Ralph B Fiorito

Ralph B Fiorito was an internationally recognized expert in beam diagnostics and radiation sources. He had a very long and successful track record of innovation, independent thinking, and educational activity. He held several patents for beam diagnostics and was the author or coauthor of over 100 publications in leading journals, conference proceedings, and technical reports.

In 1993 Fiorito was the co-recipient of the international Faraday Cup Award for the invention and development of Optical Transition Radiation Beam Emittance Diagnostics; in 1995 he received the Navy Civilian Service Award for his work in charged particle beam technologies of interest to the Navy; and in 2003 he was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society (Division of Beams) for his contributions to the fundamental understanding and applications of transition, diffraction, and parametric x-radiation from charged particles. After that, he developed a new class of beam halo detectors using adaptive optical masking with digital micromirror devices as well as emittance monitors using optical synchrotron radiation interferometry.

In 2014 he was awarded a Marie Curie Senior Fellowship, which allowed him to join the QUASAR Group based at the Cockcroft Institute in the UK. Although this Fellowship supported him for two years initially, he would continue to work with the group on various aspects of beam diagnostics until his passing.

Fiorito was a supporter of frank and open debate, always keen to develop and support those working with him. He successfully collaborated with researchers at many European and international laboratories, including the Paul Scherrer Institute, FERMI@Elettra at the Sincrotrone Trieste, the Tomsk Polytechnic University, and the Kharkiv Institute. In the US he worked closely with Los Alamos, Lawrence Berkeley, Livermore, SLAC, Jefferson Lab, Argonne, Oakridge, Brookhaven National Laboratories, and the University of Maryland, which was his home institution for many years of his career. Fiorito served as a research adviser, graduate-school lecturer, and expert at the US Particle Accelerator School. He also presented many invited talks and seminars at major accelerator conferences, laboratorie,s and universities. The above photograph was taken when he gave an invited talk at IPAC18 in Vancouver, Canada.

Fiorito’s contributions have impacted and continue to influence the development of sources and diagnostics at virtually every accelerator facility in the world. The diagnostics community has lost a real forward-thinker and innovator who successfully trained and inspired students over several decades.