  We built a test stand for evaluating the performance of the thermionic
electron sources for the electron lens project at the Integrable Optics Test
Accelerator (IOTA) in Fermilab. The lens will be used to study nonlinear
dynamics and electron cooling of 2.5 MeV protons with strong space charge. The
test stand will validate the characteristics of the thermionic sources and the
main parameters of the generated beams. In this paper we present the results of
the commissioning of the UChicago test stand and validation of the hollow beam
source.

Accelerator Physics