MTU academics join world’s biggest scientific experiment at CERN
Munster Technological University (MTU) has become the first Irish institution to take a direct role in the world’s largest scientific experiment at CERN – the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, as part of a global effort to uncover the fundamental secrets of the universe.
Last year, MTU became Ireland’s first Technical Associate Institute to join the ATLAS Collaboration, one of the LHC’s flagship experiments that helped discover the Higgs boson particle in 2012. Of the 246 organisations worldwide analysing CERN-ATLAS data, only 17 are Technical Associate Institutes, placing MTU among a select group of institutes worldwide.
MTU’s contribution to CERN is focused on engineering critical systems for the ATLAS detector as it prepares for the upcoming ‘high-luminosity’ phase of the Large Hadron Collider.
Senior researcher Dr Manuel Caballero and his team are building and testing the electrical panels and cables that will deliver power to the upgraded detectors, where every component must function to avoid disrupting experiments involving scientists across the world.
In a separate project, lecturer Paddy McGowan and his team at MTU are designing the delicate mechanical supports that will hold thousands of sensors, along with the cooling pipes and cables, all operating under extreme conditions deep underground. MTU is also contributing to the design of the core cooling system for these detectors.
Dr Niall Smith, head of research and CERN-ATLAS lead, MTU said: “This is about giving Irish staff, students, and industry the chance to be part of one of humanity’s greatest scientific quests.”
Through this work, Irish engineers and researchers at MTU are helping build the tools that may one day explain dark matter, the origins of the universe, and why it exists.
TechCentral Reporters
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