bmubyzal

SLAC Day 8

People here are really interesting. There is this one guy who looks like a really tan version of Mr. Bean. He has whole goofy face look and nose and all. Another guy looks like he's perpetually pissed off. I'm sure he's a brilliant physicist and a great guy, but he looks like he's going to kill someone. Yet another one is this big fat guy who has the worst BO problem in the world. He can literally be at the other end of the hall and you can smell him. Speaking of people, I have a new cublicle-mate, Victor. He's in the cubicle right next to mine and he's really nice. He goes to UCSD.

Chocolate chip cookies are the greatest invention. I have a box in my office and it's keeping me alive. Bored? grab a cookie. Tired? grab a cookie. Stressed? grab a cookie.

Back to actual work. I've started modeling the PEPII region (the circular collision area of the accelerator). I'm actually modeling the beam so we can figure out how to optimize the performance of the accelerator. The beam sometimes goes off course, so it requires adjustments (using magnets). The program I'm working with tells exactly how much and in what direction each magnet needs to push. For everyone in physics - this is why solenoids are important.

-edit-

I've been busy all afternoon measuring and modeling parts. It's really quite interesting. I get to use this giant machine which measures dimensions of small objects to about .05". Afterwards, I take the dimensions I found and make a part using a really complicated, but fun program. Work is definitely getting interesting.

posted by Edward Young @ 10:34 AM