The ability to design, build, and operate advanced accelerators is a core competency for multiple scientific user facilities across the Department of Energy. Accelerators are widely used in industry, with more than 30,000 in operation around the world serving medicine, industry, energy, the environment, and national security.
DOE seeks to improve access to national laboratory accelerator facilities and resources and thus established the Accelerator Stewardship program. The program supports use-inspired basic research in accelerator science and technology. Each national laboratory has a unique contribution to make in advancing the state of the art in accelerator technology.
As America’s particle physics and accelerator laboratory, Fermilab has a long history of designing, developing, building and testing accelerators and accelerator components to support projects for Fermilab and laboratories around the world. Together with nearby Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab is home to the largest concentration of accelerator scientists and engineers in North America. In recognition of this significant capability, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and DOE joined forces to create the Illinois Accelerator Research Center (IARC) at Fermilab.
Bridging the gap between research and industrial applications
IARC facilitates Fermilab partnerships with industry, universities, and other national labs to promote the development of accelerator technology and applications, leading to new products, capabilities, and businesses. Through a collaborative research, development, and demonstration model, IARC helps bridge the gap between Fermilab’s primary mission space of high-energy physics and the space where industry is willing and able to invest their own resources to commercialize new technologies. IARC’s buildings and equipment provide a unique setting where accelerator-based technologies for industry can be researched, developed and demonstrated.