
High-level CERN-Fermilab meeting
Fermilab’s senior management team met with CERN Director General Fabiola Gianotti and senior CERN management on Friday, April 8 to coordinate the laboratories’ mutual support of particle physics, particularly in the areas of LHC upgrades, experiments, and neutrino initiatives. The CERN and FNAL leadership teams agreed to meet on a recurring basis to discuss items of mutual interest and support.

During his visit, Nigel Lockyer, Director of Fermilab, also spoke at the concurrent DUNE meeting and visited the ProtoDUNE building construction site.
Staffing updates
LBNF is set to recruit a Field ES&H Coordinator and FSCF Construction Project Engineer, to be on the job by the end of this year, stationed at SURF. LBNF will also be hiring a Quality Assurance Manager and another member of the procurement staff.
Procuring ProtoDUNE pumps
LBNF cryogenics engineers are designing the ProtoDUNE cryogenics systems. The U.S. will contribute the four external pumps for the cryogenics systems for both ProtoDUNEs. CERN wants them procured by October so that they can be in place according to schedule; LBNF and CERN are working out the procurement process for these items that require export.

target (top), a Beryllium fin target (middle) and a cylindrical target (bottom). Courtesy L.Fields
Designing optimized beamline
LBNF has authorized the Beamline to assemble the necessary resources and begin conceptual design for optimized beamline components immediately. The conceptual design timeframe is set by the fall 2019 goal to baseline the beamline with the rest of the DOE project. Thus a beamline configuration must be chosen by fall of 2017 in order to start preliminary design of the beamline to meet this timeframe.