Cern News

Computer Security: How AI are you?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is on everyone’s mind: autopilot for Teslas, deepfakes for fun or fake news, DALL·E 2 for the untalented artist, big data and machine learning for data analysis. And CERN is no exception. While all those AI applications come with pros and cons, with benefits and risks, AI systems deserve their own consideration when it comes to computer security. So we took the opportunity to ask a renowned expert in AI, ChatGPT, how best to secure AI systems. Here’s the answer we got:

“Artificial intelligence (AI) is a rapidly advancing technology that has the potential to greatly benefit society in a variety of ways. However, it also poses new security risks that must be addressed. Here are some best practices for ensuring the security of AI systems:

• Secure data inputs and outputs. AI systems rely on large amounts of data to learn and make decisions. This data must be protected from unauthorised access and tampering to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the system.
• Use secure algorithms and protocols. AI systems use complex algorithms and protocols to process data and make decisions. It is important to use secure algorithms that have been thoroughly vetted and tested, and to ensure that all communication between the AI system and other systems is encrypted.
• Monitor and audit AI systems. Regular monitoring and auditing of AI systems can help detect and prevent security breaches. This includes monitoring for unusual or suspicious behavior, as well as auditing the system’s log files for any signs of unauthorised access or tampering.
• Implement access controls. Access controls can help prevent unauthorised access to AI systems and the data they process. This includes setting up user accounts and assigning roles and permissions, as well as implementing authentication mechanisms such as biometrics or multi-factor authentication.
• Stay informed and educated. As AI technology continues to evolve, it is important to stay informed about the latest security risks and best practices. This includes attending relevant conferences and workshops, reading industry publications and staying up-to-date with software updates and patches.
• Be prepared for the worst. AI systems can be vulnerable to cyberattacks, and it is important to have a plan in place to respond to a security incident. This includes having a trained incident response team, and regularly testing incident response plans to ensure they are effective.

By following these best practices, organisations can help ensure the security of their AI systems and protect themselves from potential cyber threats. As AI is permeating all industries, it is crucial for everyone to be aware of the security risks and best practices to mitigate them.”

Thanks a lot, ChatGPT bot. So far, nothing special here for AI – it’s a matter of applying the same general security paradigms that every computer user and every service manager should apply to any well-managed computing service (like those run by CERN IT) and individual computing device (like your smartphone or laptop):

• Make sure that you only input valid and trusted data, URLs, etc.
• Use encryption to protect your privacy
• Have intrusion detection and/or an anti-malware program running in the background
• Deploy access control and opt into 2FA security
• Train yourself and have auto-update enabled
• Have an incident response plan.

Six simple steps to make your computing service more secure, and to protect your personal assets stored on your laptop and smartphone. Six simple steps, common sense for security-aware humans. Six simple steps, apparently also rather logical for an AI bot. So, tell us: how human is AI; how AI are you?

______

Do you want to learn more about computer security incidents and issues at CERN? Follow our Monthly Report. For further information, questions or help, check our website or contact us at Computer.Security@cern.ch.

anschaef Tue, 02/07/2023 - 14:27 Byline Computer Security team Publication Date Tue, 02/07/2023 - 13:56

Computer Security: How AI are you?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is on everyone’s mind: autopilot for Teslas, deepfakes for fun or fake news, DALL·E 2 for the untalented artist, big data and machine learning for data analysis. And CERN is no exception. While all those AI applications come with pros and cons, with benefits and risks, AI systems deserve their own consideration when it comes to computer security. So we took the opportunity to ask a renowned expert in AI, ChatGPT, how best to secure AI systems. Here’s the answer we got:

“Artificial intelligence (AI) is a rapidly advancing technology that has the potential to greatly benefit society in a variety of ways. However, it also poses new security risks that must be addressed. Here are some best practices for ensuring the security of AI systems:

• Secure data inputs and outputs. AI systems rely on large amounts of data to learn and make decisions. This data must be protected from unauthorised access and tampering to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the system.
• Use secure algorithms and protocols. AI systems use complex algorithms and protocols to process data and make decisions. It is important to use secure algorithms that have been thoroughly vetted and tested, and to ensure that all communication between the AI system and other systems is encrypted.
• Monitor and audit AI systems. Regular monitoring and auditing of AI systems can help detect and prevent security breaches. This includes monitoring for unusual or suspicious behavior, as well as auditing the system’s log files for any signs of unauthorised access or tampering.
• Implement access controls. Access controls can help prevent unauthorised access to AI systems and the data they process. This includes setting up user accounts and assigning roles and permissions, as well as implementing authentication mechanisms such as biometrics or multi-factor authentication.
• Stay informed and educated. As AI technology continues to evolve, it is important to stay informed about the latest security risks and best practices. This includes attending relevant conferences and workshops, reading industry publications and staying up-to-date with software updates and patches.
• Be prepared for the worst. AI systems can be vulnerable to cyberattacks, and it is important to have a plan in place to respond to a security incident. This includes having a trained incident response team, and regularly testing incident response plans to ensure they are effective.

By following these best practices, organisations can help ensure the security of their AI systems and protect themselves from potential cyber threats. As AI is permeating all industries, it is crucial for everyone to be aware of the security risks and best practices to mitigate them.”

Thanks a lot, ChatGPT bot. So far, nothing special here for AI – it’s a matter of applying the same general security paradigms that every computer user and every service manager should apply to any well-managed computing service (like those run by CERN IT) and individual computing device (like your smartphone or laptop):

• Make sure that you only input valid and trusted data, URLs, etc.
• Use encryption to protect your privacy
• Have intrusion detection and/or an anti-malware program running in the background
• Deploy access control and opt into 2FA security
• Train yourself and have auto-update enabled
• Have an incident response plan.

Six simple steps to make your computing service more secure, and to protect your personal assets stored on your laptop and smartphone. Six simple steps, common sense for security-aware humans. Six simple steps, apparently also rather logical for an AI bot. So, tell us: how human is AI; how AI are you?

______

Do you want to learn more about computer security incidents and issues at CERN? Follow our Monthly Report. For further information, questions or help, check our website or contact us at Computer.Security@cern.ch.

anschaef Tue, 02/07/2023 - 14:27 Byline Computer Security team Publication Date Tue, 02/07/2023 - 13:56

The CERN Accelerator School, a school like no other

The CERN Accelerator School (CAS) is organising three courses this year – don’t miss your chance to attend! Two topical schools will take place: one on radiofrequency for accelerators in June in Germany, and one on magnets in November in Austria. “The topical courses are fundamental because they cover major topics in depth, with state-of-the-art presentations and hands-on courses,” says Frank Tecker, CAS director.

An introductory course will also take place in Spain in September: "We offer the introductory course regularly; it allows students to acquire a broad knowledge of accelerator physics and technology in a short time. The students’ feedback shows that this course is highly appreciated and relevant,” continues Frank. 

