Category: LHC

I-SAT: Heavy on Flavours, Heavy on Space!

matjazvidmar/ / impact, LHC, Post, Space, University of Edinburgh, value

This is a slightly late update on another outreach project I was involved with this Summer. Between 10th-14th July 2016, “Heavy Flavour – Quo Vadis?” workshop was organised by the Particle Physics Group, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Edinburgh, at the Ardbeg Distillery on Islay.

The aim of the workshop was to the future direction of research for heavy flavour physics, so-called as it involves the study of the heavy beauty and charm quarks that are produced in large numbers at the CERN Large Hadron Collider.

In parallel with the workshop, a series of public outreach events were held at Bowmore High School between 12th-14th July 2016, organised on behalf of the Particle Physics Group by Alan Walker, Director of Particle Physics for Scottish Schools (PP4SS), and the local Science teacher, Russell Pollock. This comprised of three joint exhibitions: Particle Physics for Scottish Schools Exhibition, From Maxwell to Higgs Exhibition (Royal Society Edinburgh) and I-SAT: Islay Space and Astronomy Tour.

Poster 2

 

The latter, Islay Space and Astronomy Tour (I-SAT), was a new invited project I designed specifically for this event on the basis of an IoP in Scotland Public Engagement Grant. In particular, I was asked to develop an interactive display related to my research, which concerns the applications of basic research and innovation partnerships between scientists and local entrepreneurs in the Space Industry in Scotland and to give a talk about science, technology and innovation in Astronomy and Space Science at the evening public session.

Interactive Display and Exhibition Talks

The display included a rolling loop explaining key features and current finding of my research and a selection of relevant info-sheets produced by Science and Technology facilities Council (STFC) and Institute of Physics (IoP).

I-SAT tweet

I was near the display for most of the time exhibition was open and have regularly given short (15min) informal talks small groups of people to explain my work further.

It IS Rocket Science! – Building Scotland’s Space Sector

Building on detailed micro-level studies of innovation process my research suggests that the further development of Scottish Space Sector rests on matching the right people and institutions, who can then trade resources, knowledge and skills

Hence, I am using Social Network Analysis to map out the knowledge network(s) of the Space Industry in Scotland in order to identify its key systemic characteristics and outline the contours of the interactions (knowledge flows) between new product development (NPD) processes and its environment are the key for understanding which external factors most significantly influence the success of commercialisation of emerging Space technologies.

However, illuminating this network and characterising its effects is not trivial – after all, who said it was not rocket science?

Evening Talk

The series of events also included a public session with two presentations, one by the organiser of the workshop, Prof Franz Muheim, on “Higgs Bosons, Antimatter and all that” and the other my own on “Astrotechnology – and how it changed the World”. The event was well attended and well received by the local community (see below).

Evening tweet.JPG

 

Astrotechnology – and How it Changed the World?

Astronomy research is both driving the technological advances as well as being shaped by them. From ancient telescopes to modern infra-red detectors simulations, the practice of Astronomy is very much rooted in physical objects – most of them located down here on Earth!

Using an example of such an object, an ordinary DSLR camera, this talk will afford a fly-by tour of the key astronomical technologies, how did they come about and what did they do for the science as well as for the society. We will examine the way Space innovation is allowing us to see the past and the future, the distant and the invisible, to experience reality well beyond our imagination and then emerge in the world to change it for the better.

What have the Space ever done for us, again?

So, how did it go?

Though our initial estimate was to attract about 300 visitors to the exhibition and the evening event combined, this turned out to be relatively ambitious, in particular as the events happen to coincide with unusually good weather for Islay, which led to many (in particular younger) audiences to try and spend more time outdoors. In the end, we have had approximately 100 unique visitors to the events in total, the evening talk being attended by around 30 people. Given the small population on Islay (around 3000 total), this is still a significant turnout.

More importantly, the visitors were very interested in the events and thought them to be of high quality. Some commented:

“Great interactive exhibition.”

“Great initiative – never had anything like that on islands when I grew up.”

