Darren Dowell (JPL) Title: BICEP: Searching the Cosmic Microwave Background for the Signature of Inflation from the South Pole Abstract: 7600 miles due south of Waimea, the BICEP experiment is finishing up its third and final season observing the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). BICEP is a first generation "small aperture polarimeter" looking for the weak but definitive signature of primordial Inflation that may be imprinted in the polarization of the CMB at degree angular scales. We describe the design of the experiment, operations, and first results. BICEP uses a 10-inch refracting telescope and an array of 49 polarization-sensitive bolometer detectors with filter bands at 3, 2, and 1.4 mm (100, 150, and 220 GHz). Observing through the transparent, stable South Pole atmosphere permits measurements of sub-microkelvin temperature differences in the spatial pattern of the CMB. BICEP has now made the most sensitive measurements yet of CMB polarization at degree scales, and has also surveyed foreground emission from the Galaxy.