Gianluca was awarded the H.E.S.S. prize especially for the upgrade of the H.E.S.S.-I cameras. He has worked extensively on both the software and hardware of the cameras during their development and integration, becoming the de facto technical coordinator of the upgrade project. Moreover, he has greatly contributed to the Science output of the large (28 m) telescope of H.E.S.S. Phase II by participating in the discovery of the pulsed emission from the Vela Pulsar.
H.E.S.S. Prize Hall of Fame
The H.E.S.S. Prize
With the H.E.S.S. Prize, the collaboration acknowledges young scientists (PhD, postdoc, junior staff) who made outstanding service contributions to the experiment. Such contributions might range from hardware maintenance to various aspects of data handling including outstanding analyses (the development of a new analysis technique allowing a measurement not possible before) or a key contribution to an important scientific discovery. The prize is awarded at every collaboration meeting through a confidential vote by the Collaboration Board.
List of H.E.S.S. Prize Winners
Heike Prokoph
Heike made outstanding contributions to the H.E.S.S. experiment on topics bridging various working groups, from instrument, via analysis and reconstruction to the Extragalactic science working group. She was co-leading an effort to solve a large discrepancy at low energies between the two Monte-Carlo simulation chains that are used in H.E.S.S. Understanding this discrepancy ultimately allowed us to analyse and publish the high-impact paper on the Vela Pulsar emission observed with the H.E.S.S.-II telescope. Heike also shaped the H.E.S.S. target-of-opportunity programme in a major way, which is now one of the cornerstones of the H.E.S.S. science operations in the multi-messenger era.
Stefan Ohm has been a highly valued and active contributor to H.E.S.S. data analysis, simulations and astrophysics since 2007, working at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, the University of Leicester, and since 2014 at DESY Zeuthen. Stefan’s many contributions include improvements to the techniques for background rejection, improvements to the real time science data analysis for H.E.S.S. and gamma-ray studies of many systems involving massive stars and/or star-forming regions.
Vincent Marandon
Vincent Marandon has been the main responsible person for the calibration of H.E.S.S. data in Germany, which is crucially important for data analysis from both H.E.S.S. I and H.E.S.S. II. Vincent has spent 3 years of full time work in Heidelberg on maintaining the calibration of H.E.S.S. I data as well as defining new calibration strategies for H.E.S.S. II data. Over this time, Vincent has almost single handedly developed the calibration of H.E.S.S. II data in Germany, working closely with the French groups to try to identify issues with the new hardware along the way, including rapid variation in pedestal in some regions of the camera. It is safe to say that without Vincent’s hard work no analysis of H.E.S.S. II data would be possible with the German calibration. In addition to his technical work, Vincent has worked on a wide range of scientific topics. These include work on the H.E.S.S. galactic plane survey, as well as exploiting this data for the Supernova Remnant and Pulsar Wind Nebula population studies. He has also made detailed comparisons between the results of the Heidelberg analysis chain and other analysis chains while cross checking the analysis of the supernova remnants W49B and W51C.
Petter Hofverberg has been the main responsible person for the challenging drive system of the 28 m telescope CT5, that in particular allows the fast slewing essential for GRB observations. Petter spent well over a year in Heidelberg testing the drive hardware and developing the high-level control software. He then prepared the commissioning of the drive system including detailed work plans and testing software, followed by a two-month stay in Namibia where he installed and tested all hardware components, got the back-up drive system up and running, configured low level control software, performed first drive tests with the back-up drive system, implemented the drive system in the DAQ, tested the entire system and performed first CT5 observation runs. Follow-up visits to Namibia served for optimizing the performance of the drive system, training people on site to use the system, and implementing a number of speed-up features for GRB alerts. Petter also provided the documentation of the drive system, was trouble-shooting problems during observation, and supported the on-site crew, often during night time. Petter’s enormous engagement, and his technical, programming and organizational skills were essential for the smooth and efficient commissioning of the 28 m telescope.
François Brun
François Brun made important contributions both to the commissioning and the analysis tools for the large (28 m) H.E.S.S. telescope, CT5. He was responsible for the Central Trigger system during the installation of CT5 and had to adapt the Central Trigger to allow the operations of CT5 together with the smaller telescopes. As the central trigger expert, he played a major role in the campaign leading to the first light of H.E.S.S. II array. He also worked on the calibration of H.E.S.S. I cameras and was able to identify and correct the cause of common mode noise in the pedestals. On the analysis side, François Brun has developed tools for the H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey analysis. He has also developed original methods to identify variable sources of time-scales larger than a minute in H.E.S.S. fields. As a member (and former co-convenor) of the analysis and reconstruction working group, where he plays a major role, he has provided a support to a large number of on-going analyses.