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We’re delighted to announce that Mark Heron, Head of Scientific Software, Controls and Computation at Diamond was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the recent International Conference on Accelerator and Large Experimental Physics Control Systems (ICALEPCS). The award was presented at the ICALEPCS conference dinner held last week in Chicago by the Chair of the ICALEPCS Executive Committee, Oscar Matilla, in recognition of Mark’s invaluable and lasting contributions to the field of control systems for large experimental facilities.
The scope of the award reaches beyond the successful completion of a single project or even several projects to recognise individuals who through their vision, leadership and technical excellence have influenced the international practice of control system development.
Over his extensive career so far, Mark’s expertise and valued knowledge has been pivotal to many collaborations across the synchrotron community. He has contributed through direct technical development, establishing collaborative frameworks, and providing valuable guidance and oversight. His involvement in projects has included the EPICS collaboration, through which Diamond worked closely with several US laboratories. The Position and Acquisition’ processing platform (PandA), which was developed through a highly successful partnership with Soleil, and the Diamond Communication Controller, which was adopted by multiple facilities, including ALBA and ESRF to develop advanced beam orbit stabilisation solutions.
Mark has also provided personal oversight for the construction of several facilities, including National Synchrotron Light Source II in Brookhaven and the European Spallation Source in Sweden. Mark has also shared his expertise by serving as the Chair of the Computing and Electronics Advisory Committee for Soleil and leading the Software and Computing Work Group for the League of European Accelerator-based Photon Sources (LEAPS).
On winning the award, Mark said:
The recognition I have been given in receiving this award is both profoundly humbling and deeply meaningful to me. For more than 35 years, I have had the privilege of working on distributed control systems for synchrotron light sources, beginning with the SRS at Daresbury, continuing through the construction and early operation of Diamond, and most recently, overseeing all software and computing at Diamond. Each stage of this journey has deepened my appreciation for the field and the remarkable people within it.
Over the years, I have had the great pleasure of working with so many talented and dedicated software developers and engineers. I have also been fortunate to mentor and develop staff, and it has been wonderful to see them grow in capability and for some to go on to contribute at other facilities around the world. This spirit of growth and knowledge sharing is what makes our community strong. In accepting the award, I know that my own contribution is just a small part of a much larger collective achievement. This honour belongs as much to the many colleagues, collaborators, and friends I have worked with over the years as it does to me.
Diamond Light Source is the UK's national synchrotron science facility, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
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