Research Internship at CERN (GEM LAB- CMS,LHC) |
Summer of 2011 was the first time I visited CERN as a tourist on a hiatus from the then hectic middle school schedule. That 13 yo me (probably still am 13) didn't have the slightest clue about what CERN actually did or even that atoms could be split. All we'd been taught was that atoms were the most fundamental, indestructible components of all matter. So when the tour guides spoke of particles inside the atom, I probably judged their IQ level a bit, but was mostly baffled by everything I saw and heard.
By the time I got back from the vacation though, everything I had learnt had trickled out my brain like water in a fist and CERN was just the 'cool museum' that was part of my main bragging arsenal at school. A few months later however, my dad made me read a newspaper article about the discovery of the Higgs Boson, dubbed the 'God Particle' (I now understand why Physicists are pissed at that). Again, I understood jack shit from the article, but it was enough to get me hooked and delve deeper into the atom. I had to someday be capable enough to work at this place!
Fast forward 5 years, a dull afternoon in the freshman's dorm at University and a Particle Physics exam due in a few hours motivated me to write down the whole classification of sub-atomic physics (according to the SM ofc) on the wall of my room. We called it the "Wall of the Particle Realm". That got me thinking about what I was doing with my life and how I was putting all the 'research' I had done as a child to waste(hours spent trying to learn to read a scientific paper + countless hours spent on Physics Olympiad prep). So I decided to apply to CERN for a student research position in an attempt to get closer to Particle Physics with what I had ({questionable at the time} Engineering skills). Being a freshman in college, I was rejected for obvious reasons. I carried on with research in control systems, a field I had just stumbled upon, but something kept the passion for particle physics alive.
I decided to apply again when I was a Junior and had a bit of research experience, and was selected after a few unorthodox rounds of processing (that I didn't even know were actually interview rounds). The technical side of what I did for the next 8 months can be found above, but this was an experience that truly changed a lot in me; bolstered a lot of my core philosophies and gave me a whole new perspective on a researcher's life. I cannot thank my supervisors Dr. Jeremie Merlin and Dr. Michele Bianco and my program mentor Dr. Archana Sharma enough for helping me fulfil my only childhood dream of working at CERN! I will definitely try to get back here when I am done exploring the robotics scene in America!
[Update from the future: "Ma! Look at me, I made it back there twice with contributions of increasing (tiny, but that's how it goes) significance ;-)"]
By the time I got back from the vacation though, everything I had learnt had trickled out my brain like water in a fist and CERN was just the 'cool museum' that was part of my main bragging arsenal at school. A few months later however, my dad made me read a newspaper article about the discovery of the Higgs Boson, dubbed the 'God Particle' (I now understand why Physicists are pissed at that). Again, I understood jack shit from the article, but it was enough to get me hooked and delve deeper into the atom. I had to someday be capable enough to work at this place!
Fast forward 5 years, a dull afternoon in the freshman's dorm at University and a Particle Physics exam due in a few hours motivated me to write down the whole classification of sub-atomic physics (according to the SM ofc) on the wall of my room. We called it the "Wall of the Particle Realm". That got me thinking about what I was doing with my life and how I was putting all the 'research' I had done as a child to waste(hours spent trying to learn to read a scientific paper + countless hours spent on Physics Olympiad prep). So I decided to apply to CERN for a student research position in an attempt to get closer to Particle Physics with what I had ({questionable at the time} Engineering skills). Being a freshman in college, I was rejected for obvious reasons. I carried on with research in control systems, a field I had just stumbled upon, but something kept the passion for particle physics alive.
I decided to apply again when I was a Junior and had a bit of research experience, and was selected after a few unorthodox rounds of processing (that I didn't even know were actually interview rounds). The technical side of what I did for the next 8 months can be found above, but this was an experience that truly changed a lot in me; bolstered a lot of my core philosophies and gave me a whole new perspective on a researcher's life. I cannot thank my supervisors Dr. Jeremie Merlin and Dr. Michele Bianco and my program mentor Dr. Archana Sharma enough for helping me fulfil my only childhood dream of working at CERN! I will definitely try to get back here when I am done exploring the robotics scene in America!
[Update from the future: "Ma! Look at me, I made it back there twice with contributions of increasing (tiny, but that's how it goes) significance ;-)"]
