Gert Viertel ✝

Gert Viertel studied physics at the University of Mainz and later at the University of Bern, where he earned his doctorate in 1978. He then worked from 1978 to 1984 as a research associate in the Institute of Particle Physics at ETH Zurich, subsequently as a scientific adjunct at the same institute, and from 1990 as head of the technical department at the Laboratory for High Energy Physics. In 1996, the ETH Board awarded him the title of Professor, in recognition and appreciation of his achievements for ETH Zurich and his field. After a long career serving ETH Zurich and its students, Gert Viertel retired in 2008.

Throughout his successful career, Gert Viertel has been involved in numerous particle-physics experiments conducted at the leading European research centres CERN and DESY. In the 1980s, he contributed significantly to the construction of the so-called Time Expansion Chamber as a trace detector for the L3 experiment at the Large Electron–Positron Collider (LEP) of CERN. Later he made important contributions to the development of the crystal calorimeter and the tracker of the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and took a key role in the construction of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) experiment, which has been installed on the International Space Station (ISS) and successfully records data since 2011.

His colleagues will remember the exceptionally deep knowledge of Gert Viertel and his extensive experience in pioneering technologies. His unwavering ambition to deliver only work of the highest quality, as well as his care for friends and colleagues, serve as a lasting example.

The members of ETH Zurich, his former students as well as his colleagues will honour his memory.