100 Years of Superconductivity celebrated at STFC
12/04/2011 STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
100 years ago today (8 April 2011), the phenomenon of superconductivity was observed for the first time by Heike Kamerlingh Onnes. Since this discovery, superconductivity has become the underpinning technology for many of the world's most important international science experiments, with STFC instrumental in the developments. Superconductivity has already found applications in medical scanners, computing and even transport."The famous Rutherford cable developed by STFC in the seventies is now a world standard used in superconducting magnets. The same programme led the way to building dipoles [magnets which direct the beams of particles] for the Large Hadron Collider", said STFC's Shrikant Pattalwar. "This is just one of the reasons we will be celebrating today."
Today, at the STFC Daresbury Laboratory, international scientists and engineers will discuss developments in magnet design, radio frequency technology and high temperature superconductors. These technologies have the potential to change how power is delivered to our homes as well as develop new types of medical diagnostic devices and treatments.
Speakers from CERN in Geneva (where the Large Hadron Collider is located), Cornell University in the USA, University of Oxford and the John Adams and Cockcroft Institutes will join STFC's own scientists and engineers to highlight past successes, current challenges and future opportunities for superconducting technology. Representatives from Oxford Instruments and Research Instruments will talk about how industry has embraced the significant scientific and engineering challenges to deliver the components that enable experimental facilities like the ISIS neutron source and Diamond Light Source to operate.
More information on today's programme is available here: http://www.cfi.stfc.ac.uk/24669.aspx
For further information, please contact Lucy Stone
STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Email: lucy.stone@stfc.ac.uk
Tel: 01235 445627/07920 870125
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