Last year, after a break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CAS successfully managed to run four schools in three different countries. “We are thrilled to be back in-person. The networking opportunities during the schools are essential and can’t be transposed online,” says Christine Vollinger, deputy CAS director. “Indeed, although many participants are from CERN, more than half of them come from institutes and companies worldwide (26 nationalities were represented at the last school!), and they’re all eager to learn and to share their experience with the other participants and lecturers.”

A school like no other
Advanced and topical schools are challenging to organise. To give an example, the Advanced Course on Accelerator Physics in November 2022 required more than two tonnes of equipment to be shipped from different locations (CERN, GSI, DESY and a private company) to a hotel in Sévrier (France). Piotr Kowina (GSI), one of the most experienced CAS teachers in radiofrequency, started installing the equipment three days before the course began. The hotel was transformed into a lab: you could hear the vector network analyser humming and the spectrum analyser beeping, and see traces in all colours across the many screens. “The hands-on experiments have been designed especially for this course and we are constantly thinking about how to improve them,” says Piotr.

CERN established the CERN Accelerator School (CAS) in 1983 with the mandate of “assembling and disseminating knowledge on accelerator science”, and the school has indeed played a central role since in the knowledge transfer of accelerator physics and associated technologies. The school will be celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2023: “This year’s anniversary is an opportunity for us to retrace CAS history and values, and to acknowledge the impact of such a unique school,” says Frank Tecker.

The very first CAS organised at CERN was focused on “Antiprotons for colliding beam facilities”, a topic chosen because there were very few experts in the domain. “Safeguarding and disseminating their knowledge was all the more critical,” says Frank. Forty years on, CAS continues to pass on this knowledge by curating its proceedings* and building a community of engineers and physicists specialised in accelerator technologies.

Do you want to be part of that community? Registration for the 2023 schools is now open! Go to https://cas.web.cern.ch/ for more information and to register. The CAS community is looking forward to welcoming its new students.

* CAS proceedings are publicly available at: https://cas.web.cern.ch/previous-schools

anschaef Tue, 02/07/2023 - 13:25 Byline CERN Accelerator School Publication Date Tue, 02/07/2023 - 13:18

The CERN Accelerator School, a school like no other

The CERN Accelerator School (CAS) is organising three courses this year – don’t miss your chance to attend! Two topical schools will take place: one on radiofrequency for accelerators in June in Germany, and one on magnets in November in Austria. “The topical courses are fundamental because they cover major topics in depth, with state-of-the-art presentations and hands-on courses,” says Frank Tecker, CAS director.

An introductory course will also take place in Spain in September: "We offer the introductory course regularly; it allows students to acquire a broad knowledge of accelerator physics and technology in a short time. The students’ feedback shows that this course is highly appreciated and relevant,” continues Frank. 

Last year, after a break due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CAS successfully managed to run four schools in three different countries. “We are thrilled to be back in-person. The networking opportunities during the schools are essential and can’t be transposed online,” says Christine Vollinger, deputy CAS director. “Indeed, although many participants are from CERN, more than half of them come from institutes and companies worldwide (26 nationalities were represented at the last school!), and they’re all eager to learn and to share their experience with the other participants and lecturers.”

A school like no other
Advanced and topical schools are challenging to organise. To give an example, the Advanced Course on Accelerator Physics in November 2022 required more than two tonnes of equipment to be shipped from different locations (CERN, GSI, DESY and a private company) to a hotel in Sévrier (France). Piotr Kowina (GSI), one of the most experienced CAS teachers in radiofrequency, started installing the equipment three days before the course began. The hotel was transformed into a lab: you could hear the vector network analyser humming and the spectrum analyser beeping, and see traces in all colours across the many screens. “The hands-on experiments have been designed especially for this course and we are constantly thinking about how to improve them,” says Piotr.

CERN established the CERN Accelerator School (CAS) in 1983 with the mandate of “assembling and disseminating knowledge on accelerator science”, and the school has indeed played a central role since in the knowledge transfer of accelerator physics and associated technologies. The school will be celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2023: “This year’s anniversary is an opportunity for us to retrace CAS history and values, and to acknowledge the impact of such a unique school,” says Frank Tecker.

The very first CAS organised at CERN was focused on “Antiprotons for colliding beam facilities”, a topic chosen because there were very few experts in the domain. “Safeguarding and disseminating their knowledge was all the more critical,” says Frank. Forty years on, CAS continues to pass on this knowledge by curating its proceedings* and building a community of engineers and physicists specialised in accelerator technologies.

Do you want to be part of that community? Registration for the 2023 schools is now open! Go to https://cas.web.cern.ch/ for more information and to register. The CAS community is looking forward to welcoming its new students.

* CAS proceedings are publicly available at: https://cas.web.cern.ch/previous-schools

anschaef Tue, 02/07/2023 - 13:25 Byline CERN Accelerator School Publication Date Tue, 02/07/2023 - 13:18

CERN’s Building 60 to be restored to its former glory

It is frequently the case that we take the familiar for granted, and what could be more familiar to CERNois than the CERN Main Building? Designed in the 1950s by renowned Swiss architect Peter Steiger, the Main Building formed part of a coherent design for Europe’s new scientific campus. Have you ever noticed the mushroom pillars in the Main Building stairwell? They were inspired by Steiger’s time spent working with Frank Lloyd Wright in the United States. Or the original lampposts lighting the roads, whose elegant design is to be found nowhere else? These are features of Steiger’s original vision for CERN, which contribute to making the Main Building complex a recognised architectural gem, emblematic of the best of 1950s Swiss architecture and protected under Swiss law.

Building 60 (B60), the tower block, has long been scheduled for renovation. It is no longer fire-risk compliant, structural elements need attention, the facades, windows and roof are at the end of their life, and the building contains asbestos. The constraints, risks and disruption associated with such a renovation require that the occupants of the building be re-housed for the duration of the works.

Thanks to the flexibility of the EP department, and especially of the CMS and ATLAS experiments, B60’s occupants will be moving into part of B42 while the work is carried out, and current B42 occupants will be relocated to the newly refurbished SCE Swing Space (B653) and other EP offices across the site. Care has been taken to ensure that the office configuration in the areas concerned in B42 will match as closely as possible that of B60, so that existing teams remain together.

Disruption to the common areas of the Main Building complex and its surroundings will be kept to a minimum. The unusual construction of B60, built rather like a bridge supported by two pillars, means that it can be completely isolated from the structures beneath it. The ground floor, including all its services (bank, kiosk, CAGI cultural kiosk, UNIQA, Users’ Office, Staff Association and restaurant), will therefore remain accessible.

