Claude Rosset passed away suddenly on 28 January 2023.
Claude began his career at CERN in 1976, in the Experimental Physics (EP) department – more specifically, in the unit responsible for mechanical engineering for the detectors. He spent his whole career there, retiring early at the end of 2001 due to a debilitating illness.
His capacity to invent, organise and deliver made him highly sought after for the most difficult and innovative work and rapidly earned him a great reputation in his field.
Throughout his long career, he devoted himself to the design and production of all kinds of magnets and coils, creating the tooling needed to get them up and running. He was one of the first to develop cables containing superconducting wires, which he used to build a solenoid for the R-108 experiment at the Intersecting Storage Rings (ISR) in 1977. It proved to be a great success.
Among the many devices designed by Claude, all of which were true works of art, it would be remiss not to mention the special magnets made for the PS and the NA4, UA6 and NA10 experiments, or the large and complex coil for the UA1 magnet, which was later adopted by the NOMAD experiment (the magnet is still in use today at the T2K experiment in Japan). Claude was also closely involved in designing the impressive magnets for the LEP experiments: OPAL, ALEPH, DELPHI and L3.
His incredible willpower spurring him on in spite of his illness, he turned his attention to the magnets for the CHORUS, HARP and CAST detectors, then helped to develop and fine-tune the ATLAS experiment’s muon chambers and, finally, the LHCb magnet, which would be his last project.
Claude’s passion and tireless devotion were an inspiration. His former colleagues remember him as an open, friendly and fiercely determined man. He enjoyed close relationships with those who shared his passion and interests and pushed his colleagues towards excellence, both in the workshop and at the drawing board.
Our thoughts go out to his wife Michèle, who supported him through so many difficult years, and to his children, François and Frédéric, and their families.
His former colleagues