Early Career Excellence award for ISIS technician Darren Mitchard
17 Mar 2026 - Peter Hurrell
ISIS Ion Source technician Darren Mitchard won the Early Career Excellence Award at the STFC Technician Commitment conference in 2025.
“It was very unexpected. I didn’t even know I’d been nominated,” says Darren. “It feels good to be recognised.”
Darren is part of a small team of four technicians that manage the ISIS ion source, which is the first step towards producing neutrons and muons at ISIS. Here, hydrogen gas and caesium vapour are turned into a plasma from which negatively charged hydrogen ions are extracted and accelerated up to 37% of the speed of light in a linear accelerator. Those hydrogen ions are then stripped of electrons and the remaining protons are accelerated to 84% of the speed of light in the ISIS synchrotron, before slamming into tungsten targets to generate neutrons.
The ion source itself is fairly small. Darren has produced a 3D-printed model of one that can be held in one hand. And they are bespoke; there’s no other ion source like it at any of the other neutron facilities worldwide. It can also be temperamental, leading to late night callouts for Darren and colleagues to fix glitches and ensure a continuous supply of neutrons and muons to the ISIS experimental stations.
Transferable skills
Darren joined ISIS in 2020 on a four-year apprenticeship. The move was a career change; before then, he was working as a chef. “There’s lots of skills that are transferable,” says Darren. “I’m working with my hands a lot and managing time pressures.”
After his apprenticeship, Darren joined the ion source team in the Low Energy Beams Group, who are responsible for the early stages of the process by which ISIS generates neutrons.
“I’ve brought my set of skills to the team. I’m very systems and computer oriented,” says Darren. “I also brought in 3D printing, which allows us to do rapid prototyping.”
Currently Darren is working on elements of an optical diagnostics system that will allow the team to monitor levels of hydrogen and caesium in the plasma. He’s also working on a new RF ion source to replace the existing source. It will be more reliable, and could become the ion source for a future neutron facility that will one day replace ISIS.
