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Fermilab's New Commercial Research Center

Posted by samzenpus on from the check-it-out dept.

PolygamousRanchKid writes "When completed in 2013, the new research center will wrap around the Collider Detector at Fermilab and provide a state-of-the-art facility for research, development and industrialization of particle accelerator technology. Whereas particle accelerators like Fermilab's now-defunct Tevatron were once the realm of the scientist doing basic research on the nature of the universe, accelerators now have a broader mandate for commercial applications, said Fermilab Director Pier Oddone. The goal for the facility is to develop relationships between scientists and private businesses to develop accelerator technology that can be used in medicine, industry and national security. Though most people think of accelerators on the scale of Fermilab's Tevatron or the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, more than 30,000 smaller particle accelerators exist around the world and can be used for applications other than basic science research. 'The innovation now implemented in many areas often came about as the by-product of our pushing the technological envelope of our own accelerators...needed for advancing particle physics,' said Oddone."

5 of 24 comments (clear)

  1. Definite possibilities by Droog57 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I was somewhat surprised that they completely shut down the Tevatron, since I am sure that many Corporations or Research Companies would drool at the chance to gather data specific to various technologies that are out there now in the Commercial world. It would be interesting to know if the Accelerator could be made to be commercially viable..

    --
    "If the only tool that you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." Donny Rumsfeld
    1. Re:Definite possibilities by thegreatemu · · Score: 3, Informative

      Keep in mind that the Tevatron is only the last stage of a whole series of accelerators. The Booster and the Main Injector, the next two biggest rings, are still operational, as well as various other linacs and beam lines (neutrinos, pions, muons, name your particle). In fact the Main Injector is probably the new focus of the site, for long-baseline neutrino studies.

      In addition to commercial uses, accelerators have huge potential for medical use, especially proton beams, which are an exploding cancer treatment option. Fermilab already has a strong medical physics program, so expanding into industrial applications is a reasonable move.

  2. Also... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 3, Funny

    Fermilab Director Pier Oddone also managed to mention that the Fermilab gift shop is now stocking a variety of novelty plush quarks, 'Experi-mint' brand candies, and similar knicknacks before breaking down and sobbing something about 'Is this why I made it through my postdoc?'

    1. Re:Also... by Phroon · · Score: 3, Informative

      They even have an online store.

  3. Re:Cost-benefit, and for whom by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As a rough heuristic, any state wealth-redistribution program that doesn't have packs of lobbyists and AEI economists shrieking about socialism, communism, and class warfare is very likely converting your tax dollars into somebody's shareholder value more or less by design.

    Wealth-redistribution plans that do have such a pack are somewhat less clear. They are less likely to be an overt screwjob; but their efficiency or efficacy may still be miserable.