Happy reunion of the DESY seniors in golden October 2024
Colourful leaves, the smell of coffee and lively conversations - the annual DESY Senior:innen meeting took place! On Tuesday, 22 October 2024, it was time again. More than 90 former DESY colleagues met in the DESY canteen in bright autumn weather to relive old times and learn about the latest developments at DESY.
22 October 2024: Around ninety former DESY employees together with DESY CEO Helmut Dosch in the DESY canteen extension.
DESY Seniors Meeting
All DESY employees who have retired from DESY are invited to a coffee once a year. A great opportunity to meet old colleagues again and learn something new about DESY. DESY is grateful for the commitment of the guests, some of whom have been with us for decades. If you would like to find out more about the DESY Senior Meeting, please send an email to connect@desy.de.
Over 45 years of Seniors Meetings at DESY
The meeting of DESY retirees has a long tradition, dating back to 1979, and is a fixed date in the calendar for many of the guests in attendance. Year after year, it offers the opportunity to socialise and catch up with old colleagues. It is also fascinating to hear the old stories from DESY's beginnings, as some of the DESY retirees were even employed before DESY's founding in 1959. Back then, DESY did not even have 300 employees, in contrast to today's staff of almost 3,000 people. Many of the guests present have developed groundbreaking DESY technologies, built the HERA accelerator and contributed to important experiments.
Miriam Huckschlag, DESY Relation Management & DESY CONNECT
“The DESY spirit is alive and vibrant at this event. Despite their retirement, the guests still feel a strong connection to DESY.”
DESYan No. 53: Rolf Pamperin was one of the first DESYans. He was hired in 1958, even before the official founding year of DESY in 1959. Rolf had his ID card with him at the 2023 Senior:innen meeting. This year, Otto Peters was a guest at the DESY Senior:innen meeting. Otto is also one of the first DESYans.
First-hand news from DESY
‘It is always impressive to hear what was achieved in research back then, without the computerised support that is available to us today,’ reports Miriam Huckschlag, who organises the meeting of DESY retirees together with her colleagues from DESY's Relation Management.
DESY Director Helmut Dosch, who himself will be retiring next year, also greeted those present with a warm ‘I'll be one of you next year’ and took them on a journey through current topics and developments that are currently concerning DESY in his speech. He gave an honest and direct insight into the challenges and successes of the research centre. Among other things, Helmut Dosch reported on how the enormous PETRA IV project is progressing.
DESY Director Hemut Dosch welcomes the guests.
Presentation on sustainability at DESY
After the welcome, it was time for refreshments: the snack and cake buffet was raided. Strengthened and in high spirits, the guests then listened to the afternoon's interesting presentations. Kathrin Schulz from the DESY Sustainability Office presented the many facets of the important topic of ‘Sustainability at DESY’. She pointed out the responsibility of research infrastructures to implement the careful use of resources - from energy and materials to data. DESY has made a clear commitment to sustainability and has anchored corresponding methods in its strategy.
Katrin Schulz impressively explained the areas in which the switch to sustainable management at DESY has already saved resources and energy. The participants were equally interested in the idea of Fateme Jaleh from the DESY Start-up Office, whose project ‘Bridging Generations’ aims to show new ways in which younger and older generations can work more closely together at DESY in the future.
This year's DESY Senior:innen meeting was once again a complete success. We are already looking forward to next year and thank all guests for their continued enthusiasm for DESY.