“When are you coming back?”

Importantly, we engaged with several groups of high school children, who are thinking about studying science, and have said that this positive experience motivated them even more. Furthermore, noticing the event activities on Twitter (announcements alone reached over 6,700 impressions and 115 engagements), some were already advocating future locations to visit, which we would be more than happy to follow up!

More information (including more photos) about the activities on Islay can be found

Finally, none of this would be possible without financial support from the IoP in Scotland Public Engagement Grant and the Particle Physics Group at the School of Physics and Astronomy, and the generous hospitality of the Islay High School, Bowmore.

CERN – A Truly Innovative Space

matjazvidmar/ / Geneva, LHC, Post, Switzerland

In July 2014 I travelled to Geneva in Switzerland to visit the largest scientific experiment in the world, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, better known after its acronym: CERN. On top of the visit to CERN’s facilities in Geneva, this trip was intended for me to get to know two key programmes at CERN which I have a special interest in: knowledge transfer and public engagement.

Apart from the usual concerns about travelling, I was not much worried about this visit, as I have been to Switzerland before and have had many contacts in CERN who were to receive me. I pre-arranged not only the travel details, but also a series of meetings with some key people at CERN in particular the Head of Education and Public Outreach, leading CERN’s public engagement activities, and a Knowledge Transfer Officer, working on a portfolio of innovations that CERN released to the member states.

Fortunately, due to current LHC shutdown, I got to see three detectors up-close, two of the LHC’s four experiments: LHCb and ATLAS, and also a museum piece, part of the previous Large Electron-Positron (LEP) collider, called DELPHI. Excitingly, all of them are located in large underground caverns about 100m below surface.

CERN ug
Me in a hard hat in front of the LHCb detector, ATLAS and DELPHI.

Being a Physicist by background, I did understand some of the context perhaps a bit better than your average visitor, but the sheer size and complexity of the structure and the technology is breath-taking. Very helpful guides explained us what individual parts do and how it all comes together and answered our (naïve) questions. But best of all – I got to wear a CERN hard hat!

Over-ground, I spent a few hours in both of the CERN’s exhibitions, taking part in the sensorial experience of “the Universe of Particles” and having a glance at the history and science of CERN in “Microcosm”. But perhaps the best part of the over-ground experience was meeting people, either just being part of the buzz of CERN’s main canteen or in the meetings I pre-arranged.

The meetings were very exciting and illuminating as I got to know specifically what Knowledge Transfer Office looks like from the inside and was familiarised with some of the outreach efforts currently underway, including a pre-view of a brand new interactive classroom for school visitors called “S’Cool LAB”. I would have accepted a job offer in either of the groups there and then!

CERN pe
Meeting Dr Rolf Landua, Head of Education and Public Outreach at CERN, and one of the core team, Conrad, letting me have a look inside “S’Cool LAB”.

On my last day, I have had a few hours – and some sunshine – to spare, so I went to Geneva city centre, about 2miles away, to have a look around the historic old town, do a quick stroll by the lake, take a ride on a tourist-train through the famous diplomatic district (hosting the Red Cross HQ, a variety of international organisations and one of the HQ of the UN) and poke inside a few interesting museums: The Natural History Museum, The History of Science Museum , The History of Art Museum and The Red Cross Museum. Particularly the last of this list was impressive in its simple, yet powerful narrative of being human in the face of conflict and (natural) catastrophes.

Geneva Mus
In front of the UN HQ and The Museum of Red Cross.

Unfortunately, my trip was a very short one and too soon it was time to head back to Geneva Airport. However, it was packed with exciting new experiences and I am hoping to visit Geneva and CERN again in the future.

Geneva Walk
One last look at the famous Jet d’Eau on Geneva Lake, a lovely traditional street and the oldest house in town.

I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart the Principal’s Go Abroad Fund for making this trip (financially) possible, to Stephanie Hills, who was my primary contact in arranging my visit and to all the people that made it so interesting and enjoyable both at CERN as well as in Geneva generally.