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Superconductivity accelerates a sustainable future

Sabrina El Yacoubi — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 08:14:58 +0000

Superconductivity accelerates a sustainable future
By Panos Charitos (CERN)

At the two-and-a-half-day Superconductivity Hackathon that hosted by CERN’s IdeaSquare, students worked side-by-side with scientists, researchers and company representatives, to solve problems in different application fields by using the advantages of superconductivity. Interdisciplinarity, creativity and collaboration are the keys to success and the hackathon offered numerous possibilities of interexchange with several experts thanks to its character and informal setting.In addition, the event highlighted the importance of preparing now the next generation of experts for the challenges that lie ahead.

The phenomenon of superconductivity, discovered around 100 years ago, has yet to find its way everyday life. Particle physics uses superconducting magnets since the late 1960s. These magnets generate stronger magnetic fields to curve particle trajectories, thereby allowing to reach previous unexplored territories at higher energies and higher intensities. Moreover superconductors are used for the detector magnets allowing to study in great detail the debris of very energetic particle collisions. Together with their impact on fundamental research, superconductivity has an unexpected transformative potential that can guarantee a greener and sustainable future. Superconductors are the natural choice for any application where strong magnetic fields are needed including applications as diverse as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the magnetic separation of minerals in the mining industry and efficient power transmission lines.

An intensive 3-day Superconductivity Hackathon took place at CERN’s Idea Square (Image Credit: FCC collaboration).

The promise for future technologies is even greater, and overcoming our limited understanding of the fundamental principles of superconductivity and enabling large-quantity production of high-quality conductors at affordable prices will open new business opportunities. In an effort to transfer this leading-edge technology to daily applications and tackle the above challenges, the Marie-Curie training network EASITRAIN together with the FCC study, HL-LHC project and CERN’s KT group established a collaboration with the Vienna University of Economics to research new fields of application that generate socio-economical value.

During the past semester, students identified and evaluated new fields of application. More than 120 qualitative interviews with experts from a broad range of industries were carried and 29 potential application areas were selected that in close consultation with the technology and industry experts were subsequently narrowed down to three specific cases: Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems, fruit sorting machines to monitor food quality and a visionary rocket launch system that could boost our exploration of the solar system in an energy and cost efficient way compared to current conventional systems.

The three topics informed the work of the six teams that participated in the Hackathon. During an intense 3-day program, they identified the challenges for each application, evaluated its commercial adaptation and developed business strategies. Academic and industrial experts joined the teams to answer their questions and steer their imagination. Industrial experts from Babcock Noell (superconducting flywheels for UPS systems), Equinix (Data Centres) MicroTech (fruit shorting machines) and Swissloop (concepts for Hyperloop in Switzelrnad) worked together with the students to develop applications with short-term or long-term applicability. “We have tried to work out our solutions as practically as possible and always have an eye on their concrete implementation" says Marco Boschett from MicroTech, one of the companies that participated in the SC Hackathon.

The jury prize went to the team who developed a fruit sorting method for avocados that will determine the fruits’ maturity. Tonnes of fruit have to be disposed of worldwide because current technologies based on spectroscopy are not able to determine the maturity level of fruit sufficiently accurately, with techniques also offering limited information about small-sized fruit. Superconductors would enable NMR-based scanning systems that allow producers to accurately and non-destructively determine their valuable properties saving billions every year. "The superconducting technology could present the next innovation in the market for the fruit processing industry and open up new possibilities, which ultimately benefits the consumer", said Microtec CEO Federico Giudiceandrea.

Superconductors could present the next innovation in the market for the fruit processing industry and open up new possibilities (Image Credits: Athina Papageorgiou Koufidou)

The audience award was given for the concept of a novel space transport method. Have you ever considered a global energy crisis in the near future? The team dealt with this potential threat and came up with a futuristic, albeit realistic solution. They developed the concept of a high-innovative transport method to harvest the moon using superconductors technology. The moon holds essential resources, including helium-3 which is a gas that could be used as fuel in future nuclear fusion power plants. By establishing two space module stations on the moon and a futuristic space shuttle it will be possible to transport helium-3 to earth while the same station could be used for future trips to the neighborhood of our solar system.

