Researchers from Berkeley Lab and the Accelerator Technology & Applied Physics (ATAP) Division taught courses at the U.S. Particle Accelerator School (USPAS), an important institution of education that provides programs on beam physics and associated accelerator technologies.

Representing the Berkeley Center for Magnet Technology, jointly managed by ATAP and the Lab’s Engineering Division, Ross Schlueter, Interim Director of the Engineering Division, supported by Soren Prestemon, Senior Scientist and Head of ATAP’s Superconducting Magnet Program, Diego Arbelaez, Staff Scientist in the Engineering Division, and Jin-Young Jung, Mechanical Engineer in the Engineering Division, delivered a class, titled “Magnetic Systems for Accelerators, Detectors and Insertion Devices,” from July 22-26, 2024, as part of the Summer 2024 UPAS Session held in Rohnert Park, California.

Prestemon, who serves on the USPAS Curriculum committee, says that USPAS courses “serve a unique role in educating the next generation of accelerator scientists and engineers, with curricula that are not typically available in higher education, and taught by instructors who are highly experienced and deeply immersed in the topics.”

Thorsten Hellert (back) and Christoph Steier (third from right at the back) with the class they taught. (Credit: USPAS)

Earlier in the year, Christoph Steier, a senior scientist at the Lab’s Advanced Light Source (ALS), and Thorsten Hellert, a research scientist at ATAP’s Advanced Light Source Accelerator Physics Program, joined SLAC National Accelerator Lab’s Xiaobiao Huang in teaching “Beam-Based Diagnostics” from January 22-26, 2024, as part of the Winter 2024 UPAS Session held in Hampton, Virginia.

“Teaching is challenging and requires some time, but it is very rewarding in the end,” says Steier. “It is especially gratifying to see that the pool of students continues to diversify in terms of gender, ethnicity, and nationality.”

Steier says he has taught at USPAS for about 20 years. During this time, several of the ALS operators and some graduate students at ATAP attended the classes, he noted, with many of these students going on to “become accomplished accelerator physicists.”

Hellert also noted the students’ different backgrounds, with some operating user facilities and others Ph.D. students working in private companies. While he says this made teaching this class “a lot trickier,” he adds, “it was also very insightful to hear their diverse views on the topic.”

ATAP’s involvement with USPAS goes back to the school’s early days. Beginning with the symposium-style programs of the 1980s and including the Joint International Particle Accelerator School, more than 80 people who were, had been or would become employees of ATAP and its predecessor organizations have taught at USPAS for a total of more than 100 courses and lectures. Many of these courses are team-taught with colleagues from other institutions, building lasting connections throughout the accelerator community.

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