VIP CERN Tour
On January 18, 2025, the MAS MTEC Alumni organized a visit to CERN, a globally recognized name, and a powerful brand. It offered a chance to experience the vibration of boundless dreams envisioned by others and inspired us to dream big ourselves.
On 18th January 2025, MAS MTEC Alumni organized the VIP guided tour at CERN. It is an international institution which runs the largest particle physics laboratory in the world, that aims to advance our understanding of the fundamental structure of matter and our universe. The very question it tries to answer is breathtaking. It is no wonder, that in that pursuit, CERN’s brand became a synonym for scientific prestige, technological advancement, and global collaboration.
During our visit to CERN, we had the privilege of accessing one of the two general-purpose detectors at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector. The LHC, 27 kilometers in diameter and 100 meters below the ground, is the largest and tallest energy accelerator that has ever been made. It conducts experiments by accelerating particles – usually protons – to near the speed of light and colliding them. One of the main experiments at the LHC is the CMS detector, which among other phenomena, studies the Higgs boson and dark matter. Absolutely incredible stuff.
The CMS detector normally runs 24/7 and public access to it is only possible when the LHC is undergoing maintenance. We were lucky enough to secure a visiting time slot during that period. We went 100 meters underground to see the detector. The sheer scale of the CMS detector and its sophistication left us standing in awe of the remarkable state of the art itself. Even without being a physicist or scientist, you could somewhat understand the power of the shared knowledge embedded in that structure.
We heard some seriously mind-blowing numbers when it came to the CMS experiments. The LHC generates 40 million collisions per second. Each collision amounts to close to 1 MB of raw data. To save all the data, which would be ideal, is at the moment technically not possible. In addition, in most cases, the interesting physical events are extremely rare, and most collisions must be filtered out in real time (nanoseconds). Therefore, the recorded collisions are much fewer. Depending on the experiment, it could be that 1 out of 40 000 collisions are saved and analyzed. For context, the discovery of the Higgs boson at the CMS, required the analysis of 50 billion recorded collisions – an achievement of unprecedented scale.
By continuing to the visitor center with its educational exhibition, we concluded the tour on a high note. There, we also learned about CERN’s inventions and developments that are now in the public domain, such as the World Wide Web (WWW) and grid computing. What additionally captured our attention, was the sculpture in front of the visitor center, in a form of steel ribbon: Wandering the Immeasurable. It showcases the history and language of scientific and technical knowledge spanning almost 4000 years, starting with calculations from Mesopotamia through to the discovery of the Higgs boson. CERN finally reminded us that we are all standing on the shoulders of giants. The ribbon has an open end, for the new discoveries yet to be written.
The final wrap-up took place in a comfy pub nearby. Now came the moment where all the emotions and reflections on what each participant had experienced, truly added value to the visit. A specific statement really stuck with me when an alumni said something along the lines of: Going down to the CMS detector, I couldn’t help but feel that this exists because there were people who believed in something and pursued it— making it a reality. Such an inspiring feeling!
In this moment of inspiration, I hope both you and I will dare to dream big, just as many have done before us.
On a personal note: Nathalie, thank you for initiating this idea and allowing me to support you in the realization. Thank you, Sid, for welcoming the idea in the name of the Alumni board and participating in the execution from the beginning until the end. A big appreciation goes to Melanie and Anna who made the VIP Tour possible, and the insights shared by our two knowledgeable guides: Fernando Enrique Neri Huerta, a PhD candidate from Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico and Alessandro Tarabini, a Postdoc at ETH, the group of Prof. Dissertori. And finally, thanks to all fellow alumni, who dedicated their time, shared their impressions, and enriched the whole experience. Looking forward to seeing you at some of the next events.