The audience award went to the team that designed a novel superconducting rocket launch system (Image Credit: Athina Papageorgiou Koufidou)

But it is not only the scientific results that matter. The participant build new networks and they will continue working together to cultivate and expand the newly established contacts from the different academic institutes and industries. As Markus Nordberg, head of IdeaSquare, mentioned in his speech during the award ceremony: “You are all winners and the biggest prize is sharing, the fact that you met and shared your experiences and ideas”.

The time is right for superconductivity to emerge as the next great transformational technology — with far-reaching impact: From building new powerful scientific instruments like a future circular collider reaching unprecedented energy scales but also for paving the way to new applications in medicine, energy and other fields impacting our lives.

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accelerators

issue 22

superconductivity

Hackaton

Superconductors

From EuCARD-2 to ARIES

Sabrina El Yacoubi — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 14:29:31 +0000

From EuCARD-2 to ARIES
Jennifer Toes (CERN)

ARIES project members attend the kick-off meeting talks at CERN, 4-5^th May 2017 (Image: CERN)

As the particle accelerator R&D project EuCARD-2 comes to an end, its entrepreneurial and collaborative spirit lives on in ARIES, Accelerator Research and Innovation for European Science and Society, which kicked off at CERN in May 2017.

EuCARD-2 officially ended its activity in April 2017, after four years of international collaboration between academics and members of industry. The project aimed to connect different European actors in accelerator science, enhance collaboration and concentrate common resources on shared goals.

Mobilising more than 350 people, EuCARD-2 produced a wealth of novel ideas for future accelerators and their energy management and applications. Highlights of the final results include patents and crucial advances in four fields: high-temperature superconductivity, materials for accelerators, superconducting coatings, and high-quality plasma-accelerated beams.

EuCARD-2 results in numbers (Image: CERN)

Building on the knowledge, technology and partnerships established under EuCARD-2, ARIES will bring together 41 participants from 18 European countries, including 7 industrial partners. The project officially launched its four-year activity programme as of 1^st May 2017 and gathered at CERN over 4-5^th May for a kick-off meeting. The project is co-funded via a contribution of €10 million from the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 programme.

The project participants include major European accelerator laboratories, universities, scientific and technical institutes, and industrial partners. This consortium increases the opportunities for international collaboration, knowledge and technology transfer across different fields of scientific research and to society, and puts particular focus on innovation of new technology, with a view to maximising its attractiveness to industry.

This effort ultimately aims to upgrade and enhance current accelerator infrastructures and their related technology, secure the sustainability of accelerator science for the future, and further integrate the accelerator research community in Europe.

The work programme of the project will pay particular attention to developing new accelerator concepts, creating new technology for superconductors and superconducting coatings, and optimising accelerator energy efficiency and thermal management.

The ARIES Coordinator, Maurizio Vretenar (CERN), said, “ARIES is a new major step in collaborative research for particle accelerator R&D. By integrating more countries and more industry and by enhancing innovation, training, access to test facilities and societal applications, the project will have a strong and long-term impact on European science and society.”

Under the ARIES Transnational Access programme, 14 facilities will be made available to researchers for material, magnet, radio-frequency, plasma acceleration, and electron and proton beam testing.

Transnational Access facilities

Developing partnerships with industry and understanding areas of common interest is crucial for transferring knowledge and technology between fields, and ensuring future technologies are viable in the market.

As such, ARIES will organise a series of “Academia meets Industry” events, and will provide of a “Proof of Concept” innovation fund, which will offer researchers the opportunity to develop spin-off technology with societal applications.

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ARIES and Industry

Livia Lapadatescu — Fri, 30 Jun 2017 12:53:42 +0000

ARIES and Industry
by Livia Lapadatescu (CERN)

Collaboration between academia and industry has long been a hot topic in many R&D projects, but for the first time in an accelerator Integrating Activity project there is a consistent industrial participation. In ARIES, the new H2020 Integrating Activity on “Accelerator Research and Innovation for European Science and Society”, industry has become a crucial partner in achieving common R&D objectives and in identifying and further exploring industrial and societal applications of accelerators.

The ARIES consortium includes eight industrial partners contributing to activities such as the development of accelerator applications, materials for extreme thermal management, HT superconductors, timing electronics, and acting as consultants on the activity of the innovation work package.

