to day at the forefront of the research, which is why KEK's new director general Atsuto Suzuki, appointed this April, decided to visit each part of the laboratory one day after another.

"Every laboratory employee has the right to call me to make a 'Wake-up, Director General!' call," says Suzuki. "It is your opinion and insights that count to bring this laboratory to the future."

On 18 August, Suzuki visited the ILC "forefront" at KEK to listen to the plans, opinions and recommendations made by the ILC scientists and engineers. "We must build the best of the best machine in terms of the engineering," says Takayuki Saeki, a physicist working on the high gradient superconducting cavity for ILC, referring to the recent progress of their high gradient tests. "It must perform well, perform reliably, and perform economically. The scientists and engineers around the world should not compete but collaborate, as an international team, both in financial and public understandings in terms of building this machine. We must make every effort to have our STF become an international base on collaboration. We should keep thinking and sharing these goal, ideas and feelings."

Masao Kuriki pointed out the importance of educating the next generation about the state-of-art technology and forming collaborations with universities and foreign countries. "There is much room for improvement in the way that we welcome foreign researchers," says Kuriki. "The regulations have to be revisited to allow for a much longer stay in order to make truly effective skill and technology transfers, for example." He shared detailed plans with the Director General for how to improve the logistics and regulations for the visiting researchers.

A highlight from their conversation:

"Your plans and recommendations are almost ready to be taken," Suzuki concluded after the two-hour meeting. "Send me your PowerPoint file so that your recommendations will now be KEK's official plans."

"Come and visit our workplace, to see exactly how we are doing," invited Saeki. "Why not fix your visit schedule now?"

"Well, at your service," says Suzuki. The Director General is dismissed.

-- Youhei Morita