While measures are being taken to limit disruptions around B60, it should be noted that the area will be noisier than usual during the first demolition phase, that Route Scherrer will be closed for the whole duration of the works and that the CERN shuttle will not stop at Building 500 (passengers should alight at the B39 stop and then walk to the Main Building). The lifts in Buildings 3, 52 and 53 will replace those in the Main Building for rides between the ground floor and the first floor.

Working closely with the relevant Host State authorities, the renovation is scheduled to begin this year, following the relocation of the occupants of B60 to B42 in February and March. Work should be completed by the middle of 2025, when the B60 occupants will be able to return.

Once the restoration is complete, B60 will once again showcase the architectural vision of Peter Steiger, respecting the original features as far as possible, while also providing a modern, eco-friendly and modular office environment that is fit for the twenty-first century and fully compliant with standards.

thortala Mon, 02/06/2023 - 10:57 Publication Date Mon, 02/06/2023 - 10:55

CERN’s Building 60 to be restored to its former glory

It is frequently the case that we take the familiar for granted, and what could be more familiar to CERNois than the CERN Main Building? Designed in the 1950s by renowned Swiss architect Peter Steiger, the Main Building formed part of a coherent design for Europe’s new scientific campus. Have you ever noticed the mushroom pillars in the Main Building stairwell? They were inspired by Steiger’s time spent working with Frank Lloyd Wright in the United States. Or the original lampposts lighting the roads, whose elegant design is to be found nowhere else? These are features of Steiger’s original vision for CERN, which contribute to making the Main Building complex a recognised architectural gem, emblematic of the best of 1950s Swiss architecture and protected under Swiss law.

Building 60 (B60), the tower block, has long been scheduled for renovation. It is no longer fire-risk compliant, structural elements need attention, the facades, windows and roof are at the end of their life, and the building contains asbestos. The constraints, risks and disruption associated with such a renovation require that the occupants of the building be re-housed for the duration of the works.

Thanks to the flexibility of the EP department, and especially of the CMS and ATLAS experiments, B60’s occupants will be moving into part of B42 while the work is carried out, and current B42 occupants will be relocated to the newly refurbished SCE Swing Space (B653) and other EP offices across the site. Care has been taken to ensure that the office configuration in the areas concerned in B42 will match as closely as possible that of B60, so that existing teams remain together.

Disruption to the common areas of the Main Building complex and its surroundings will be kept to a minimum. The unusual construction of B60, built rather like a bridge supported by two pillars, means that it can be completely isolated from the structures beneath it. The ground floor, including all its services (bank, kiosk, CAGI cultural kiosk, UNIQA, Users’ Office, Staff Association and restaurant), will therefore remain accessible.

While measures are being taken to limit disruptions around B60, it should be noted that the area will be noisier than usual during the first demolition phase, that Route Scherrer will be closed for the whole duration of the works and that the CERN shuttle will not stop at Building 500 (passengers should alight at the B39 stop and then walk to the Main Building). The lifts in Buildings 3, 52 and 53 will replace those in the Main Building for rides between the ground floor and the first floor.

Working closely with the relevant Host State authorities, the renovation is scheduled to begin this year, following the relocation of the occupants of B60 to B42 in February and March. Work should be completed by the middle of 2025, when the B60 occupants will be able to return.

Once the restoration is complete, B60 will once again showcase the architectural vision of Peter Steiger, respecting the original features as far as possible, while also providing a modern, eco-friendly and modular office environment that is fit for the twenty-first century and fully compliant with standards.

thortala Mon, 02/06/2023 - 10:57 Publication Date Mon, 02/06/2023 - 10:55

Female science ambassadors reach out to more than 5000 local schoolchildren

From 30 January to 3 February 2023, around a hundred female science “ambassadors” from CERN, Scienscope (UNIGE), the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the Laboratoire d’Annecy de Physique des Particules (LAPP), visited over two hundred classrooms in the local region to promote the sciences to 5120 schoolchildren.

Since 2017, the “Women and girls in science and technology” programme has been an integral part of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, which will be celebrated on 11 February this year. The aim is to address sexist stereotypes while children are still in their formative years and to demonstrate that careers in science are just as accessible for girls as they are for boys. By meeting female role models it’s much easier for girls to picture themselves as scientists, explorers, inventors or engineers later in life.

The campaign was a great success again his year and even broke the all-time participation record. In the space of seven years, thanks to the ever expanding cohort of ambassadors eager to share their passion, more than 13 000 pupils aged between 7 and 15 from the local region have learned about jobs in science, technology, engineering and maths.

Are you a teacher who would like to take part in the 2024 event? Sign up for our education newsletter to find out what we offer and when registration will be open!

Would you like to take part in the 2024 event as a volunteer? Contact the CERN events team to find out about our upcoming calls for volunteers!

thortala Fri, 02/03/2023 - 11:17 Publication Date Fri, 02/03/2023 - 11:06

Female science ambassadors reach out to more than 5000 local schoolchildren

From 30 January to 3 February 2023, around a hundred female science “ambassadors” from CERN, Scienscope (UNIGE), the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and the Laboratoire d’Annecy de Physique des Particules (LAPP), visited over two hundred classrooms in the local region to promote the sciences to 5120 schoolchildren.

Since 2017, the “Women and girls in science and technology” programme has been an integral part of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, which will be celebrated on 11 February this year. The aim is to address sexist stereotypes while children are still in their formative years and to demonstrate that careers in science are just as accessible for girls as they are for boys. By meeting female role models it’s much easier for girls to picture themselves as scientists, explorers, inventors or engineers later in life.

The campaign was a great success again his year and even broke the all-time participation record. In the space of seven years, thanks to the ever expanding cohort of ambassadors eager to share their passion, more than 13 000 pupils aged between 7 and 15 from the local region have learned about jobs in science, technology, engineering and maths.

Are you a teacher who would like to take part in the 2024 event? Sign up for our education newsletter to find out what we offer and when registration will be open!

Would you like to take part in the 2024 event as a volunteer? Contact the CERN events team to find out about our upcoming calls for volunteers!

thortala Fri, 02/03/2023 - 11:17 Publication Date Fri, 02/03/2023 - 11:06

Sparks! Talks – videos available online

Two months after our Sparks! Talks event, we are happy to announce that the videos of the individual presentations are now online on the CERN YouTube channel. We invite the community at large to dive back into the event, which was centred around future technology for health – covering aspects from the use of CERN technology for imaging, to DeepMind’s breakthroughs with AI for AlphaFold, to the complexity of changing ethics in a world of quickly evolving technology.

The Sparks! Talks were held at the Globe of Science and Innovation at CERN on 17 November 2022. Bruno Giussani (TED) once again hosted our live Sparks! event, not only introducing our guests, but also interviewing some of them. In session 1 he addressed “Treating people”, while in the second, the subject was “Keeping people healthy”. In a now long-standing collaboration, our opening sequence was a video creation by art collective Ouchhh, who this time used data from the Human Cell Atlas to create stunning visuals on our theme of future technology for health.