The reasoning behind having industry as partners was to provide academia with more information about the market demands, moving from the old “technology push” to a new “market pull” approach. ARIES set two targets for the collaboration with industry: short/medium term goals and long-term goals.

Short & Medium term goals aim to breach the gap of innovation. ARIES proposes three pillars of innovation to achieve these goals:

The Proof of Concept Fund to support perspective studies/projects on industrial application of the ARIES technology;
Academia meets Industry events to encourage the networking between academia and industry on ARIES related subjects;
Projects co-run with industry in the work package on “Promoting Innovation”.

Long term goals aim to create a common language and a common working ground between academia and industry.

Schematic representation of the ARIES collaboration with industry (Credit: Livia Lapadatescu, CERN)

The first ARIES Industrial Meeting took place during the project kick-off meeting on 5 May 2017 at CERN. The meeting brought together about 40 participants, with large industrial participation, to discuss the involvement of industry in ARIES, how to enhance the collaboration with industry, and possible future actions.

A follow-up meeting will be organized in Brussels at the end of 2017 with the aim of collecting success stories for industrial collaboration and innovation from both industry and the European Commission. This will help to identify ways for further industrial involvement in the future Research Infrastructures programmes of the European Commission.

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Louvre accelerator gets an upgrade

Jennifer Toes — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 16:08:46 +0000

Louvre accelerator gets an upgrade
by Jennifer Toes (CERN)

New AGLAE multi-detector with 5 SDD PIXE detectors,1 HPGe PIGE detector, optical fiber for IBIL. The annular PIPS E/RBS detector is located inside the beamline, around the beam. (Image: © C2RMF – AGLAE V. Fournier)

Whilst the Parisian Louvre museum may be known as home to some of the world’s most revered and priceless art and antiquities, in the field of high energy physics it is in close proximity to one of premiere sites of the use of accelerators for culture heritage.

The Accélérateur Grand Louvre d'Analyse Elémentaire (AGLAE) is part of the French Ministry of Culture’s Centre for Research and Restoration of Museums of France (C2RMF). The accelerator serves more than 1200 French museums and assists in multiple national and international research projects.

Researchers at C2RMF are able to study objects using ion beam, proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE), proton induced gamma-ray emission (PIGE) and Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS) analyses and ion beam induced luminescence (IBIL).

AGLAE’s unique position allows its beamtime to be entirely dedicated to cultural heritage work and can be used to answer questions on the provenance, composition, authentication and degradation of objects made of stone, metals, glass, and ceramics.

In effort to increase the capability of the AGLAE facilities, an upgrade of the accelerator is ongoing. The “New AGLAE” will include a multi-detector system and will allow for systematic imaging and the automation of the beamline.

New particle analysis techniques will minimise the risk of damage to test subject – a crucial concern in cultural heritage studies.

“The New AGLAE project is part of the development, upgrading and optimization of the beamline since its settlement in the Louvre premises in 1988 for its specific applications to art objects with their proper constraints,” says Claire Pacheco, leader of the AGLAE research group.

Five silicon drift detectors (SDDs) have replaced the former two Si(Li), which will provide bigger solid angles, enabling the study of more fragile materials.

The area of interest on the object is scanned combining a vertical magnetic deflection of the beam up to 500µm and a horizontal mechanical translation of the target. The ListMode acquisition, coupled with the scanning of the area previously described, enables systematic chemical imaging.

Increasing the hours of beamtime is crucial to meeting the growing domain of work completed with the AGLAE. A more constant, automated beamline would not only allow further study of the museum collection, but would also provide access to the increasing number of project proposals submitted to the C2RMF.

As such, a call for bids to upgrade the beamline was opened in 2014 and later awarded to Thales.

The Thales proposal aims to provide control of the Terminal Voltage via a digital system which is to be integrated directly into the industrial automated machine. In addition, the alpha zone will house two 90° and two 45° magnets, and a quadrupole triplet enabling the beam to be more stable in energy and position. Finally, a customised human-machine interface (HMI) will be installed for operation and maintenance of the machine.

The installation and testing of the New AGLAE is due to be completed and ready for users by July 2017. A call for proposals is open twice a year and European user groups can be financially supported by the European Commission through the IPERION CH programme.

