May 27, 2016, Vancouver, Canada — TRIUMF is pleased to announce that Dr. Oliver Kester will become Associate Laboratory Director for its Accelerator Division (ALD-Accelerator Division), effective September, 2016.
As ALD-Accelerator Division, Kester will assume overall responsibility for the safe, effective, and reliable operation of all accelerator facilities at TRIUMF, for construction of the ARIEL project, and for advancing accelerator research.
An accomplished accelerator physicist and scientific leader, Kester is currently Professor at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt and Director at FAIR@GSI. FAIR (Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research) is a new international accelerator facility under construction in Darmstadt, Germany. Prior to this, he held faculty and administrative positions in Europe and North America, at centres including CERN, Universität München, and Michigan State University. He holds a PhD in physics from Goethe-Universität Frankfurt. Kester’s current research interests relate to the production and transport of intense charged particle beams (ions and electrons), accelerator cavity developments, beam instrumentation (non-destructive diagnostics), and electron target development for heavy ion storage rings.
“From developing new accelerator and rare isotope beams for research, to advancing the Division’s research and education programs, I couldn’t be more thrilled to join TRIUMF at such an exciting time for accelerator science at the laboratory,” said Kester. “I am delighted to be joining such a talented and outstanding team at TRIUMF. I look forward with excitement to working with my new colleagues to delivering on the laboratories vision and harnessing TRIUMF’s unique and world-leading capabilities in accelerator science.”
“Oliver Kester is an exceptionally talented, creative, and experienced accelerator scientist, as well as an accomplished leader and administrator. We’re thrilled that he’s chosen to join TRIUMF,” said the laboratory’s Director Dr. Jonathan Bagger. “We are looking forward to working with him to realize the unique capabilities of our ISAC facility as we prepare to triple our scientific capacity with the completion of our flagship ARIEL project.”
Kester’s appointment begins on September 12, 2016.