IBIC Award Presented Posthumously to Professor John Flanagan
The late Professor John Flanagan at IPAC2011
At the International Beam Instrumentation Conference (IBIC2026), held in Whistler, Canada, from August 30 to September 3, 2026, the IBIC Award was presented to the late Professor John Flanagan of the KEK Accelerator Laboratory and Dr. Manfred Wendt of Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), USA.
Established this year, the IBIC Award recognizes lifetime achievements in the field of charged-particle beam instrumentation. The award honors individuals who have made significant and sustained contributions to the advancement of the field through innovation, technical leadership, and creative problem-solving.
Throughout his research at KEKB, SuperKEKB, and ATF, Flanagan worked on the development of beam-size monitoring systems using visible light and X-rays, as well as bunch-by-bunch feedback systems. In particular, he led the development of an X-ray beam-size monitor based on the Coded Aperture technique, originally developed for X-ray astronomy, for application to particle accelerators. Through the US-Japan Science and Technology Cooperation Program, he conducted experiments at CesrTA at Cornell University in the United States and at ATF2 at KEK, pioneering techniques for real-time measurement of individual bunch beam sizes. The system was subsequently installed in both rings of SuperKEKB and has become one of the key diagnostic tools for beam tuning.
Sadly, Flanagan passed away due to illness in March 2020. The IBIC Award recognizes and honors his lifetime contributions to the field of beam instrumentation.
His spouse, Professor Emerita Mika Masuzawa of KEK, attended the award ceremony on August 31 and delivered a speech expressing her gratitude.
Flanagan’s contributions highlighted during the award ceremony
Professor Emerita Mika Masuzawa delivering her remarks
Dr. Manfred Wendt of BNL, a fellow recipient of the IBIC Award (center)
The IBIC Award trophy honoring the late Professor John Flanagan
