The CERN Experience Part 2: Mirza Basyir Rodhuan

During my fourth week here, the first task in my first project was to make five circuit breakers for five MCP power supplies. During the sixth week, the second task was to assemble the connection and panels of five MCP power supplies boxes, since the power supplies only arrived on Friday of the fifth week. Then, I tested the connection of these power supplies before my supervisor and I installed it. These power supplies were not used yet because ALPHA was still developing its new detector. These power supplies will be installed when the detector is fully developed, around September 2018.

After I have designed the PCB and front panels, my second project was to send out an order for ten panels to BETA Layout and Schaeffer AG; then I soldered 90 BNCs on each PCB panels. I only used two panels since ALPHA needed only two at that time.

For my third project, which was testing the particle using LabVIEW simulation of fast Silicon Multiplier Detector (SMD), I was still waiting for my supervisor instruction since ALPHA team are busy developing the new detector.

As ALPHA was developing a new detector, they need to move all the electronics to a new rack to be more organised and systematic. My supervisor was responsible for the positron rack; so during my free time I helped my supervisor to reassemble all the connectors and moved the power supplies, PCB breakout, and other electronic items to the new rack.

Every weekend, I travelled around France and Switzerland. Therefore, I worked extra time, usually until 10 at night to finish my first and second task of my first project in fourth and sixth week, respectively.

Whenever I have more free time, such as while waiting for the things that we have ordered to arrive, I would visit any other locations in CERN such as the Macrocosm, to explore and gain more knowledge about CERN. I also joined the Cloud Chamber Workshop, and several other safety trainings such as Laser User, Fundamental Cryogenic, Cryogenic Helium Transfer, and Radiation Protection.

As I had relatively more free time, I was asked by my supervisor to work in shifts. The four shifts in which I was working gave an excellent opportunity to learn about how physics is done at ALPHA, to learn more details about the experiment, and to glimpse into how scientists work.

I would try to develop the software that I used at CERN in the projects of my current studies and I will educate my friends and suggest its usage to my lecturer. I have also prepared slides about introduction to particle physics, since my university does not provide particle physics course, I would give a lecture about it to my friends and juniors.

For my studies, I will take Masters and PhD, because I want to be a lecturer, but I am still not sure what fields that I want to continue. I will think of it after I had done my industrial training of bachelor degree next year.

I am not sure, but since I worked at ALPHA, this experiment is to determine the behaviour of anti-hydrogen atom to compare with natural hydrogen atom. This is quite interesting but I still need to learn more about it. Generally, I interested with the particle physics theory, but it is quite challenging and wide. This is one of physics field that still growing until now. So, maybe this is an opportunity to be a physicist for particle physics.