ATAP researchers and operations staff were recognized in this year’s Director’s Awards for their exceptional contributions to supporting Berkeley Lab’s mission and strategic goals.
Ina Reichel
ATAP’s Education and Outreach Coordinator, Ina Reichel, has been honored with the 2024 Berkeley Lab Director’s Award for Exceptional Achievement in the IDEA and Lab Community category. The award was presented for “Collaborative, consensus-driven leadership and a combination of a scientific approach and tireless effort in driving positive change to make Berkeley Lab a more attractive and equitable workplace, as well as for extensive and selfless work in STEM outreach.”
Ina Reichel (left) and Lady Idos. Thor Swift/Berkeley Lab
“I am truly honored and incredibly grateful to receive this award,” said Reichel. “Much of the work of the Employees Resources Groups isn’t very visible except to your direct collaborators. This award tells me that others have seen my work outside of that circle.”
While Reichel received an individual award, she acknowledged, “I didn’t do the work by myself, and many members of the Lab’s Women’s Support & Empowerment Council contributed to the achievements I am being honored for. I am deeply grateful for all the help and advice from our executive Sponsors, Henrik von der Lippe [recently retired head of the Lab’s Engineering Division] and Carol Burns [Deputy Laboratory Director for Research and Chief Research Officer], as well as Lady Idos and Janie Pinterest in the IDEA Office.”
Paolo Ferracin
Deputy Director of ATAP’s Superconducting Magnet Program, Paolo Ferracin, was honored with the 2024 Berkeley Lab Director’s Award for Exceptional Achievement in the IDEA and Outreach category. The award was presented for “Exemplary dedication and commitment in proactive teaching and mentorship at levels ranging from high schools to graduate particle accelerator schools, offering education not available through traditional venues—in addition to a demanding job as a research leader.”
Paolo Ferracin (left) and Wade Crosson. Thor Swift/Berkeley Lab
“I am extremely honored to receive the director award, and am very grateful to the ATAP division and the Physical Science Area for the support I always felt when carrying out outreach activities,” said Ferracin. “The award is proof of the importance that the lab gives to mentoring and teaching young students, particularly from under-represented schools, and promoting science and engineering.”
Asmita Patel and Pat Thomas
ATAP’s Deputy Division Director for Operations, Asmita Patel, and recently retired Division Safety Coordinator, Pat Thomas, were honored with the 2024 Berkeley Lab Director’s Award for Exceptional Achievement in the Safety category. The award was presented for the “visionary leadership that created ATAP Safety Day and evolved it into the present Multi-Lab Safety Week, which offers an annual safety-culture reset and enriched learning opportunities to multiple Divisions at Berkeley Lab and three other national laboratories.”
Pat Thomas, who recently retired after a successful 28-year career as ATAP’s EH&S Coordinator, was Patel’s partner throughout Multi-Lab Safety Week’s growth from its humble beginnings as an informal, half-day divisional cleanup and Work Planning and Control training effort.
Asmita Patel (left) and Pat Thomas. Thor Swift/Berkeley Lab
“This expansion has been a great benefit because it allows the participants to focus exclusively on safety and learning and to share best practices with our partner national labs,” said Thomas.
Asmita Patel, ATAP’s Deputy Division Director of Operations, said, “This annual safety-culture reset has provided an opportunity to build community among divisions and our sister laboratories. We are all learning organizations, and collaborating on this event uses team science’s strengths. Combining our perspectives gives better results than we could have achieved independently.”
Patel added, “Working with such knowledgeable and dedicated people has been an honor and a privilege. In recent years, we’ve integrated IDEA into our sessions, which is especially important to Berkeley Lab’s core values and me personally.”
“One of the best parts is that our people enjoy participating and find it a valuable learning experience,” she said.
High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider Accelerator Upgrade Project Cabling Core Team
The HL-LHC-AUP Cabling Team, which includes scientists, engineers, technicians, and operations staff from across the Lab, was honored with the 2024 Berkeley Lab Director’s Award for Exceptional Achievement in the Team Scientific category. The award was presented for “Leadership and performance in completing the large, complex, and technically challenging multi-year Cabling Task of the High-Luminosity LHC Accelerator Upgrade Project (HL-LHC-AUP). This DOE 413.3b project greatly enhances the LHC’s position as the forefront particle accelerator for high-energy physics.”
“This award is a recognition of outstanding teamwork and dedication of staff from ATAP and Engineering Divisions to deliver a critical part of the upgrade project on schedule and within budget,” said Soren Prestemon, ATAP deputy division director for technology, who heads ATAP’s Superconducting Magnet Program. “The niobium-tin Rutherford cables produced for the project benefitted from significant research and development over the last two decades, a testament to the strategic vision of the Department of Energy, Office of High Energy Physics.”
The HL-LHC-AUP Cabling Core Team. Thor Swift/Berkeley Lab
The team, which includes Ian Pong, Andy Lin, Mike Naus, Jean-Francois Croteau, Elaine Buron, Soren Prestemon, Paolo Ferracin, Elizabeth Lee, Asmita Patel, Pat Thomas, Chris Georgiou, Stephanie Chan Shum, George Fraley, Karen Lingua, Brian Zatkow, and Hugh Higley, completed the extensive, managerially complex, and technically challenging multi-year Cabling Task essential to the Luminosity Upgrade of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It represents the first major use of a niobium-tin superconductor in a particle collider, requiring different techniques for making the wire into cables and then fabricating magnets from them.
“The most wonderful thing is to win this award as a team,” said Ian Pong, a staff scientist in ATAP’s Superconducting Magnet Program, who led the cabling task. “We also want to thank and share this award with those who played an important part but are no longer at the lab, including former postdocs and intern students.”
For more information on ATAP News articles, contact caw@lbl.gov.