Given that we will be hosting the next Sparks! Talks from Science Gateway, we look forward to continuing to develop content that speaks to as wide an audience as possible in order to maximise CERN’s outreach mission. For now, we leave you with the CERN YouTube playlist where you can see all the videos from this year here.

Sparks! is part of the CERN & Society programme. CERN & Society activities are only possible thanks to the support of our partners, in particular Rolex and its long-standing association with the Organization. The 2022 Sparks! event was also supported by the Didier and Martine Primat Foundation.

Let’s take a closer look at the programme

The first talk was given by WHO’s Chief Scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, who addressed “Digital tools and other efforts for preventing and dealing with future global health challenges”, a highly relevant subject in these times, allowing us to bring our audience into the heart of the subject and its importance for society at large. Then, Bruce Levine gave us an overview of the technology he researched and developed in a talk entitled “Treating untreatable cancers with gene therapy”. Bringing matters back to CERN-centred technology, Magdalena Kowalska then presented her work in the “Future of detection and imaging”, which was followed by CERN Director for International Relations Charlotte Warakaulle answering Bruno Giussani’s questions about the Organization’s involvement in “CERN technologies for health”. Olaf Blanke, a professor at the nearby EPFL, presented his work in neuroscience and “AR/VR technology for brain research”. Then, bringing the subject back to a more global dimension, Els Torreele gave a talk about “Rethinking health innovation”. Finally, Bruno interviewed Andrew Hessel, who joined us via Zoom from California and answered questions about a “Genetic network”.

 

The second session started with another remote interview conducted by Bruno, this time with Jane Metcalfe, co-founder of Wired and now the head of NEO.LIFE, who answered questions about “Biological revolution, synthetic biology”. Continuing on the session’s theme of “Keeping people healthy”, Mark Kendall of WearOptimo presented his take on “Wearable sensors for better health”. Speaking on behalf of the Snyder Lab at Stanford, Ariel Ganz followed up with “Precision health and thriving”, giving us an insight into how data from sensors is useful further down the line. Coming back to the global level, Rolf Apweiler from EMBL-EBI spoke about “The bioinformatics revolution”, bringing data management to the forefront. From there, Ankur Vora of DeepMind introduced us to “AI for health and the AlphaFold case”, reminding returning viewers of last year’s Sparks! theme: future intelligence. Giving us a successful example of a collaborative method for future science, Muzlifah Haniffa gave a talk about the “Human Cell Atlas”. Concluding the event this year, author Juan Enriquez reminded us of the importance of ethics and the changes in definition we will continue to be faced with in the future with his talk “Evolving technology changes ethics”.

 

Given that multidisciplinarity is at the heart of Sparks! mission, we included two art pieces in the programme: SciArt Work: The Beauty of Blood Flow Analysis by the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Medicine, and an extract from a film called Bringing Bones to Life about artist Amy Karle and her artwork Regenerative Reliquary. We believe that the inclusion of artistic pieces in the Talks programme not only allows the audience to take a break from the content-intensive presentations, but also helps us remember that, when talking about visions of the future, art has its place in the conversation.

thortala Thu, 02/02/2023 - 15:43 Publication Date Thu, 02/02/2023 - 15:39

Sparks! Talks – videos available online

Two months after our Sparks! Talks event, we are happy to announce that the videos of the individual presentations are now online on the CERN YouTube channel. We invite the community at large to dive back into the event, which was centred around future technology for health – covering aspects from the use of CERN technology for imaging, to DeepMind’s breakthroughs with AI for AlphaFold, to the complexity of changing ethics in a world of quickly evolving technology.

The Sparks! Talks were held at the Globe of Science and Innovation at CERN on 17 November 2022. Bruno Giussani (TED) once again hosted our live Sparks! event, not only introducing our guests, but also interviewing some of them. In session 1 he addressed “Treating people”, while in the second, the subject was “Keeping people healthy”. In a now long-standing collaboration, our opening sequence was a video creation by art collective Ouchhh, who this time used data from the Human Cell Atlas to create stunning visuals on our theme of future technology for health.

Given that we will be hosting the next Sparks! Talks from Science Gateway, we look forward to continuing to develop content that speaks to as wide an audience as possible in order to maximise CERN’s outreach mission. For now, we leave you with the CERN YouTube playlist where you can see all the videos from this year here.

Sparks! is part of the CERN & Society programme. CERN & Society activities are only possible thanks to the support of our partners, in particular Rolex and its long-standing association with the Organization. The 2022 Sparks! event was also supported by the Didier and Martine Primat Foundation.

Let’s take a closer look at the programme

The first talk was given by WHO’s Chief Scientist, Soumya Swaminathan, who addressed “Digital tools and other efforts for preventing and dealing with future global health challenges”, a highly relevant subject in these times, allowing us to bring our audience into the heart of the subject and its importance for society at large. Then, Bruce Levine gave us an overview of the technology he researched and developed in a talk entitled “Treating untreatable cancers with gene therapy”. Bringing matters back to CERN-centred technology, Magdalena Kowalska then presented her work in the “Future of detection and imaging”, which was followed by CERN Director for International Relations Charlotte Warakaulle answering Bruno Giussani’s questions about the Organization’s involvement in “CERN technologies for health”. Olaf Blanke, a professor at the nearby EPFL, presented his work in neuroscience and “AR/VR technology for brain research”. Then, bringing the subject back to a more global dimension, Els Torreele gave a talk about “Rethinking health innovation”. Finally, Bruno interviewed Andrew Hessel, who joined us via Zoom from California and answered questions about a “Genetic network”.

 

The second session started with another remote interview conducted by Bruno, this time with Jane Metcalfe, co-founder of Wired and now the head of NEO.LIFE, who answered questions about “Biological revolution, synthetic biology”. Continuing on the session’s theme of “Keeping people healthy”, Mark Kendall of WearOptimo presented his take on “Wearable sensors for better health”. Speaking on behalf of the Snyder Lab at Stanford, Ariel Ganz followed up with “Precision health and thriving”, giving us an insight into how data from sensors is useful further down the line. Coming back to the global level, Rolf Apweiler from EMBL-EBI spoke about “The bioinformatics revolution”, bringing data management to the forefront. From there, Ankur Vora of DeepMind introduced us to “AI for health and the AlphaFold case”, reminding returning viewers of last year’s Sparks! theme: future intelligence. Giving us a successful example of a collaborative method for future science, Muzlifah Haniffa gave a talk about the “Human Cell Atlas”. Concluding the event this year, author Juan Enriquez reminded us of the importance of ethics and the changes in definition we will continue to be faced with in the future with his talk “Evolving technology changes ethics”.

