CERN Alumni are invited to come together on 1-3 October for the second major reunion since CERN’s alumni programme launched in 2017. The event will take place online, enabling alumni from across the globe to participate. Today, CERN’s alumni network – also open to those currently working at CERN – includes more than 7000 people located in over 100 countries.
The event has the title “CERN Alumni Second Collisions: Research Matters”. It will be run using an online platform that facilitates serendipitous interaction between participants, as well as providing a broad choice of activities. Participants will be able to go on virtual tours of CERN’s infrastructure, play fun games and access exclusive talks – both from leading figures at CERN and from alumni with fascinating stories to tell. Alumni speakers will include Shannon Towey of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; Michael Feindt, founder of the software and consultancy company Blue Yonder; Kitty Liao, founder and CEO of Ideabatic, which has designed an innovative system for transporting vaccines; and Grzegorz Wrochna, president of the Polish Space Agency. Participants will also be treated to a special talk by Oliver James, the chief scientist at Double Negative (DNEG), one of the world's leading studios for visual effects and animation. He will speak about the fascinating process undertaken by DNEG, in collaboration with Nobel-Prize-winning physicist Kip Thorne, to create the special effects for the film Interstellar, earning them an Oscar for best visual effects.
The event will be a celebration of you, the diverse range of people who have made – and continue to make – CERN the unique place it is. We also want to recognise the impact that CERN Alumni have on the wider world, adapting skills, knowledge and values developed at the Laboratory to tackle a broad range of challenges faced by society. For the first time ever, special prizes will be awarded to alumni who have made a major positive impact on the development of this vibrant community.
Just because the event is taking place online, this does not mean you have to attend alone. Alumni are encouraged to come together in their regional groups – with full respect for the local COVID-19 restrictions in place at the time – to connect to the event. There will be prizes and challenges as well as special packages – filled with CERN- and Geneva-themed goodies – sent out by the CERN Alumni team.
“Whether you’re a member of CERN’s Alumni community or you’re working at CERN today, join us for a weekend like no other,” says Rachel Bray, Head of the CERN Alumni programme. “Wherever you are in the world, whatever your background, we have talks and activities guaranteed to both inspire and entertain you, as well as opportunities to reconnect and develop your network.”
Sign up for this exclusive weekend – jam-packed with innovation, insights and ideas – here: https://alumni.cern/page/secondcollisions. More speakers and special surprises will be announced soon.