Commenting on the future of the facility, Claire Pacheco says: “We are looking forward to welcoming the French and European users at the New AGLAE facility and to showing them its new capabilities.”

Claire Pacheco presented a seminar organised by the CERN Knowledge Transfer (KT) Department in January 2017.

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Accelerator education goes further

Panagiotis Charitos — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 09:40:39 +0000

Accelerator Education goes further
by Sabrina El Yacoubi (CERN) & Graeme Burt (University of Lancaster/The Cockcroft Institute)

Participants at accelerator workshop (Image: QUASAR Group)

“Knowledge belongs to mankind, not to scientists,” said Fabiola Giannotti, CERN Director General at the 2017 World Economic Forum. Nowadays the scientific community better understands the need for public engagement. Demonstrating their work to the public through education, outreach, policy and many other activities is one of their main responsibilities alongside their scientific duties.

Similarly to many other institutes and universities, CERN and the Cockcroft Institute have strengthened their education and outreach activities by providing two new educational programs for different audiences.

The Cockcroft Institute is launching an exciting new education program of lectures on accelerator science and technology, to be delivered via webcast and video archives. This will provide a new free resource for the worldwide accelerator community, as a supplement to existing accelerators schools.

The program provides both a general introduction to the subject for non-technical audiences in addition to education on more advanced topics serving as a quick refresher for experienced staff were a traditional accelerator school may not be available. All course videos and slides are free to view, and the usage is strongly encouraged to anyone in our community. The resource shall also act as an inspiration for other institutions to consider similar training initiatives.

The Cockcroft Institute is a UK-based collaboration between Daresbury Laboratory and several UK universities (Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester and Strathclyde) to provide training for the next generation of accelerator scientists and engineers required to develop and optimise future accelerator facilities and light sources. The institute has been very successful in its efforts by initiating a large number of international training networks, such as DITANET, oPAC, OMA and AVA, as well as through the provision of an in-house lecture series for the institute’s postgraduate students. The latter includes a comprehensive set of training courses which provides all PhD students at the institute with a broad education in accelerator science outside of their own specific discipline. An online provision was also added to accommodate the large numbers of students based at overseas laboratories for at least part of their PhD work.

The lectures are primarily delivered by academic staff and accelerator experts from the stakeholder universities and the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). Some external lecturers also complement the program where the in-house experts did not have the right expertise. This online resource now also benefits the wider accelerator community and thus closes an existing training gap identified by a number of studies, such as the EU-funded TIARA project. More information and all course material can be found on the Cockroft Institute’s website, and you can also follow the institute on Facebook and Twitter to receive the latest news about new lectures and short courses.

In parallel, CERN is trying to reach the whole population of the organization and beyond with a large spectrum of courses and training. The CERN Accelerator School, established in 1983, holds trainings every year at one of the CERN member states on particle accelerators and colliders with the aim of transmitting and sharing knowledge. Complementary to this school, a yearly lecture series on “Introduction to Particle Accelerators” (AXEL) is held for technicians who are operating accelerators and whose work is closely linked to them. The lectures are also open to technicians, engineers, and physicists interested in this.

However, CERN has gone further with education and outreach by hosting a new lecture titled “Accelerators explained for everyone – without Maths”. At the origin of this lecture, Rende Steerenberg, Head of the Operations Group within the Beam Department, understood the need of setting up a lecture open to everyone without any prior knowledge of accelerators.

The objective is to widen the audience and to give a general overview of the CERN accelerator complex. It is open to everybody willing to gain a basic knowledge on how to share the beam between the LHC and all the other experiments, the LHC cycle, injection and extraction of particles, guiding particle around an accelerator, accelerating particles, Energy, basic beam diagnostic tools and performance limitations. Without diving into mathematical formulas and concepts, Rende Steerenberg reaches the public by choosing images, comparisons and equivalent to our daily lives to increase public understanding of basic scientific facts and concepts.

Example slide featuring a diagram of the CERN acceleration complex (Credit: CERN)

Five lectures have been given so far, and few others are planned for 2017. They are open to all personnel at CERN and will be given in French and English. More information here.

In the current climate, education and training are crucial aspects of most research and development projects to help ensure the future generations of scientists are well prepared. Indeed, the TIARA project conducted a series of surveys and produced a document containing suggestions for how to improve accelerator education and training based on their results. These suggestions included actions such as the development of training lectures or the provision of scholarships and accelerator schools.