 

Given that multidisciplinarity is at the heart of Sparks! mission, we included two art pieces in the programme: SciArt Work: The Beauty of Blood Flow Analysis by the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Medicine, and an extract from a film called Bringing Bones to Life about artist Amy Karle and her artwork Regenerative Reliquary. We believe that the inclusion of artistic pieces in the Talks programme not only allows the audience to take a break from the content-intensive presentations, but also helps us remember that, when talking about visions of the future, art has its place in the conversation.

thortala Thu, 02/02/2023 - 15:43 Publication Date Thu, 02/02/2023 - 15:39

The CERN Alumni Network’s mentor programme can help you develop new skills and achieve goals

Do you know what Steve Jobs, Michelle Obama and Christian Dior have in common? As well as worldwide fame, each of them has been a mentor at some point in their careers. Steve Jobs revealed he had mentored Mark Zuckerberg, Michelle Obama was designated as Barack’s mentor at the law firm where they both worked while he was a summer associate, and Yves Saint Laurent cut his designer teeth whilst being mentored by Christian Dior.

Mentoring refers to the process of helping and guiding another person to support their personal or professional development. For a mentee, the benefits of having a mentor include access to support, feedback and resources and being given a fresh or different perspective. A good mentor can identify new skills, inspire, motivate, increase confidence or self-esteem and provide a platform of accountability. Mentoring can improve the mentee’s ability to resolve challenges and achieve their goals quicker.

A brand new module has now been launched on the CERN Alumni platform enabling alumni with profiles or experience relevant to other alumni community members’ professional interests to register as mentors. Potential mentees can now select a mentor from a pool of over 40 CERN Alumni Mentors.

Maybe you are considering a future career in a specific sector and would like to find out more about that area of work. Perhaps you are struggling to decide which path to take when you leave the Organization, or you would like to gain insights on transitioning from academia to industry. CERN Alumni have faced situations that younger colleagues are yet to face and they understand the value of a CERN experience and the requirements of working in a different sector. This makes them ideal candidates to support those seeking such advice. Do not simply take our word for it; find out what benefits several mentees gained from their recent mentoring experience.

A CERN Alumni mentoring relationship can be started at any time and can last as long or as briefly as required. Simply browse the full list of mentors here and prepare to develop new skills, gain a better and more comprehensive understanding of a potential career path ahead and achieve your goals.

thortala Thu, 02/02/2023 - 14:09 Byline CERN Alumni programme Publication Date Thu, 02/02/2023 - 14:08

The CERN Alumni Network’s mentor programme can help you develop new skills and achieve goals

Do you know what Steve Jobs, Michelle Obama and Christian Dior have in common? As well as worldwide fame, each of them has been a mentor at some point in their careers. Steve Jobs revealed he had mentored Mark Zuckerberg, Michelle Obama was designated as Barack’s mentor at the law firm where they both worked while he was a summer associate, and Yves Saint Laurent cut his designer teeth whilst being mentored by Christian Dior.

Mentoring refers to the process of helping and guiding another person to support their personal or professional development. For a mentee, the benefits of having a mentor include access to support, feedback and resources and being given a fresh or different perspective. A good mentor can identify new skills, inspire, motivate, increase confidence or self-esteem and provide a platform of accountability. Mentoring can improve the mentee’s ability to resolve challenges and achieve their goals quicker.

A brand new module has now been launched on the CERN Alumni platform enabling alumni with profiles or experience relevant to other alumni community members’ professional interests to register as mentors. Potential mentees can now select a mentor from a pool of over 40 CERN Alumni Mentors.

Maybe you are considering a future career in a specific sector and would like to find out more about that area of work. Perhaps you are struggling to decide which path to take when you leave the Organization, or you would like to gain insights on transitioning from academia to industry. CERN Alumni have faced situations that younger colleagues are yet to face and they understand the value of a CERN experience and the requirements of working in a different sector. This makes them ideal candidates to support those seeking such advice. Do not simply take our word for it; find out what benefits several mentees gained from their recent mentoring experience.

A CERN Alumni mentoring relationship can be started at any time and can last as long or as briefly as required. Simply browse the full list of mentors here and prepare to develop new skills, gain a better and more comprehensive understanding of a potential career path ahead and achieve your goals.

thortala Thu, 02/02/2023 - 14:09 Byline CERN Alumni programme Publication Date Thu, 02/02/2023 - 14:08

Members of the “CoE RAISE” EU project – developing AI approaches for next-generation supercomputers – meet at CERN

Last week, members of the EU’s CoE RAISE project met at CERN for their “All Hands” meeting. This innovative project is developing artificial-intelligence (AI) approaches for next-generation “exascale” supercomputers, for use across both science and industry. Use cases explored through the project include the optimisation of wind-farm layouts, design of efficient aircraft, improved sound engineering, seismic imaging with remote sensing, and more.

CoE RAISE – the European Center of Excellence in Exascale Computing “Research on AI- and Simulation-Based Engineering at Exascale” – is funded under the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The project launched in 2021 and runs for three years.

The four-day meeting, which took place in CERN’s Council Chamber, was attended by 54 project members. The participants discussed progress made in their work to develop AI technologies for complex applications in Europe running on future “exascale” high-performance computing (HPC) systems. Exascale refers to the next generation of high-performance computers that can carry out over 1018  floating-point operations per second (FLOPS). Today, only the Frontier supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States has reached this level. However, with more exascale HPC systems just over the horizon, it is important to ensure that AI approaches used in science and industry are ready to capitalise fully on the enormous potential. In June, the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) announced that Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH in Germany has been selected to host and operate Europe’s first exascale supercomputer, which is set to come online next year and will be known as JUPITER (the Joint Undertaking Pioneer for Innovative and Transformative Exascale Research).

CoE RAISE is developing innovative AI methods on heterogeneous HPC architectures involving multiple kinds of processor. Such architectures can offer higher performance and energy efficiency, but code must be adapted to use the different types of processors efficiently. The AI methods being developed are focused around nine key use cases and designed to scale well for running on exascale HPC systems.

CoE RAISE supports technology transfer to industry, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises, as well as running education and training initiatives. On top of this, CoE RAISE also provides consulting and liaises with other European initiatives to maximise synergies, exploit opportunities for co-design and share knowledge. All aspects of the project’s work were discussed over the four days at CERN.

CERN is also a partner and brings one of the use cases to the project. This work focuses on the improvement of methods for reconstructing particle-collision events at the upgraded High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), which is set to come online in 2029. The HL-LHC will see more particle collisions than ever taking place, producing exabytes of data each year, resulting in unprecedented computing challenges. To reconstruct particle collision events today (with data sets in the order of terabytes or petabytes), hundreds of different algorithms run concurrently: some are traditional algorithms optimised for particular hardware configurations, while others already include AI-driven methods, such as deep neural networks (DNNs). The members of the project team at CERN are working to increase the modularity of systems and ensure that code is optimised to fully exploit heterogeneous architectures, as well as increasing the use of machine learning and other AI methods for reconstruction of collisions and classification of particles.

