UW-Madison physicist Francis Halzen received an award Thursday for his particle-detecting telescope based in the South Pole.
The American Ingenuity Award is presented annually to recipients in 10 different categories. Halzen, who won the 2014 award in the physical science category, began work on the giant, cubic kilometer telescope IceCube nearly 20 years ago, according to a UW-Madison news release.
IceCube is made up of 5,000 optical detectors that work to pick up virtually massless, high-energy particles called cosmic neutrinos. Evidence of these neutrinos was first discovered by IceCube in 2013, revealing the existence of a new astronomical field.
Constructing and operating IceCube is not a one-man job, and Halzen collaborates with 275 additional physicists and engineers on an international level.
“This award is dedicated to the many people who contributed to IceCube, by making the critical contributions at [IceCube’s] many critical junctures,” Halzen said in the release.
