Christine Tran Syracuse University, Class of 2017 Christine   spent   much   of   Summer   2014   involved   in the     construction     and     testing     of     mockups     of different     designs     being     investigated     for     the modules    (units    which    house    the    active    sensor elements)    and    staves    (the    support    and    cooling structures)    for    the    UT    Tracker.    This    is    a    very important   phase   of   the   R&D,   in   which   we   need   to test    whether    a    design    is    good—mechanically, thermally    and    electrically—and    whether    it    will ultimately   work   for   the   UT.    About   her   experience doing research, she writes: What    I    Did:    I    helped    construct    many    module mockups,   along   with   helping   to   work   out   the   trial and     errors     in     manifesting     different     module designs.   I   helped   create   and   organize   a   system   for the        characterization,        documentation        and inventory    of    the    components    that    went    into creating   our   hybrids   and   staves.   I   made   friends and   took   part   in   an   important   project   that   was much    larger    than    myself.    (I    also    would    like    to believe   that   I   helped   to   keep   order   in   the   lab,   but I'm not sure how successful I was...) What    I    Learned:    I    learned    about    some    of    the different    mechanical    properties    substances    can have   and   what   each   was   important   for.   I   learned how   to   be   patient   and   careful   when   working.   I needed   both   precision   and   accuracy,   as   well   as efficiency,    to    succeed    in    the    creation    of    our Hybrids.   I   tried   to   exemplify   those   traits   at   work.   I learned   on   a   new   level   about   quarks,   CERN,   and various   topics   in   High   Energy   Physics,   though   only briefly. What   I   Liked:   I   liked   working   with   my   hands.   I really   liked   drawing   designs   into   my   log   book   and making   something   that   I   had   in   a   2D   world   into   a real,   physical   representation   that   existed   in   the 3D   world.   I   enjoyed   cleaning   and   tidying   up,   it was   a   good   stress   reliever   every   time   the   work stations    were    clear.    I    also    liked    the    different people   that   were   involved   in   our   group,   it   was   fun to meet new people.

Joel Sims Syracuse University, Class of 2016 Joel    spent    much    of    Spring    2014    designing    flex circuits    called    striplines,    in    order    to    test    the integrity   of   fast   (320   MHz)   signal   transmission   of the   kind   we   will   be   using   to   read   out   data   in   the UT Tracker. He describes his own work thusly: In   my   year   working   with   the   Syracuse   University HEP   group   I   have   performed   a   variety   of   tasks, gained   a   plethora   of   knowledge   and   met   some astounding    people.    My    work    has    ranged    from scrubbing   clean   rooms   to   changing   out   old   hard drives   to   trying   viciously   to   make   a   flex   circuit design   that   would   meet   the   needs   of   wishy   washy fabricating    companies.    To    have    an    impact    on what   other   people   are   working   on   in   different states and countries is amazing to me. I   have   learned   along   the   way   more   about   the importance   of   background   research   and   not   just using    Wikipedia.    I    have    learned    more    about electromagnetics   with   the   importance   of   micro- stripline   impedances.   My   knowledge   of   excel   and book    research    has    only    improved    since    my employment.    The    only    thing    I    wish    I    had    the opportunity   to   work   more   on   is   actually   testing my   work   with   the   striplines.   I   have   learned   so much    about    the    theory    and    equation    side    of things   that   now   I   actually   want   to   apply   what   I have   worked   so   diligently   to   understand.   I   love working   here,   I   am   excited   and   learn   something new   every   time   I   walk   into   the   conference   room, Ray’s office or any one of the labs we have. Joel    has    since    graduated    and    is    “Teaching    for America” in Houston TX.

Sean Dunfield Syracuse University, class of 2015 Sean   has   been   working   with   the   HEP   Group   since Fall    2013,    and    has    worked    on    a    number    of different   projects   during   that   time.    However   he has     developed     an     expertise     in     mechanical fabrication   that   has   proven   to   be   invaluable.    He has   learned   how   to   operate   NC   mills   and   lathes, under   the   tutelage   of   the   expert   machinists   in   the Physics   Machine   Shop.    He   has   fabricated   a   large variety   of   items,   from   the   components   needed   for our     mechanical     mockups     to     multifunctional enclosures    used    in    silicon    sensor    test    beam setups.      He     originated     the     strategy     for     the uniform   production   and   QC   of   these   components, and codified the procedures. Previously   Sean   has   recovered   a   heated   hydraulic press     that     we     used     for     forming     laminate materials,   and   learned   about   how   to   make   such layups.     This    was    tricky    and    involved    tandem hydraulic   and   heating   systems,   all   of   which   was new    to    him,    and    controlling    both    thermal    and pressure   cycles.    Somewhere   along   the   way,   he learned to make 3D CAD models.  Sean   was   a   senior   physics   major   when   he   worked with    the    HEP    group.     He    went    on    to    pursue    a career   in   applied   physics   at   University   of   Colorado at Boulder.

William Lentz Syracuse University, class of 2016 Bill   did   a   lot   of   things   while   working   with   the   HEP group.  He will describe them soon….

Steven Guerin Syracuse University, class of 2016 Steven   spent   Summer   2013   working   on   our   lab making   small   prototypes   of   different   early   stave designs   and   testing   their   mechanical   properties under   flexure.      During   Summer   2014,   he   worked on     the     upgrade     of     a     test     setup     we     are constructing   which   will   allow   us   to   measure   the thermal    and    mechanical    properties    of    full-size staves   in   a   more   realistic   environment.   About   this latter work, he says: During   the   time   I   spent   over   the   summer   of   2014 working   with   the   HEP   Group,   I   worked   mainly   on creating   a   thermally   insulated   test   box,   which   has come    to    be    known    as    the    Box    of    Boxes    (the "BoB").   The   BoB   will   be   used   in   testing   the   mock- up   staves   we   have   now   and   for   future   testing   with more   accurate   models   of   the   staves.   I   started   by modeling   it   in   3D   with   the   program   KeyCreator from    Kubotek    (student    version).    Once    we    were satisfied     with     the     model,     drawings     for     the machine    shop    were    printed    and    construction began,   though   this   is   ongoing.   In   addition   to   the BoB,   I   helped   Christine   construct   mock-up   staves by    cutting    some    of    the    Kapton-coated    copper sheets   into   Flexes,   cutting   carbon   fiber   sheets   into Stiffeners,   and   assisting   with   epoxying   the   ASICs and   copper   slugs   in.   Overall,   it   was   a   satisfying summer     because     I     managed     to     create     the insulator   box   3D   design   from   scratch.   It   was   also nice   to   come   back   to   this   research   group   again, after    leaving    at    the    end    of    last    summer,    and seeing   how   much   the   research   had   progressed; and   this   time   I   plan   to   keep   working   through   the academic year. Steven    did    a    lot    more    after    this    work.        He graduated with a BS degree in Physics.         

CAPSTONE PROJECT   Steve did a Capstone Project creating a novel Thermal Isolation Test Stand, which he designed, built, and tested over the course of two years.  This was a massive effort, performed under the supervision of Ray Mountain.  You can download his capstone thesis and read all about it.