Work
I've been working at the Australian Synchrotron for 16 months. I have been one of a team of 5 physicists responsible for getting the accelerator component of the Australian Synchrotron to work. Although my thesis was completely theoretical, I have only been involved in experimental/applied physics at the Synchrotron although the job might become more theoretical once we move into routine operation next year. I am working on the timing of the injection system and some of the diagnostics of the storage ring. I have enjoyed working at the synchrotron because of the strong team atmosphere of a major project with a well defined goal.
In the middle of my undergraduate physics degree it always felt strange to be learning so much about the world that I'd always had around me. I was finding out all this stuff and I loved to explain things to people. At the synchrotron this works well because we have to explain to engineers and computer experts what we want to be able to do. I've enjoyed working together with people from other areas to achieve something so large.
Being one of the few people who are actually allowed to run the synchrotron has been fun too. It has sometimes felt like being a test pilot in that it is important that we know the practical side (power supplies, and cooling water regulation) while having insight into the hard physics of a high energy particle accelerator.
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