“Supercomputers are reaching the exascale and enabling the delivery of an unprecedented scale of processing resources for HPC and AI workflows,” says Maria Girone, CERN openlab CTO, who leads CERN’s contribution to the project. “The research performed in CoE RAISE will drive the co-design of HPC computing resources for future AI and HPC applications for both science and industry. This meeting enabled us to exchange and develop ideas and to bring new perspectives. It also gave researchers from other domains a unique insight into the environment and challenges facing CERN, promoting cross-fertilisation and understanding.”

thortala Wed, 01/25/2023 - 09:47 Byline Andrew Purcell Publication Date Wed, 01/25/2023 - 09:43

Members of the “CoE RAISE” EU project – developing AI approaches for next-generation supercomputers – meet at CERN

Last week, members of the EU’s CoE RAISE project met at CERN for their “All Hands” meeting. This innovative project is developing artificial-intelligence (AI) approaches for next-generation “exascale” supercomputers, for use across both science and industry. Use cases explored through the project include the optimisation of wind-farm layouts, design of efficient aircraft, improved sound engineering, seismic imaging with remote sensing, and more.

CoE RAISE – the European Center of Excellence in Exascale Computing “Research on AI- and Simulation-Based Engineering at Exascale” – is funded under the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The project launched in 2021 and runs for three years.

The four-day meeting, which took place in CERN’s Council Chamber, was attended by 54 project members. The participants discussed progress made in their work to develop AI technologies for complex applications in Europe running on future “exascale” high-performance computing (HPC) systems. Exascale refers to the next generation of high-performance computers that can carry out over 1018  floating-point operations per second (FLOPS). Today, only the Frontier supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the United States has reached this level. However, with more exascale HPC systems just over the horizon, it is important to ensure that AI approaches used in science and industry are ready to capitalise fully on the enormous potential. In June, the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) announced that Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH in Germany has been selected to host and operate Europe’s first exascale supercomputer, which is set to come online next year and will be known as JUPITER (the Joint Undertaking Pioneer for Innovative and Transformative Exascale Research).

CoE RAISE is developing innovative AI methods on heterogeneous HPC architectures involving multiple kinds of processor. Such architectures can offer higher performance and energy efficiency, but code must be adapted to use the different types of processors efficiently. The AI methods being developed are focused around nine key use cases and designed to scale well for running on exascale HPC systems.

CoE RAISE supports technology transfer to industry, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises, as well as running education and training initiatives. On top of this, CoE RAISE also provides consulting and liaises with other European initiatives to maximise synergies, exploit opportunities for co-design and share knowledge. All aspects of the project’s work were discussed over the four days at CERN.

CERN is also a partner and brings one of the use cases to the project. This work focuses on the improvement of methods for reconstructing particle-collision events at the upgraded High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), which is set to come online in 2029. The HL-LHC will see more particle collisions than ever taking place, producing exabytes of data each year, resulting in unprecedented computing challenges. To reconstruct particle collision events today (with data sets in the order of terabytes or petabytes), hundreds of different algorithms run concurrently: some are traditional algorithms optimised for particular hardware configurations, while others already include AI-driven methods, such as deep neural networks (DNNs). The members of the project team at CERN are working to increase the modularity of systems and ensure that code is optimised to fully exploit heterogeneous architectures, as well as increasing the use of machine learning and other AI methods for reconstruction of collisions and classification of particles.

“Supercomputers are reaching the exascale and enabling the delivery of an unprecedented scale of processing resources for HPC and AI workflows,” says Maria Girone, CERN openlab CTO, who leads CERN’s contribution to the project. “The research performed in CoE RAISE will drive the co-design of HPC computing resources for future AI and HPC applications for both science and industry. This meeting enabled us to exchange and develop ideas and to bring new perspectives. It also gave researchers from other domains a unique insight into the environment and challenges facing CERN, promoting cross-fertilisation and understanding.”

thortala Wed, 01/25/2023 - 09:47 Byline Andrew Purcell Publication Date Wed, 01/25/2023 - 09:43

Colliding particles not cars: CERN's machine learning could help self-driving cars

In the future, autonomous or self-driving cars are expected to considerably reduce the number of road accident fatalities. Advancing developments on this revolutionary road, CERN and car-safety software company Zenseact have just completed a three-year project researching machine-learning models to enable self-driving cars to make better decisions faster and thus avoid collisions.

When it comes to capturing data from collisions, CERN also requires fast and efficient decision making while analysing the millions of particle collisions produced in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) detectors. Its unique capabilities in data analysis are what brought CERN and Zenseact together to investigate how the high-energy physics organisation’s machine-learning techniques could be applied to the field of autonomous driving. Focusing on “computer vision”, which helps the car analyse and respond to its external environment, the goal of this collaboration was to make deep-learning techniques faster and more accurate.

“Deep learning has strongly reshaped computer vision in the last decade, and the accuracy of image-recognition applications is now at unprecedented levels. But the results of our research with CERN show that there’s still room for improvement when it comes to autonomous vehicles,” says Christoffer Petersson, Research Lead at Zenseact.

For processing the computer vision tasks, chips known as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) were chosen as the hardware benchmark. FPGAs, which have been used at CERN for many years, are configurable integrated circuits that can execute complex decision-making algorithms in micro-seconds. The researchers found that significantly more functionality could be packed into the FPGA by optimising existing resources. The best part is that tasks could be performed with high accuracy and short latency, even on a processing unit with limited computational resources.

An FPGA-based readout card for the CMS tracker at CERN (Image: CERN)

“Our work together elucidated compression techniques in FPGAs that could also have a significant effect on increasing processing efficiency in the LHC data centres. With machine-learning platforms setting the stage for next-generation solutions, future development of this research area could be a major contribution to multiple other domains, beyond high-energy physics,” says Maurizio Pierini, Physicist at CERN.

The same techniques can also be used to improve algorithmic efficiency while maintaining accuracy in a wide range of domains, from energy efficiency gains in data centres to cell screening for medical applications.

 

Colliding particles not cars: CERN's machine learning could help self-driving cars (Video: CERN)

___________________________

CERN’s technologies and expertise are available for scientific and commercial purposes through a variety of technology transfer opportunities. Visit cern.kt for more information.

Open access links to scientific papers written as part of the project can be found here and here.

 

ndinmore Wed, 01/25/2023 - 09:33 Byline Priyanka Dasgupta Publication Date Wed, 01/25/2023 - 09:21

Colliding particles not cars: CERN's machine-learning used in self-driving cars

In the future, autonomous or self-driving cars are expected to considerably reduce the number of road accident fatalities. Advancing developments on this revolutionary road, CERN and car-safety software company Zenseact have just completed a three-year project researching machine-learning models to enable self-driving cars to make better decisions faster and thus avoid collisions.