In a similar vein, the ARIES project, due to begin in May 2017, includes a task dedicated to outreach, education and training. ARIES will develop an e-learning course aimed at undergraduate students to deliver an introduction to accelerator science, engineering and technology.

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Laser technology take the LHC to the next level

Livia Lapadatescu — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 16:05:54 +0000

Laser technology to help take the LHC to the next level
by Panos Charitos (CERN)

Jointly developed by researchers from the University of Dundee and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the technology – which is known as LESS (Laser Engineered Surface Structures) – could increase the range of experiments possible on the LHC by helping to clear the so-called “electron cloud”: a cloud of negative particles which can degrade the performance of the primary proton beams that circulate in the accelerator.

Laser-engineered surface structures (Image credit: STFC Daresbury Laboratory)

Removing this electron cloud will expand the range of experiments that the LHC, the world’s largest particle collider, can carry out. Professor Amin Abdolvand, chair of functional materials and photonics at Dundee University said: “Large particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider suffer from a fundamental limitation known as the ‘electron cloud’.

“This cloud of negative particles under certain conditions may degrade the performance of the primary proton beams that circulate in the accelerator, which is central to its core experiments.

“Current efforts to limit these effects involve applying composite metal or amorphous carbon coatings to the inner surfaces of the LHC vacuum chambers. These are expensive and time consuming processes that are implemented under vacuum.”

Tests have shown that it is possible to reformulate the surface of the metals in the LHC vacuum chambers to a design that under a microscope resembles the type of sound padding seen in music studios. The surface can trap electrons, keeping the chambers clear of the cloud.

The image shows the metal before the laser treatment (top) and afterwards (bottom) where one can see the characteristic pattern that resembles the type of sound padding (Image credit: Dundee University)

Future upgrades of the LHC that will double the intensity of the beams – thus resulting in a denser electron cloud – and studies for future circular high-intensity and high-energy colliders, could profit from this technique. The LESS method, which uses lasers to manipulate the surface of metals, could effectively reduce the electron cloud allowing for more powerful beams.

Professor Lucio Rossi, project leader of the High Luminosity LHC, said: “If successful, this method will allow us to remove fundamental limitations of the LHC and reach the parameters which are needed for the high luminosity upgrade in an easier and less expensive way. “This will boost the experimental program by increasing the number of collisions in the LHC by a factor over the present machine configuration.”

Michael Benedikt, head of the Future Circular Collider Study at CERN, said: “The LESS solution could be easily integrated in the design of future high-intensity proton accelerators; the method is scalable from small samples to kilometre-long beam lines.”

(*Front page image credit: Joshua Valcarel)

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Civil engineering for the High-Luminosity LHC

Livia Lapadatescu — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 08:39:10 +0000

Civil engineering for the High-Luminosity LHC
by Jean Laurent Tavian (CERN), Peter Mattelaer (CERN)

The High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) project at CERN will require large infrastructures and services for the powering and the cooling of the high-field superconducting quadrupole magnets constituting the new inner triplets and of the superconducting RF crab-cavities used for the luminosity levelling. These new LHC accelerator components will be integrated at Point 1 and Point 5 of the LHC accelerator where the two large LHC detectors ATLAS and CMS are located (see Figure 1). These new infrastructures and services consist mainly of power transmission, electrical distribution, cooling, ventilation, cryogenics, power converters for superconducting magnets and inductive output tubes for superconducting RF cavities. To house all these new infrastructures and services, civil engineering structures are required including buildings, shaft, caverns and underground galleries.

Figure 1. Underground civil engineering of LHC (Image credit: CERN)

At ground level, the civil engineering consists of five buildings, technical galleries, access roads, concrete slabs and landscaping (See Figures 2 and 3). Per Point, the total surface corresponds to about 20’000 m², including 3’300 m² of buildings. A cluster of three buildings is located at the head of the shaft and will house the helium refrigerator cold-box (SD building), the water-cooling and ventilation units (SU building) as well as the main electrical distribution for high and low voltage (SE building). Two stand-alone buildings complete the inventory and will house the primary-water cooling towers (SF building) and the warm compressor station of the helium refrigerator (SHM building). Buildings housing noisy equipment (SU, SF, SHM) are built with noise-insulated concrete walls and roofs.

