Dr. Kees Benkendorfer

Experience

A timeline of my work experience is below. For details on specific research projects, please refer to the projects page.

Algorithm Developer Intern (Incoming Full-time)

May 2026 – Present

Hudson River Trading · New York, NY, USA

I am an incoming Algorithm Developer at Hudson River Trading. I started as an intern in May 2026, and am converting to full-time in August 2026.

Postdoctoral Researcher

Jan 2026 – May 2026

University of Victoria · ATLAS Collaboration · Geneva, Switzerland

As an Activity Coordinator for the ATLAS Inner Tracker (ITk) upgrade project's Detector Control System, I managed a team of ~10 engineers and physicists to deliver a SCADA system for safe, latency-sensitive detector operation. I also contributed to the data acquisition system for ITk, and led large-scale data analysis projects within the ATLAS Collaboration.

PhD in Experimental Particle Physics

Sep 2021 – Nov 2025

Harvard University · Cambridge, MA, USA

My doctoral research revolved around searches for new physics at the Large Hadron Collider, where I developed machine-learning methods for model-independent anomaly detection and built large-scale statistical models to perform precise measurements on weak signals in noisy datasets. I also worked on the ATLAS Inner Tracker (ITk) detector upgrade, contributing to the control and data-acquisition software for a new silicon tracking system.

Reactor Operator & Senior Reactor Operator

Jun 2018 – Aug 2021

Reed Research Reactor · Portland, OR, USA

I earned Reactor Operator (RO) and Senior Reactor Operator (SRO) licenses from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and was promoted to Operations Supervisor in my final year at the reactor. As Operations Supervisor, I oversaw the day-to-day operations of the reactor facility and managed a team of 30+ operators and technicians. I directed reactor operations, maintenance schedules, fuel handling, and experimental activities, ensuring compliance with federal and state regulatory requirements and strict safety protocols.

BA in Physics

Sep 2017 – Jun 2021

Reed College · Portland, OR, USA

Selected Publications

The ATLAS Collaboration, like many other collaborations in high-energy physics, publishes papers as a unit, with alphabetized author lists. Papers listed below as the "ATLAS Collaboration" are those to which I made a leading contribution.