What do you do at ISIS?
My job is to use the magnets around the accelerator to make sure the particles stay inside the beampipe. This can mean bending them around corners (using magnets called dipoles) or squishing them tightly together (using magnets called quadrupoles). As the particles get faster, the magnets need to get stronger to keep the particles in a circle. I measure where the beam is by using beam position monitors and use this information, together with a simulation, to decide what changes to make to the magnets.
What route did you take to get to where you are now?
I am a sandwich student at ISIS which means that this is part of my university work. I have completed 3 years of study at Royal Holloway University of London and will go back to complete my master's degree next year.
What key attributes do you need for your job?
To do my job well, I need to take thousands of measurements, which can take hours. Therefore, patience and perseverance are important skills to have. My measurements can also indicate problems in the accelerator which take methodical and creative solutions. In order to explain the problems to my group, I need to have strong communication skills, as well.
What do you like most about your job?
My job allows me to learn about accelerators in new ways and sharing ideas and thoughts with other people in my group always introduces interesting topics.
What has been your greatest achievement in your role so far?
There's nothing better than watching your corrections work, which has been a year-long effort on the accelerator!
