ESS In-Kind Group Leverages the Lessons of XFEL
| From left: Gareth Aspinal (ESS), Antonio Bonucci (XFEL), Mauro Zambelli (ESS), Nicole Elleuche (XFEL) and Magnus Eriksson (ESS). PHOTO: ESS |
SCHENEFELD—The European Spallation Source (ESS) in-kind management team travelled to the European XFEL facility near Hamburg last week to exchange knowledge and experiences with XFEL management. Similar to the ESS construction model, many of XFEL's physical assets and services were delivered by a large number of in-kind contributors across Europe, including Russia. Now in operations, the facility’s experience has long served as a fruitful source of knowledge for ESS in-kind management.
XFEL’s Managing Director Nicole Elleuche and In-Kind Contribution Manager Antonio Bonucci met with the ESS team to discuss an array of issues related to the management of the in-kind life cycle, and in particular the transition from construction to operations. ESS has already entered initial operations, in parallel with its construction, and will begin its user programme in 2023.
“These informal exchanges are of great value to ESS,” said ESS In-Kind Group Leader Mauro Zambelli. “To have direct access to the experiences of a large project like XFEL just down the road from us is a great resource as we at ESS cover similar ground. Our team has worked to make the most of this relationship.”
The shared experiences of the two facility projects were at the heart of the day’s agenda. This included the specific issues around competences required to finalize safety documentation, the difficulties of tracking and crediting in-kind contributions, and the mediation and negotiation strategies needed to solve unforeseen problems and to reach the construction goal.
“We are glad to support other large-scale facilities with our experience to help them reach their goals,” said Bonucci. “The success of all basic science large-scale facilities and projects, like ESS, has a positive impact both in the innovation industrial context, and then in the economy, and in the daily life of the citizens of our countries. Therefore, we are a community that is working together.”
European XFEL in action. PHOTO: ESS
