update from bloomington (the indiana one)

i have worked 3 full days at iucf, and so far i love it. at the moment my tasks include writing a program in labview, learning and working in RSI IDL (a development environment for Matlab (i think)), and verifying the calculations for the testbed (the copper/aluminum device).

this is a lot to take on, but i’m glad my supervisors have shown faith in me. in general, at iucf, trust and reliability are non-issues. i have been given access to anywhere in the lab 24/7, all the servers online, and i have administrator privileges to install any software on the computers (i never had administrator privileges at fermilab, and was never given a good reason as to why not). there is virtually no quota on my personal server; the labwide quota is 1.8 TB, and only a third of it is being used. i especially like the kitchenette where hot water is available for tea which is paid for on an honor system. each tea bag costs 15 cents.

working full-time again has been a shock to my system (i only took a month off, geeze!). my sleeping schedule is erratic so i have been really tired at work. i’m in no shape to ride my bike to work until i get used to this again. i tried biking to work on wednesday and felt terrible!

meanwhile, i have made some changes to my blog. i really like the dark blue scheme, and the picture at the top is one i took in switzerland last march (from Delphine’s patio). i have also updated the links (definitely check out Democracy Now!, the other ones are purely for entertainment). i also made an awesome exciting flickr account, to which more pictures are coming soon. i send my love to you all.

latest project

i decided to make a new afghan to go with the leather couch marty and i bought for our apartment. this is the progress i made in one week. i got carried away when starting the afghan and made it 8 1/2 feet long!

the brand of yarn is “i love this yarn!”, and is only found at hobby lobby. in black, i make 6 rows of hdc, and in aubergine, i make 14 rows of the following pattern:

Row 1: Work 1 dc in 4th ch from hook, 1 sc in next ch, * skip 1 ch, 2 dc in next ch, 1 sc in next ch. Rep from * across. Ch 2, turn.

Row 2: Work 1 dc in first sc, skip 1 dc, 1 sc in next dc, * 2 dc in next sc, skip 1 dc, 1 sc in next dc. Rep from * across, end 1 sc in top of turning ch. Ch 2, turn. Rep Row 2 for Pattern.

the pattern for the aubergine stripes was copied directly from one of my grandma’s crochet mags. i haven’t decided what border i will use yet, i just know it won’t be tassels because i think that is a waste of yarn.

my first day was AWESOME

today was so much fun! it seems everyone at the lab knows everyone else. while i’m sure a few people stay locked away in their offices, everyone i passed in the hallway wanted to stop and talk to whomever was escorting me at the time and to find out who i was. the cyclotron is rather small compared to fermilab, there are only about 120 employees. several autonomous groups are sharing the neutron source and work together in the building where it is produced. when you want to find someone, it is common practice to phone their office, and if they cannot be reached, to then page the whole building for them.

i spent the morning in safety training, which is important because i’m going be working in radiation areas and have to wear a dosimetry badge*. every three months, this badge will be sent away to a lab to measure my exposure to radiation (no cyclotron employee has ever had more than 190 mRem in a single year, the federal limit is 5,000 mRem/yr).

after filling out some paperwork, i was shown to my desk. i will be sharing an office with a handful of graduate students and post-docs. i will soon have an e-mail account and be able to login to the computers, but none of that could be set up today because my paperwork is not fully processed yet.

dr. sokol showed me essentially what i’ll be working on. i can give more details later, but for now here’s a brief explanation. the cyclotron produces a beam of protons at about 200 MeV. this beam is directed via magnets onto a chunk of beryllium. as the protons bombard the nuclei of this heavy metal, neutrons fly out in all directions, and the beryllium target becomes very hot (both temperature hot and radioactively hot). water flows on the back side of the target, allowing it to keep cool. one concern is that the beryllium could melt from the immense amount of power being dumped. so i will work on a device which mimics this process to see what temperatures could occur in the target, particularly if there is a failure in the beam focusing or the cooling system. there is a 60 lb chunk of copper that is butted up against an aluminum target. the copper is heated to simulate the heat generated by a proton beam because copper is an excellent thermal conductor and has a high melting point. the aluminum simulates beryllium well because they have similar thermal properties. i will use sensors to monitor temperature of the copper and aluminum in various spots. the sensors are designed to work with labview and all the equipment is brand new, so setting everything up should go smoothly! (hopefully)

i won’t be starting full-time until they finish processing my paperwork (gah), but i’m super excited about this job and can’t wait to get started!

*there is an episode of macguyver in which he visits a lab requiring the use of dosimetry badges. the lab technician explains to him that the badge turns different colors if he receives a dose of radiation. macguyver asks, “and what if the badge turns black?” to which she responds, “if it turns black, you will be dead.” this is not how they actually work, they do not turn colors like a mood ring.

operation employment: success

i have a new job!!! i start working tomorrow at the Indiana University Cyclotron Facility. i think it will be a short day with basic introductory stuff. i have ridden my bike from my apartment to the cyclotron (three miles one way), and it took 16 minutes to get there and 19 minutes back, on account of some long traffic signals. so i think it will be practical to ride my bike everyday until cold weather hits. i had an interview last week (with the director of the lab himself!), and was told i would not be restricted from working full-time if that’s what i wanted to do. initially i will be working on a project that will take a couple of months to complete, and then i’ll work on something else if needed. for my first day i’m packing: a bound composition notebook, a Labview manual (complements of fermilab), my laptop, a bike lock, change of clothes, lunch, checkbook, and my TI-89. fortunately i have a large book bag to hold my nerdy accoutrements. i think i’ll bring my CERN playing cards, for luck, and in case i make a scientist friend and conversation becomes awkward.

the plunge

i decided to start a webblog today, mainly to keep in touch with family and friends. in the past, i’ve relied on facebook, but it excludes too many people i know and has become increasingly more junked up. i do have some apprehension about posting my business so publicly, and as marty points out, “once you post something it’s stored on the interweb forever!” oh well, i’m just going to plunge in!

today is awesome because i get to see marty. we’ve been doing long distance since january, so every weekend one of us drives the 2 1/2 hours to see the other. today he’s driving to see me, and i’m very excited. we’re going swimming on saturday and probably to the dunes (somewhere by lake michigan?) on sunday, and i get to try out my new speedo!

this past week was even more awesome (not usually the case) because i went with naomi and her parents to floyd landis’s* (omg, he is cute!) book signing on monday. what an honor to meet a world champion cyclist! it’s hard to convey how genuine and nice he is in person. given the total transparency of his case online, and that arguments for his innocence appear well-grounded in science, i’m inclined to believe him.

additionally, on tuesday night i went to a midnight showing of harry potter with naomi and alex and friends. i thought the movie was a great adaptation of the book, but i was not a fan of the obnoxiously swarming, unsupervised high schoolers. i’ve learned my lesson about going to midnight showings for movies with a huge adolescent fanbase.

looking ahead, i’m thrilled about moving to indiana in a few weeks. people need to come visit marty and me in our new apartment! by people i mean my mom and sister. everyone else is either leaving the country or having babies, in which case i will visit you everyone take care, keep in touch, and watch for further posts!

love,

lana

*floyd landis won the 2006 Tour de France, and shortly after was tested positive for a high testosterone level in his system. he adamantly denies doping charges and tells his story in the book: positively false