It was with profound sadness that we learned of the sudden death of our colleague Cédric Fournier.
Cédric started working at CERN at a young age, first as an employee of a contractor and later (from 2004 on) as a member of staff. He made significant contributions to the initial construction of the LHCb detector – one of the most demanding projects of his early career being the assembly of the 1500-tonne dipole magnet – and subsequently supported all installation, maintenance and upgrade activities for the LHCb experiment. He was a highly talented mechanical technician who enjoyed working on challenging projects, in particular large and complex mechanical structures, and his skills were universally appreciated within the entire collaboration. Over the years, he became the principal mechanical technician of the LHCb Technical Coordination team as well as the head of the LHCb workshop at the experimental site, and took on key responsibilities in terms of logistics and safety. The latter was particularly important to him. Not only was he responsible for protective equipment, but he also regularly took the initiative to ensure and improve safe work practices. His continuous efforts to improve the quality of life for everybody at the LHC Point 8 site were widely appreciated.
Cédric was a dynamic and caring person who was known for pursuing projects he believed in with great enthusiasm and determination. Whenever a colleague asked him for help of any kind, he was there; it is difficult to imagine our daily working life without him.
Cédric’s sudden disappearance was a genuine emotional shock for all of us. While we did not have the chance to say goodbye to him, he will remain in our thoughts, and his achievements and contributions to LHCb will stay with us.
On behalf of the entire team, our deepest sympathies go to his family and friends. Thank you for everything, Cédric, and rest in peace.
His LHCb colleagues
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We are deeply saddened to announce the death of Mr Cédric Fournier on 14 May 2024.
Cédric Fournier, who was born on 8 May 1981, worked in the EP department and had been at CERN since 2 October 2000.
The Director-General has sent a message of condolence to his family on behalf of the CERN personnel.
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