Fermilab Users Executive Committee Election

The 2003/2004 Term

Candidate Statements and Biographies

Ken Bloom     photo

Age : 32

Education:
  • 1997, PhD, Cornell University
  • (1991?) BS, University of Chicago

    • Positions Held:
    Research Activities and Service work:

    I first came to Fermilab in 1989 as a University of Chicago undergraduate, and I am proud of my relatively low FNAL ID number (5022V) for someone my age (32). After completing a senior thesis on dielectron production cross sections in CDF Run 0 data, I went to graduate school at Cornell, where I helped build a silicon detector and studied the dynamics of semileptonic B decays at CLEO. I returned to CDF as a postdoc in 1997, first at Johns Hopkins and now at the University of Michigan. I have lived in Ann Arbor for most of that time, and have just relocated to Fermilab. I have been active in CDF's Run II upgrades, working on the track trigger and track-reconstruction software for the silicon detector. I co-led CDF's muon-reconstruction group for two and a half years, and I am now co-leader of a group studying top quarks in their "lepton plus jets" decay mode. My main research interest is the full characterization of the top quark, a particle whose existence is established but whose properties are largely unexplored, in the hope of exposing new physics. I have been involved in a number of community activities during my career. In 2001, I was an organizer of the Young Physicists' Forum at the Snowmass workshop, which studied issues of outreach and education, globalization, and the future of the HEP program from the perspective of the younger members of the field. Last summer, I wrote a series of "diary" articles, aimed at a general audience, for the online magazine Slate about my life as a particle physicist.


    Statement:


    Fermilab is a vibrant intellectual community, in part because of the users who come from around the world to work at the frontiers of particle physics. We have to ensure that users can do their work at the lab easily and happily. This means continuing open access to the lab (and the country) for foreign collaborators, services and policies that meet the needs of remote users and transient visitors, and good facilities and engaging activities for users who live in the FNAL metropolitan area or on site.
    But what will ultimately make users happy is a robust physics program that can be sustained in the long term. The UEC must work with the leadership of the laboratory to make this happen. Internally, this means being involved in the long-range planning process, and understanding what may be holding the lab back from doing the best possible science. Externally, this means broadcasting the message about our excellent scientific work to the local community, our home institutions, and our government. In a world of amazing opportunities for discovery but shrinking budgets, we must step forward, make a difference, and create our future.  

    My home web page can be found at:: http://www.umich.edu/~kenbloom

    Erik E. Gottschalk     photo

    Age : 42

    Education:
  • B.S. Stevens Tech., 1982
  • Ph.D. Columbia University, 1992

    • Positions Held:
    Research Activities and Service work:

  • BNL E766, 1983-present
  • FNAL E690, 1989-present
  • FNAL E781 (SELEX), 1993-1996
  • FNAL E831 (FOCUS), 1996-present
  • FNAL E918 (BTeV), 1998-present
  • CMS PMG, 2001-present



    • Statement:


    The UEC provides a forum for discussion and action on behalf of Fermilab Users. The challenge for the UEC is to help preserve the vitality of our field and to address issues that improve the quality of life at Fermilab. The UEC must do everything it can to foster an environment of innovation and creativity while communicating the importance and excitement of our science to the public and to government bodies.
    This is a time when our field is facing budgetary restrictions, university groups are struggling (with some groups seriously questioning the feasibility of doing future research at Fermilab), and the laboratory is experiencing a difficult period facing critical decisions regarding its future.
    I would welcome the opportunity to contribute time and effort to the UEC, and I am committed to make a difference for the better.  

     

    Jim Linnemann     photo


    Education:
  • 1978 Ph D, Cornell University

    • Positions Held:
    Research Activities and Service work:

    I worked at Cornell on resonance production in fixed-target electroproduction, and at the CERN Intersecting Storage Rings looking for jets and single photons. At D0 (since 1984), I've worked on Drell-Yan production, the top quark, and searches for supersymmetry. I led the development of the Level 3 trigger software algorithms for Run I (including a leave from MSU at Fermilab for 1 1/2 years), and coordinated the development of the Level 2 trigger for Run II. Recently, I've been on leave at Los Alamos with the cosmic ray experiment Milagro. I've contributed to statistical analysis techniques and served on the organizing committee of the CERN and Fermilab confidence limits workshops, and the Durham and upcoming Stanford conferences on statistics in HEP. On D0, I've served on many committees and working groups related to software, documentation, triggering, and publications, and served on the D0 Institutional Board.


