Benjamin Brubaker, ‘17 has been awarded the American Physical Society’s Tanaka Dissertation Award in Experimental Particle Physics for 2019 for his “outstanding contributions to the HAYSTAC dark matter experimental detector, especially to its design and construction by incorporating quantum measurement techniques, and to its operation by including data acquisition and novel analysis techniques”. Brubaker was part of the Steve Lamoreaux Research Lab while at Yale.
According to the APS website, the “award provides recognition to exceptional young scientists who have performed original doctoral thesis work of outstanding scientific quality and achievement in the area of experimental particle physics.” In addition to a monetary prize, the recipient is invited to give a talk at an APS meeting. The website also states that “the award was established in 1999 in memory of Dr. Mitsuyoshi Tanaka with funding provided by friends and family.”