Figure 2. Point 1 ground-level civil engineering work (Image credit: CERN)

Figure 3. Point 5 ground-level civil engineering work (Image credit: CERN)

At underground level, the civil engineering work consist of a shaft, a service cavern, galleries, and vertical cores (See Figure 4). The total volume to be excavated corresponds to about 40’000 m³ per Point. The PM shaft (9.7-m diameter, 80-m height) will house a secured access lift and staircase as well as the services required at underground level. The service cavern (US/UW, 16-m diameter, 45-m long) will house cooling and ventilation units, a cryogenic box, an electrical safe room and electrical transformers. The UR gallery (5.8-m diameter, 300-m long) will house the power converters and electrical feed boxes for the superconducting magnets as well as cryogenic and service distribution. Two transversal UA galleries (6.2-m diameter, 50-m long) will house the RF equipment for the powering and controls of the superconducting crab-cavities. At the end of the UA galleries, evacuation galleries (UPR) are required for personnel emergency exits. Two transversal UL galleries (3-m diameter, 40-m long) will house the superconducting links powering the magnets and cryogenic distribution. Finally, the connection of the HL-LHC underground galleries to the LHC tunnel is made via 16 vertical cores (1-m diameter, 7-m long).

Figure 4. Underground civil-engineering work (Courtesy of LAP consortium)

The definition of the civil engineering for the HL-LHC has started in 2015. First integration studies have been performed in collaboration with the CERN SMB (Site Management and Buildings) Department, the equipment groups and the HL-LHC Project Office. In 2016, the completion of a preliminary study has allowed to issue a call for tender for two civil-engineering consultant contracts, which have been adjudicated in June 2016. These consultants are in charge of the preliminary, tender and construction design of the civil engineering works, as well as of the management of the construction including the defect liability. At Point 1 on the Swiss side, the consultant contract was adjudicated to a consortium, called ORIGIN, constituted of 3 companies: SETEC (FR) the consortium leader, CDS Engineers (CH) and Rocksoil (IT). At Point 5 on the French side, the consultant contract was adjudicated to a consortium, called LAP, constituted of 3 companies: Lombardi (CH) the consortium leader, Artelia (FR) and Pini Swiss (CH). In November 2016, the two consultants have completed the preliminary design phase including cost and construction-schedule estimates for the civil engineering work execution.

In parallel with the preliminary design, CERN, with the help of architects, has prepared the building permit applications which have been submitted to the Swiss and French Authorities in October and November 2016. Between 6 to 9 months will be required to get the building permit authorization, that is compatible with the start of the construction works scheduled by mid-2018. CERN has also performed geotechnical investigation in order to better identify the soil constituents. CERN has placed a contract with an independent engineer (Joint venture of ARUP (UK) and Geoconsult (AT)). This independent engineer will perform peer reviews of the consultant designs and will confirm that these designs have been performed with the appropriate skill, care and diligence in accordance with applicable standards. In addition, an adjudicator panel is constituted with lawyers, architects and civil engineers to resolve disputes in-between all parties.

The next important milestone will be the adjudication in March 2018 of the two contracts (one per Point) for the civil-engineering construction works. The tendering process has started with the issue of a market survey in December 2016 including relevant selection criteria requirements. It will be followed by calls for tenders, which will be sent to the qualified companies by June 2017. The main excavation works, producing harmful vibrations for the LHC accelerator performance, must be performed during the second long-shutdown of the LHC accelerator scheduled in 2019-2020. The completion of the civil-engineering with the hand-over of the last building is scheduled by end-2022. The vertical cores connecting the HL-LHC galleries to the LHC tunnel will be burrowed during the first semester of the third long-shutdown of the LHC accelerator, which is expected to start beginning of 2024.

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ICTR-PHE2016: Accelerators for health

Agnes Szeberenyi — Tue, 05 Apr 2016 09:12:41 +0000

ICTR-PHE2016: Accelerators for health
by Manjit Dosanjh & Panos Charitos (CERN)

The third International Conference on Translational Research in Radio-Oncology and Physics for Health (ICTR-PHE) was held in Geneva over the 15-19th February providing a unique place for international researchers to share knowledge and build bridges between disciplines. Over 400 participants from across the world met during the five days of the conference before returning to their home institutes with new ideas, collaboration prospects, and optimistic visions of the future of cancer therapy.