    Statement:


    The UEC has many responsibilities. I'd summarize them as serving the lab users, and representing them in communication. Service includes enhancing the quality of life, especially for those in residence at Fermilab, from taxi service to computer security. Fostering the career development (with GSA) of young physicists is also important, and a particular concern given the increasing size of our collaborations. External communication includes public outreach: to communicate to the public (taxpayers) what it is that we do, and share our enthusiasm for our work. To encourage healthy levels of funding for the field, we must also communicate with, and visit in person, both members of Congress, and the government offices where funding decisions are made. Further, the UEC is a natural forum for bringing the concerns and ideas of the user community to the laboratory. We are presently at a crossroads, and it is critical that the user community interact effectively with the laboratory as decisions are made for Run II of the Collider, the Neutrino program, and the Heavy Flavor program, and the direction is set for the future of the laboratory. The UEC has a responsibility to collect and convey these user views frankly and effectively, but also, with appropriate discretion, to let the user community know that these concerns are being discussed seriously. I would be honored to participate in these tasks if elected to the UEC, and to help in any way I can to make Fermilab the lab we all want it to be. My home web page can be found at:: http://www.pa.msu.edu/~linnemann/  

    Mark Messier     photo

    Age : 32

    Education:
  • B.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1989-1993

  • Congressional Research Service, Science Policy Division, Library of Congress, 1993

  • M.S. Boston University, 1999

  • Ph.D Boston University, 1999

    •        Thesis: "Evidence for Neutrino Mass From Observations of Atmospheric Neutrinos with Super-Kamiokande"

    Positions Held:
    Research Activities and Service work:

    My research interests are the experimental study of neutrino masses and mixing. I am currently working on the Super-Kamiokande experiment in Japan, as well as the MINOS (E875) and MIPP (E907) experiments at Fermilab. On Super-K my focus has been on the analysis of the atmospheric neutrino data. On MINOS, my interests have been on understanding the NuMI neutrino beam which has led to my participation in the MIPP experiment which will make measurements of the proton-nucleus interactions used to produce neutrino beams. On MINOS, I am a co-convener of the Beam Systematics Working Group. On MIPP, I am coordinating the production of the offline analysis software. I am also interested in future uses of the NuMI neutrino beam and am I member of the committee appointed to recommend a technology for a second detector in the NuMI neutrino beam to be optimized for electron neutrino appearance.


    Statement:


    As a university user who regularly commutes to the lab, I feel I can represent the interests of university users well. I believe that it is crucial for future of the field to begin to blur the traditional lines between lab/beam and universities/detector and will seek practical ways to foster an increased collaboration between scientists at universities and the lab. I have enjoyed a successful first year of teaching physics and I believe that I can effectively communicate the value HEP research to members of the public as well as to politicians.  

    My home web page can be found at: http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~messier/
     

    Abid Patwa     photo

    Age : 30

    Education:
  • Ph.D. Physics, 2002, State University of New York, Stony Brook

    •        Thesis: "The Forward Preshower System and a Study of the J/psi Trigger with the D0 Detector"
  • M.A. Physics, 1998, State University of New York, Stony Brook
  • B.S. Physics, 1996, State University of New York, Oswego (Honors Program)
  • B.S. Mathematics, 1996, State University of New York, Oswego (Honors Program, Double Major)

    • Positions Held:
    Research Activities and Service work:

    Currently Postdoctoral Research Associate, BNL, planning and conducting research with the DZero Collaboration. Work includes operation and commissioning of DZero's VLPC-based inner-tracking detectors, in particular,
    the Forward Preshower system; and Higgs search studies for Run II.

    May 1996 - March 2002: State University of New York, Stony Brook, Doctoral degree with the DZero Collaboration; Work on the design, construction, installation, and operation of the Run II Forward Preshower (FPS) detector. Moreover, work on this project has recently led to an art exhibition featuring a FPS detector module at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, at their P.S.1. Contemporary Art Center gallery, June - August 2003.
    Also online studies of low-pT electrons from J/psi decays for measuring CP violation, evaluating and predicting detector and trigger efficiencies, and developing methods for detector calibration.

    January 1995 - December 1995: Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York.
    Research under a US Department of Energy internship program participating with the PHENIX Collaboration at BNL's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider.
    R&D studies on the electromagnetic calorimeter and participation in test beam activities and analysis at the AGS.

    Commissioning Co-Leader of the DZero Forward Preshower System, May 2000 - December 2001.
    Supervisor of DZero End-detector's Cable Installation Project, 2000-2001.
    Production Manager of the DZero Forward Preshower Project, October 1998 - end of project (May 2000).