When it comes to capturing data from collisions, CERN also requires fast and efficient decision making while analysing the millions of particle collisions produced in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) detectors. Its unique capabilities in data analysis are what brought CERN and Zenseact together to investigate how the high-energy physics organisation’s machine-learning techniques could be applied to the field of autonomous driving. Focusing on “computer vision”, which helps the car analyse and respond to its external environment, the goal of this collaboration was to make deep-learning techniques faster and more accurate.

“Deep learning has strongly reshaped computer vision in the last decade, and the accuracy of image-recognition applications is now at unprecedented levels. But the results of our research with CERN show that there’s still room for improvement when it comes to autonomous vehicles,” says Christoffer Petersson, Research Lead at Zenseact.

For processing the computer vision tasks, chips known as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) were chosen as the hardware benchmark. FPGAs, which have been used at CERN for many years, are configurable integrated circuits that can execute complex decision-making algorithms in micro-seconds. The researchers found that significantly more functionality could be packed into the FPGA by optimising existing resources. The best part is that tasks could be performed with high accuracy and short latency, even on a processing unit with limited computational resources.

An FPGA-based readout card for the CMS tracker at CERN (Image: CERN)

“Our work together elucidated compression techniques in FPGAs that could also have a significant effect on increasing processing efficiency in the LHC data centres. With machine-learning platforms setting the stage for next-generation solutions, future development of this research area could be a major contribution to multiple other domains, beyond high-energy physics,” says Maurizio Pierini, Physicist at CERN.

The same techniques can also be used to improve algorithmic efficiency while maintaining accuracy in a wide range of domains, from energy efficiency gains in data centres to cell screening for medical applications.

 

Colliding particles not cars: CERN's machine learning used in self-driving cars (Video: CERN)

___________________________

CERN’s technologies and expertise are available for scientific and commercial purposes through a variety of technology transfer opportunities. Visit cern.kt for more information.  

ndinmore Wed, 01/25/2023 - 09:33 Byline Priyanka Dasgupta Publication Date Wed, 01/25/2023 - 09:21

Cool kickers for the HL-LHC

Much of the research and development work for the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) aims to protect the accelerator’s fragile components from the detrimental effects of high luminosity, such as radiation and increased heat. The installation of the “MKI-Cool” LHC kicker magnet (MKI), the first of a series of eight, during this year-end technical stop marks another successful milestone in this endeavour: a water-cooled toroidal ferrite cylinder will lower the projected heat load deposited onto the kicker magnet yokes to allow the HL-LHC to operate well.

The LHC’s two kicker systems, each made up of four magnets and pulse generators, are found at the intersection of the LHC ring and its two transfer lines that funnel particles from the SPS. As their name suggests, kicker magnets give each injected bunch a kick to put it on the LHC orbit. As the kick must leave the circulating LHC beam untouched, each magnetic field pulse lasts only 8 microseconds: kicker magnets must be swift and precisely timed.

These specs make kicker magnets particularly vulnerable to their harsh environment: while the highly energetic LHC beam whizzes through the magnet’s aperture, the MKI cannot be completely shielded from the beam-induced heating, as a shielding would interfere with its high-frequency magnetic field pulse. In addition, the high-voltage pulse required precludes any water-cooling of the MKI yoke, which constitutes a serious hurdle as the yoke loses its magnetic properties above the critical temperature of 125 °C. Under these conditions, with dysfunctional kickers, mis-kicked particles would cause quenches in the LHC superconducting magnets. Measures have already been taken to avert this risk in the current accelerator, but they would not suffice to guard the magnets from the expected four-fold increase of the heat load in the context of higher luminosity.

The MKI-Cool system is an ingenuous solution thought up by the Accelerator Beam Transfer group (SY-ABT) to sustainably protect the kicker magnets. A toroidal ferrite cylinder is mounted upstream of the MKI-Cool aperture to absorb a significant portion of the beam-induced heating, thus reducing the heating of the magnet’s yoke. In addition, the ferrite cylinder is cooled using water (hence the name, MKI-Cool). The MKI-Cool ferrite yoke is expected to stay below a temperature of 100 °C, even with high-luminosity beams.

Upstream end of the MKI-Cool, showing the water-cooled ferrite cylinder. (Image: CERN)

The first MKI-Cool was installed at LHC Point 8 on 11 January, replacing a standard MKI. Once the LHC is restarted, the interaction of the particle beam with the MKI-Cool will test the technology’s performance. Provided this test yields positive results, the seven remaining MKI-Cools will be installed before the start of HL-LHC operations.

thortala Wed, 01/25/2023 - 08:57 Publication Date Wed, 01/25/2023 - 08:55

Cool kickers for the HL-LHC

Much of the research and development work for the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) aims to protect the accelerator’s fragile components from the detrimental effects of high luminosity, such as radiation and increased heat. The installation of the “MKI-Cool” LHC kicker magnet (MKI), the first of a series of eight, during this year-end technical stop marks another successful milestone in this endeavour: a water-cooled toroidal ferrite cylinder will lower the projected heat load deposited onto the kicker magnet yokes to allow the HL-LHC to operate well.

The LHC’s two kicker systems, each made up of four magnets and pulse generators, are found at the intersection of the LHC ring and its two transfer lines that funnel particles from the SPS. As their name suggests, kicker magnets give each injected bunch a kick to put it on the LHC orbit. As the kick must leave the circulating LHC beam untouched, each magnetic field pulse lasts only 8 microseconds: kicker magnets must be swift and precisely timed.

These specs make kicker magnets particularly vulnerable to their harsh environment: while the highly energetic LHC beam whizzes through the magnet’s aperture, the MKI cannot be completely shielded from the beam-induced heating, as a shielding would interfere with its high-frequency magnetic field pulse. In addition, the high-voltage pulse required precludes any water-cooling of the MKI yoke, which constitutes a serious hurdle as the yoke loses its magnetic properties above the critical temperature of 125 °C. Under these conditions, with dysfunctional kickers, mis-kicked particles would cause quenches in the LHC superconducting magnets. Measures have already been taken to avert this risk in the current accelerator, but they would not suffice to guard the magnets from the expected four-fold increase of the heat load in the context of higher luminosity.

Upstream end of the MKI-Cool, showing the water-cooled ferrite cylinder. (Image: CERN)

The MKI-Cool system is an ingenuous solution thought up by the Accelerator Beam Transfer group (SY-ABT) to sustainably protect the kicker magnets. A toroidal ferrite cylinder is mounted upstream of the MKI-Cool aperture to absorb a significant portion of the beam-induced heating, thus reducing the heating of the magnet’s yoke. In addition, the ferrite cylinder is cooled using water (hence the name, MKI-Cool). The MKI-Cool ferrite yoke is expected to stay below a temperature of 100 °C, even with high-luminosity beams.

