Kamran Vaziri’s first sense of place in America would be hard to surpass: Logan, Utah, where the Logan River flows through Logan Canyon in a mountain valley in the northeastern corner of the Beehive State.

"Logan Canyon is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen," said Vaziri, who left his native Iran after completing high school in 1974, enrolling at Utah State University to follow his dream of becoming a physicist.

He completed his Ph.D. in experimental nuclear physics at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, then pursued postdoctoral work at the University of Colorado in Boulder—another grandly scenic area.

"I’ve always enjoyed hiking and camping," Vaziri said, "and Colorado and Utah were perfect for that."

Following research at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Vaziri moved to Fermilab in January 1992. He lives in Geneva with his wife, Azam, also a native of Iran, and their son, Barzeen, 14, and daughter Mondana, 11.

Vaziri is a member of the Radiation Physics Team in the Environment, Safety and Health Section. Two years ago, ES&H head Bill Griffing charged him with assembling a team of experts to conduct the Accelerator Readiness Reviews in accordance with the Main Injector’s Safety Assessment Document; and working as a liaison between the Beams Division and the Department of Energy, which held the ultimate approval. Vaziri assembled a core group from ES&H of Deb Grobe, Bill James, Jim Priest and Greg Mitchell.

Vaziri was presented with a Fermilab Employee Recognition Award on May 7. The awards recognize "outstanding contributions to the Laboratory demon-strated by innovation, discovery, extraordinary effort and/or cost reduction."

Mike Andrews of Beams Division ES&H said Vaziri "performed tirelessly" in compiling and tracking the necessary safety documentation. Beams Division head Steve Holmes cited Vaziri’s "great work" in running the Accelerator Readiness Reviews, and in clarifying and documenting the punchlist items. Griffing lauded the "extraordinary coordination" Vaziri achieved among ES&H, the Beams Division and the DOE-Fermi Group review team.

"We wanted to have DOE involved from the ground level," Vaziri said. "We invited DOE to bring in their team, cooperate and help solve problems as we went along. I think the process we laid out to do this is more effective and is more realistic in its relation to safety issues than going over paperwork."

DOE gave its formal concurrence during a meeting in Fermilab Director John Peoples’ office on September 25, 1998; beam was introduced into the Main Injector the next day. The DOE Accelerator Acceptance Review recommended DOE’s acceptance of the Main Injector’s completion on April 27, 1999.

"I think we laid down a foundation for a methodology of conducting Accelerator Readiness Reviews with the DOE involved from ground level," Vaziri said. "I think it went well, and I think everyone was very happy in the end. The Main Injector is not a project anymore. Now it is part of the Laboratory facility."