It is with great sadness that we have to announce the passing of our colleague and friend, Robert Simpson.
As a young student, Robbie developed a profound passion for science and the world of academia, which led him to take up studies in computing science at the University of Glasgow, graduating with a PhD on ‘Formalised Responsibility Modelling for Automatic Socio-Technical Systems Analysis’ in 2017.
Joining CERN as a senior research fellow in January 2018 allowed Robbie to further develop and extend his wide range of interests in computing science and the world of physics as part of our machine-protection software team. It was an immense pleasure knowing and working alongside Robbie during these past two years where he became one of the main architects in the consolidation and development of a crucial framework for data recording and analysis for the operation of our entire accelerator chain. We have come to know Robbie as a bright and highly committed colleague, always eager to embark on discussions well beyond his daily technical work, sharing with us his passions for travelling, Eastern European architecture and politics.
He displayed great enthusiasm both as a facilitator of the team’s software-development process and as a CERN guide to the many visitors he accompanied around our premises.
His much-too-soon passing due to a natural yet very rare cause leaves a massive hole in our hearts and our team, cutting short what was going to be a very promising career.
Our warmest sympathy and thoughts go to his family and friends. He will be immensely missed by all of us.
His colleagues and friends
We deeply regret to announce the death of Robert Simpson on 14 January 2020.
Robert Simpson, who was born on 17 December 1989, worked in the TE department and had been at CERN since 1 January 2018.
The Director-General has sent a message of condolence to his family on behalf of the CERN personnel.
Social Affairs
Human Resources department