    Statement:

    The Fermilab UEC encompasses a range of activities, appropriately addressing critical issues that will help benefit the lab's community and user institutions. I believe the top priorities of the committee are 1) to continually improve the working environment of all users, 2) to strongly communicate the exciting research programs performed at the lab with both the larger scientific community and the general public, and 3) to foster relations with Congress and the government in Washington. Making the public aware of the importance of Fermilab's research will help ensure the support the lab requires in not only maintaining a healthy program but also defining the vision for the future of High Energy Physics. If elected, I will plan and execute new strategies towards increasing the visibility of Fermilab to policymakers in Washington. I also look forward to working with users of the Lab in meeting each of these priorities and promoting success of the field.  

    My home web page can be found at:: http://www-d0.fnal.gov/~abid/
     

    Pierre Petroff     photo


    Education:
  • 1975, PhD.
  • 1971, First Thesis

    • Positions Held:
    Research Activities and Service work:

  • Linear Accelerator Laboratory (LAL) Orsay 1969-1975
  • CERN 1975-1997

    •     Omega Spectrometer experiments 1975-1978
        NA14 photon experiment, Leader of the group trigger, 1979-1984
        DELPHI experiment 1984-1985
        R&D on RICH counters 1985-1986
        UA2 1986-1989, construction of a TRD, SUSY searches
        ATLAS experiment 1990-1997 design, construction and testing of accordion
        EM calorimeter prototypes
  • DZERO experiment at Fermilab, 1998-present



    • Statement:


     

    Simona Rolli     photo

    Age : 34

    Education:
  • Dottorato di Ricerca (Ph.D.) in Physics, University of Pavia, January 1996;
  • Laurea in Physics, University of Pavia, Ghislieri College ,  June 1992;
  • Diploma in Piano Conservatory of Music, Vicenza, Italy, June 1988.

    • Positions Held:
    Research Activities and Service work:

    I began my career in high energy physics as  a phenomenologist, working on aspects of fragmentation phenomena in pQCD.  During my second year of Ph.D.  I visited the Nasa/Fermilab Astrophysics Center to learn about cosmology, which always fascinated me. The outcome of the visit was a series of seminars back in my home institution ( University of Pavia, Italy). I ended up graduating in QCD phenomenoloy, though, in 1996.  

    At the end of 1994 I joined CDF and have been a member of the collaboration ever since.  
    I started working on MC issues in the framework of the top analysis  and moved on to software work related to data handling and simulation. I'm project leader of the trigger simulation working group.  
    I was convener of two working group: Exotic Triggers and Datasets ( 1998-2000), formed to establish triggers and selection criteria for datasets for searches for physics beyond the SM in Run II; and co-convener of the CDF Exotics Physics working group (January 2001-December 2002) .

    In 2002 I was co-convener of the "Physics at highest Q^2 and p_t2" Working Group, for the International Workshop on Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS2002) , held in Krakow.

    I have been Co-Dean of Tevatron  University at Fermilab for the Academic Year 1999-2000, 2000-2001, 2001-2002, organizing talks at the advanced graduate level and post-doc level.

    I have been supervising  Ph.D. students and italian  summer student at Fermilab  on a regular basis from Summer 1999.

    I have been member of the CDF Trailer Quality of Life Commitee, since it was established in 1999. The purpose of the committe, as the name implies, is to assure that good working conditions are provided to permanent as well as transient CDF users.



    Statement:

    I spent the last 9 years at Fermilab, initially as a foreign university visitor and then as an american university visitor.
    I believe in maintaining and promoting a healthy, friendly and productive  environment for all users of the Lab, American and foreigners. I went through all the steps necessary to obtain permanent residency through my involvement in science and besides being very familiar with issues related to visas and immigration bureaucracy,  I feel very strongly about making the life of foreign visitors as agreeable and pleasant as possible, especially in the current world situation. If elected to the UEC I believe I could contribute to the activities of the Quality of Life Committe and the non-US users Committe.

    As a Fermilab "permanent resident" I hope to see the Laboratory community to continue deliver exciting new physics results.  I believe in the necessity of  conveying to the public the right message regarding the importance of basic research.  I would certainly like to be involved in the outreach program, and I believe my diversified background can be of help.
    Finally, communicating with the funding agencies and external institutions is crucial. I would welcome the opportunity to serve the greater lab community in this role.


