Students tour Fermilab, America’s premier particle physics laboratory

BLOOMINGTON – On Friday, Feb. 22, Ivy Tech students took a trip to Batavia, Ill. to Fermilab – the United States’ particle physics and accelerator laboratory. Akin to CERN in Geneva, Switzerland where the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is located, Fermilab is an international hub for scientists from more than 50 countries to collaborate on solving the mysteries of matter, energy, space, and time. Fermilab is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Students began by touring the Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment where physicists and engineers built a particle detector for protons to collide into at nearly the speed of light. Then students went on a special excursion into the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment where scientists have constructed a massive tunnel to shoot subatomic particles into a detector in South Dakota. Students then visited the Remote Operations Center which uses Fermilab’s computing power to monitor the LHC and to provide real time data transfer between researchers of the two laboratories. The students finished by attending a seminar on diversity and inclusion in the workplace, presented by the CEO of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.

Fermilab offers a variety of internship opportunities, including Community College Internships (CCI).

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