Description: The course aims to provide students with basic knowledge for understanding particle physics experiments. The engineering analysis needed for the correct execution of these experiments will be studied in detail, with particular reference to the activities of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory research center (Fermilab, Batavia, Illinois, USA), such as the design of mechanical systems, the definition of assembly procedures, design of vibration isolation systems, multi-physics analysis (structural, thermal, electromagnetic). The course consists of a first part of lectures and a second part in which students will be integrated into the working group of a research center in high energy physics and will personally follow the development of the project activity. While the course is coordinated by Unipi and FNAL, it is open for cooperation with other reserach centers in this phield.
Activities on similar topics were recently successfully carried out by Master Thesis students in Mechanical Engineering (e.g. Giorgio Ubaldo Coli, Tommaso Aiazzi, Enrico Bargagna), who demonstrated to have the needed skills and background. Thus, the course can be propedeutic for the possible prosecution of the activity in a Master Thesis.
CFU: 6
Final exam: The student must prepare a final report and present the activity carried out and the results obtained to the examination commission with the aid of IT tools. The test will be assigned a mark on a scale of thirty.
Selection criteria: To ensure the successful involvement of students within the working group, a selection could be envisaged if the number of interested students is greater than the possibilities for integration in the research center and the number of projects available. In this case, the selection will take place on the basis of the candidates’ curriculum and the outcome of an interview.
How to apply
Students interested in the course should send their CV, along with the list of exams and marks (both for Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees), to paolo.neri@unipi.it, indicating the projects they are preliminarily more interested in (see below). During the first class, the projects will be explained more in detail and, depending on the requests, the best match between candidates and activities will be proposed. All the proposed projects require mechanical design and numerical simulation skills, which correspond to the background of Mechanical Engineering students.
For any questions or doubts, contact paolo.neri@unipi.it
Completed Projects: 2025-2026
All the projects are related to equipment for particle accelerators and were defined in collaboration with leading Global Research Centers in the field.
Coordinators:
Paolo Neri & Donato Passarelli
Matteo Gregorini:
Robotized Dry Gas Jet Cleaning for SRF Cavities
The candidate will investigate the feasibility of employing high-pressure nitrogen gas jets as a dry complement to the conventional high-pressure water rinsing (HPR) process used for cleaning superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities.
This approach aims to enhance the cleaning efficiency while reducing the reliance on liquid-based procedures, potentially improving cleanliness and operational flexibility. An automated procedure will be developed, using a robotic station capable of autonomously moving and orienting the nozzle inside the cavity. Dedicated simulation tools will be created to support motion planning, optimize robot trajectories, and ensure complete and uniform coverage of the internal surfaces.
Klaudio Sallaku:
Thermal Design of an Emittance Compensation Solenoid for a SRF gun
For LCLS II-He project, a superconducting Quarter Wave Resonator based SRF gun injector module is proposed and currently being developed at MSU. A solenoid package is used at the exit of SRF gun cavity for focusing purposes. The coils are wound with NbTi wire and cooled by immersion in liquid helium. This project is to modify the current design to allow the magnet to be cooled by conduction instead of being immersed in liquid. This will allow this magnet to be more compact and eliminate the helium vessel. The work will include to modify mechanical design and add thermal linkages and perform thermal analysis to ensure the cooling performance.
Past Projects