    My home page can be found at: http://ncdf70.fnal.gov:8001/lifegc.html More information at: http://ncdf70.fnal.gov:8001/frames/my_frame.html

    William Trischuk     photo


    Education:
  • PhD, Harvard, 1990
  • BSc, McGill, 1986

    • Positions Held:
    Research Activities and Service work:


    Having completed my PhD on CDF in 1990, I moved to CERN and joined the DELPHI experiment. There I helped build 3 silicon vertex detectors. I used these to improve the precision on the tau lepton lifetime from 10% (pre-LEP) to better than 1%, helping to resolve the apparent lepton non-universality in tau decay in the process.
    While still at CERN I launched a detector R&D project exploring the use of CVD diamond detectors as a radiation tolerant alternative to silicon for high luminosity hadron collider experiments. I was spokesmen of the RD42 project from 1993 to 1996 and have continued to develop diamond pixel detectors since returning to North American including work in the Meson hall testbeam in 1999-2000.
    I re-joined CDF in 1996 where I have supervised the PhD theses of two CDF-I students, contributed to the SVX-II support mechanics and installation in 1999-2000. I now supervise 3 PhD students on CDF-II, two of whom are working on measuring the W boson mass and the other is searching for evidence of single top production. I have recently become silicon detector project leader in CDF.


    Statement:


    I am committed to the success of the Tevatron collider physics programme. I am looking forward to the physics we will be able to do when the IIa datasets supercede those from earlier runs. Given the developments of the last year or two surrounding security and access to the lab I think it is important to have foreign representation on the UEC. With my experience at CERN and -- during a recent sabbatical at KEK -- I believe that I would contribute a perspective that extends beyond the Tevatron including the LHC and a possible future linear colliders.  

    My home web page can be found at: http://www.physics.utoronto.ca/people/db/people_details.php?people_id=345

    Hirohisa A> Tanaka     photo

    Age :

    Education:
  • 2002 Ph.D. SLAC/Stanford University (BABAR)
  • 1997 A.B. Harvard University (Physics and Mathematics)

    • Positions Held:
    Research Activities and Service work:




    Statement:


    The next few years will be critical for Fermilab. With the startup of the LHC, the laboratory will need to develop a experimental program that will keep it a flagship facility for particle physics research. I would like to ensure that the user community has a strong voice in this process.
    The laboratories strength lie in its ability to support a broad and diverse research program. The most exciting future for Fermilab is in maintaining this tradition. I believe that I can effectively represent the Fermilab user community both here at the laboratory and in outreach to the general public and funding agencies by communicating the need for increased support both for Fermilab and the participating university groups in order to realize a vibrant future for Fermilab.
    I also believe that international presence on Fermilab experiments is important. We need to work with the INS to facilitate the visa process to minimize the hassle for our foreign users. We need to communicate the difficulties they are experiencing and emphasize the vital role they have on Fermilab experiments.  

    Jodi Wittlin     photo


    Education:
  • BS Physics, BS Mathematics, North Carolina State University 1994
  • MS Physics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 1996
  • PhD Physics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 2001
    • Thesis: A Measurement of the Time Dependence of B_d Mixing with Kaon Tagging

    Positions Held:
    Research Activities and Service work:

    Research Activities:
  • BaBar, 1996-1998: Design, implementation, and execution of quality control testing for the Babar Calorimeter.
  • SLD, 1998-2001: Tau neutrino mass limit feasibility study. Tracking efficiency studies using three-prong tau decays. B physics thesis analysis.
  • D0, 2002-Present: Higgs EMID Subgroup Convenor. Higgs Group Offline Resources Board Representive. Current physics work is the Higgs search in the W(enu) channel. Level 2 Silicon Track Trigger software and development.

    • Service Activities:

  • Participant, SLUO/UEC Washington, DC Trip, 2001
  • Member, DPF Committee on Outreach and Education, September,2002-Present
  • Volunteer, Fermilab Ask A Scientist Program
  • Volunteer, Fermilab Education Office Outreach Programs



    • Statement:


    The challenges Fermilab and its User Community face in the immediate future are not new ones...decreased funding, the needs of a widespread and diverse user community, and recruitment and retention of new faces to that community are only a few of those. The UEC provides many opportunities to work on these challenges, and that is why I am interested in serving on the UEC. My experience with the Washington trip while at SLAC, combined with other (non-physics related) political experiences, reinforced my belief that the best way to improve our funding profile is to visit with Congress, and we should expand our efforts by providing the tools for others to interact with their political representatives and educate those representatives on the importance of HEP to society at large. As a resident university postdoc, I am also particularly interested in working with the GSA and others on grad student and postdoc issues, and in working on quality of life issues for both the resident and non-resident community.