Staff case study: Lily Galvin
21 May 2025 - Rosie de Laune
Lily is a mechanical design and project engineer, working as part of the detector design group on the detectors for the Endeavour programme instruments.
After completing her apprenticeship through the STFC scheme, Lily worked for the Central Laser Facility and Veolia Nuclear Solutions before joining the new beamlines design group at ISIS in 2022 to work on the FREIA beamline for the European Spallation Source (ESS).
She is involved in the design work for the detectors for HRPD-X and Super MuSR, which will both use scintillator technology, but at very different scales. HRPD-X will have four large banks based on two layers of wavelength-shifting fibres, whereas Super MuSR will use tiny silicon-photomultipliers coupled to small scintillator blocks.
“Because it is all so novel, we do a lot of prototyping, which I like because you can see the results of your design work as it develops, and you can learn as you go,” says Lily.
“Because it is all so novel, we do a lot of prototyping, which I like because you can see the results of your design work as it develops, and you can learn as you go."
Lily Galvin
Alongside her day job, as well as playing rugby and renovating her house, for the last two years Lily has been studying for a degree in mechanical engineering design, which she is about to complete. “I enjoy learning and it’s been a great opportunity to develop myself,” she explains. “My dissertation is on the HRPD-X bank 4 detectors, so I have been able to use my work at ISIS to contribute towards my degree.”
“I grew up locally and came to the facility as part of school tours. I always thought it would be interesting to work at the site and that’s why I applied for an apprenticeship when I was unsure about my options after A-levels. I’m enjoying being back again and working for ISIS and am grateful for the support I’ve received from my managers in both the ESS and Endeavour teams.”