The first MKI-Cool was installed at LHC Point 8 on 11 January, replacing a standard MKI. Once the LHC is restarted, the interaction of the particle beam with the MKI-Cool will test the technology’s performance. Provided this test yields positive results, the seven remaining MKI-Cools will be installed before the start of HL-LHC operations.

thortala Wed, 01/25/2023 - 08:57 Publication Date Wed, 01/25/2023 - 08:55

7.2-m-long niobium–tin quadrupole magnet manufactured at CERN reaches nominal current for the first time

Another success for the HL-LHC magnet programme: after the successful endurance test of a 4.2-metre-long niobium–tin quadrupole magnet in the United States in spring 2022, the HL-LHC quadrupole’s longer version proved its worth later in the year. “MQXFBP3”, the third full-length quadrupole prototype to be tested at SM18, reached nominal current plus an operational margin in September–October 2022, confirming the success of the niobium–tin technology for superconducting magnets.

MQXFBP3 is the third in the series of HL-LHC triplet quadrupoles that have been produced and tested at CERN in recent years. These 7.2-metre-long superconducting magnets, along with their shorter counterparts currently being produced in the United States, will focus proton beams more tightly around the ATLAS and CMS collision points to allow the tenfold increase in integrated luminosity (the number of collisions) targeted by the HL-LHC.

The first two magnets tested at CERN fell short of reaching nominal current, which prompted the Accelerator Technology department’s magnet group to improve the design and the assembly processes of its prototypes as part of the so-called “three-leg strategy”. The magnet cold mass was reworked to reduce the coupling between the welded outer stainless-steel shell and the aluminium structure of the magnet.

The MQXFBP3 magnet on its way to reaching nominal current in SM18. (Image: CERN)

This updated version – the third prototype – was able to reach nominal current (corresponding to 7 TeV in operation) plus 300 A of operational margin with only one training quench at 1.9 K. This is the first MQXF cold mass assembly, tested horizontally with a welded outer shell (as in the final configuration), to achieve this performance, which corresponds to a peak field in the coil of 11.5 T. The magnet has been subjected to two warm-up–cooldown cycles, showing no performance degradation. Even though the magnet satisfies the acceptance criteria for operation in HL-LHC, the magnet was limited 3% below nominal current at 4.5 K. The localisation and phenomenology of these quenches is very similar to those of the limiting quenches of the first and second MQXFB prototypes.

After the test, the magnet was removed from its stainless steel shell and is now being assembled with the nested dipole orbit corrector, which was provided by the Spanish institution CIEMAT. A new test in this configuration will be carried out in mid-2023. Should the test confirm its performance, MQXFBP3 will be the second Q2 cryomagnet to be installed in the IT (inner triplet) STRING.

The positive outcome of the recent test is cause for satisfaction and relief, especially as niobium–tin technologies, known to be more brittle than niobium–copper components, have come under particular scrutiny. Even so, engineers in the magnet group have more tricks up their sleeves to bring the performance of the 7.2-m-long MQXFB to the same levels obtained in the short models and in the 4.2-m-long magnets manufactured in the US: MQXFB02, the stage-two magnet of the three-leg strategy, will include further technical improvements in the magnet assembly to eliminate the coil overstress during keying and bladdering operations that was observed on the first three prototypes. The magnet community is eagerly awaiting the outcome of the magnet’s powering tests, which will continue throughout the first months of 2023 at SM18 – stay tuned!

Timelapse insertion of a High-Luminosity Third Nb3Sn quadrupole prototype. (Video: CERN)

 

thortala Wed, 01/25/2023 - 08:47 Publication Date Wed, 01/25/2023 - 08:45

7.2-m-long niobium–tin quadrupole magnet manufactured at CERN reaches nominal current for the first time

Another success for the HL-LHC magnet programme: after the successful endurance test of a 4.2-metre-long niobium–tin quadrupole magnet in the United States in spring 2022, the HL-LHC quadrupole’s longer version proved its worth later in the year. “MQXFBP3”, the third full-length quadrupole prototype to be tested at SM18, reached nominal current plus an operational margin in September–October 2022, confirming the success of the niobium–tin technology for superconducting magnets.

MQXFBP3 is the third in the series of HL-LHC triplet quadrupoles that have been produced and tested at CERN in recent years. These 7.2-metre-long superconducting magnets, along with their shorter counterparts currently being produced in the United States, will focus proton beams more tightly around the ATLAS and CMS collision points to allow the tenfold increase in integrated luminosity (the number of collisions) targeted by the HL-LHC.

The first two magnets tested at CERN fell short of reaching nominal current, which prompted the Accelerator Technology department’s magnet group to improve the design and the assembly processes of its prototypes as part of the so-called “three-leg strategy”. The magnet cold mass was reworked to reduce the coupling between the welded outer stainless-steel shell and the aluminium structure of the magnet.

The MQXFBP3 magnet on its way to reaching nominal current in SM18. (Image: CERN)

This updated version – the third prototype – was able to reach nominal current (corresponding to 7 TeV in operation) plus 300 A of operational margin with only one training quench at 1.9 K. This is the first MQXF cold mass assembly, tested horizontally with a welded outer shell (as in the final configuration), to achieve this performance, which corresponds to a peak field in the coil of 11.5 T. The magnet has been subjected to two warm-up–cooldown cycles, showing no performance degradation. Even though the magnet satisfies the acceptance criteria for operation in HL-LHC, the magnet was limited 3% below nominal current at 4.5 K. The localisation and phenomenology of these quenches is very similar to those of the limiting quenches of the first and second MQXFB prototypes.

After the test, the magnet was removed from its stainless steel shell and is now being assembled with the nested dipole orbit corrector, which was provided by the Spanish institution CIEMAT. A new test in this configuration will be carried out in mid-2023. Should the test confirm its performance, MQXFBP3 will be the second Q2 cryomagnet to be installed in the IT (inner triplet) STRING.

The positive outcome of the recent test is cause for satisfaction and relief, especially as niobium–tin technologies, known to be more brittle than niobium–copper components, have come under particular scrutiny. Even so, engineers in the magnet group have more tricks up their sleeves to bring the performance of the 7.2-m-long MQXFB to the same levels obtained in the short models and in the 4.2-m-long magnets manufactured in the US: MQXFB02, the stage-two magnet of the three-leg strategy, will include further technical improvements in the magnet assembly to eliminate the coil overstress during keying and bladdering operations that was observed on the first three prototypes. The magnet community is eagerly awaiting the outcome of the magnet’s powering tests, which will continue throughout the first months of 2023 at SM18 – stay tuned!

Timelapse insertion of a High-Luminosity Third Nb3Sn quadrupole prototype. (Video: CERN)

 

thortala Wed, 01/25/2023 - 08:47 Publication Date Wed, 01/25/2023 - 08:45