In Autumn 2023, Dr Laura Pickard, was awarded Bristol International Research Collaboration Activities (BIRCA) funding to host a workshop discussing Composites for High Energy Physics with collaborators from CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire) in Switzerland, the National Composites Centre (NCC) and the Bristol Composites Institute (BCI).
With thanks to funds from BIRCA, I was able to work with Jo Gildersleve on organising and delivering a collaborative workshop with colleagues from CERN, NCC and BCI. CERN physicists and engineers use the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments to study the basic constituents of matter- fundamental particles, and have a growing interest in harnessing the many benefits of using composite materials in development of their state-of-the-art facilities.
Kicked off by a tour for CERN colleagues of the extensive NCC facilities, and following a welcome from Ole Thomsen, Co-Director of BCI, workshop attendees spent the day discussing three important areas of research of interest to all parties: Cryogenics and Extreme Environment, Truss structures and Microvascular channels and cooling systems. Presentations on these themes from CERN, NCC colleagues and BCI academics set the scene for very productive and useful discussions, which provided further knowledge exchange opportunities as well as time to plan and prioritise ideas for future collaboration. Further presentations highlighted the numerous mechanisms available for collaboration across all of the organisations, including potential sources of funding for future work. CERN and NCC colleagues undertook a tour of the BCI lab during the working lunch, which included observing some members of BCI demonstrating their relevant work. Together with the earlier tour of NCC facilities, this helped to inspire new ideas and thoughts about what might be possible for future work. A working dinner followed the day’s activities which allowed for more discussions, and CERN colleagues also attended the BCI and NCC Annual Conference which took place the next day.
There was a wealth of collaboration opportunities available and many ideas for future work had come to light as a result of the workshop. We enjoyed a fantastic day of fascinating and very productive conversations. Bringing together CERN colleagues with key BCI academics and NCC colleagues has been incredibly useful on all sides and has confirmed our strong desire to work together to build further collaborations.
Dr Diego Alvarez Feito of CERN commented, “I would like to thank the colleagues from BCI and NCC for organising a great workshop! It was a very valuable experience with plenty of enriching discussion, which I believe lays a strong foundation for exciting future collaborations.”
Dr Pickard went onto represent BCI at the CERN Community Meeting for R&D collaboration on Tracking Detector Mechanics on Wednesday 6th December where she met other CERN colleagues as well as those involved in a wider consortium.
Find out more about Dr Pickard’s work on the next generation of fibre composite materials as part of the NEXTCOMP project.