A large spectrum of topics were covered across the conference, from radiobiology, nuclear medicine, detectors and imaging, and accelerators and medical treatment, in addition to the presentations of new research by attendees.

Bleddyn Jones and Jens Overgaard chaired a session dedicated to the OPENMED project, which aims at establishing an open-access facility for biomedical research based on the existing LEIR (Low Energy Ion Ring) at CERN. Ghislain Roy and Mike Waligorski stressed the need for a facility able to provide particle beams of different types and energies to external users for radiobiology, fragmentation studies and detector development with access to sufficient amount of beam time.

Hadron therapy facilities were also discussed with a number of speakers covering developments from around the world. Thomas DeLaney, presented the case of the Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston where a cyclotron of 230 MeV has treated more than 8350 patients over its 15 years of operation. Johanna Salinger discussed the current status of MedAustron in Wiener Neustadt in Austria; the fourth dual ion hadron therapy facility in Europe that is about to start treatment with a horizontal proton beam. It is worth noting that soon MedAustron also expects to start treating patients with carbon ions. Finally, Zhen Zhang from China presented the very first dual ion hadron therapy centre in China built by Siemens at the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Centre that opened in May 2015. Participants also discussed the optimisation of treatment planning and delivery with the protection of normal tissues during x-ray- and hadron- therapy being one of the top priorities.

Finally, the last morning of the conference featured presentations on the MEDICIS and PROMED programmes, MEDICIS-Produced Radioisotope Beams for Medicine. The PROMED project officially started in April 2015 and just concluded its kick-off week at CERN. Johanna Pitters, one of the 15 young researchers recruited for the project, and John Prior, from the CHUV Hospital of Lausanne, explained the main goals. MEDICIS plans to use radioactive ion beams of CERN’s ISOLDE facility to produce specific ions to be used in innovative radiopharmaceuticals or to perform hadron therapy treatments.

ICTR-PHE also featured the work of many younger researchers: more than 100 of them presented their latest research in the poster sessions.

Finally, in line with its goal of merging different approaches and disciplines, the conference was host to a public talk titled “Sound for Health – from Astronomy to Biomedical Sciences: Music and Sound as Tools for Scientific Investigation” by Domenico Vicinanza and Genevieve Williams, from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.

For further information of the 2016 ICTR-PHE presentations, please refer to the ICTR-PHE blog.

Watch the video and find out more

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Latest developments in medical physics research

Margarita Synanidi — Thu, 20 Nov 2014 16:24:15 +0000

Latest developments in medical physics research
by Livia Lapadatescu (CERN)

ICTR-PHE 2014 took place in the International Conference Centre in Geneva (CICG).
Image credit: ICTR-PHE 2014.

Researchers from around the world gathered in Geneva to discuss the latest developments in cancer diagnosis and treatment during ICTR-PHE 2014 (International Conference on Translational Research in Radio-Oncology and Physics for Health in Europe), held between 10 and 14 February.

The 5-day conference covered a variety of topics from radiobiology, nuclear medicine, detectors and imaging, to host and tumour immunity, radio-therapeutic control of tumours, and clinical trials in hadron therapy. The involvement of CERN in medical physics research was highlighted in the talk by Steve Myers, recently appointed Head of CERN’s Medical Application Programme, and in the public lecture by Ugo Amaldi: Physics is beautiful and useful.

The development of compact and cost-effective accelerators for medical applications, the production of isotopes for research, and the establishment of BioLEIR at CERN were also addressed during the conference. Converting LEIR (The Low Energy Ion Ring) into a biomedical experimental facility will help investigate the effect of different ions on cancer cells, test innovative particle detectors and perform accurate nuclear fragmentation studies. The ISOLDE facility will provide beams to produce radioisotopes for medical applications, in the framework of the CERN MEDICIS project.

The need of uniting different disciplines: physics, chemistry, biology, medicine and even computer science (which could help in analyzing large databases) to develop better treatment and diagnosis for cancer was highlighted throughout the conference. Rendez-vous in 2016 for the next edition of ICTR-PHE.

Read more >>

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