Research Assistant at Newmans Laboratory
CERN CMS Phase II Upgrade Integration
When I just tranfered to Cornel from University of Rochester, I was very eager to gain some hands-on experiences in addition to taking theory classes. Through some connection with my academic advisor, Prof. Fisher , I was connected to Yadira , who is a mechanical engineer at CLASS (Cornell Laboratory for Accelerator-based Sciences and Education) working on a wide variety of complex equipment for particle accelerators. Yadira happened to need a helper to construct a cooling plant for CERN CMS phase II upgrade.
The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is undergoing one of the biggest upgrade for the largest particle collide in Geneva, Switzerland. The CMS Phase II Upgrade is part of the upgrades whichconstructs a new CO2 cooling plant, called the LUCASZ Plant, to cool the particle detectors to as low as-40 degree Celsius. Lucasz is divided into two components, Lucasz E Lite (Lite box) and Local Box. Lucasz E lite is the mainrefrigeration system, while Local Box is the automation component of the system. As the research assistant on this project, I constructed the Lucasz Refrigeration Plant and the tasks included assembling 50+ Swagelok assemblies in the frame, integrating components to the frame, modifying design to fit constraints, and conducting leak tests to prepare for testing the cooling capacity of the refrigeration cycle.
The main box is about 4 x 6 x 4 feet and the construction project involved many different tools. This was my first big projects involving so much experiences and I treat the LUCASZ plant as my baby :)