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Wednesday, Nov. 20
The Indiana Daily Student

IU Cyclotron looks to develop innovations with new equipment

Facility can now assist breakthroughs in computer technology, cancer and physics

The IU Cyclotron Facility doesn't look like much from the outside.\nA burgundy campus sign announces the one-story building on the bypass just past Fee Lane. Inside, the front lobby is plain with white walls and a small receptionist's desk.\nThe basement, however, is a maze of partitions, computer servers, electronic systems, particle accelerators and machines that produce proton beams. There are walls that run into one another, wires and tubes that cross overhead and around every turn lies another piece of huge equipment. Some are nearing completion, and some are being torn down to make room for new projects and more advanced nuclear technologies.\n"We can't have any straight paths in the research area," said Dan Hussey, a graduate research assistant at one of the leading physics research laboratories in the country. "A straight path increases radiation."\nRadiation is only a mild health concern in the relative safety of the IUCF, but it is a side product of accelerator physics. The term "accelerator physics" may not mean much to people who are not scientifically-minded, but it does not mean that the work done at the IUCF is not interesting.\n"I'm not a science person, but I still find it fascinating," said Amy Hoover, who works in human resources. "We're an exciting place."\nAccelerator physics is at the heart of research at the IUCF. Particle accelerators are used to study the atomic nucleus, which can not be studied directly. A cyclotron is one form of particle accelerator, and there are two cyclotrons at the IUCF, along with a handful of other pieces of research equipment that use the particle beam created by the cyclotron.\nThe IUCF has kept IU at the forefront of nuclear research for decades with its particle accelerators. Now, the IUCF is looking toward the future with a new Pulsed Neutron Scattering Facility called Low Energy Neutron Source, said John Cameron, director of the IUCF.\nLENS will aid in research that contributes to computer components and health industries. The technology in LENS helps create memory and other parts of a computer. It is expected to be a prototype which will be copied on university campuses across the country. It will be the first pulsed cold neutron scattering facility to be built at any university in the world.\n"Things have been changing around here very fast," said T.J. Whitaker, a graduate research assistant at the IUCF.\nLENS is not the only project the IUCF is working on. Cameron said about two years ago, NASA chose the IUCF as their main facility for testing devices that are intended for use on the international space station. To complete this plan, NASA funded two new radiation beams for testing which have just been completed.\nPerhaps most exciting is the completion of the Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute. At the forefront of cancer treatment, the MPRI is a facility providing precision treatment for cancer and some benign diseases. The MPRI uses proton beams instead of traditional radiation therapy to treat cancer in sensitive areas, such as the brain and spinal chord. The MPRI also plans to specialize in pediatrics, said Edward Dickey, R.T.T, director of clinic operations.\nThe IUCF has been a world-class research facility since it was built in 1971. At that time, the IUCF was performing mainly fundamental nuclear research using particle accelerators, but it has expanded its scope over time. Now, the particle accelerators are the central link that connects all the IUCF's programs.\n"Now there is a broader scope to the research," Cameron said.\nHussey said he was attracted to the IUCF because it is a "world class nuclear physics lab that has brought in people from all over the world." Hussey said the IUCF is a "fantastic lab with amazing access to resources. It's also a fun place to work."\nWhitaker said the IUCF is a great way for students to get research experience.\n"There will be a lot going on here in the future," said Whitaker. "There will be lots of opportunities for students who want to do research, especially undergraduates. Even biology majors should look into the IUCF."\nJack Taylor, facility supervisor at the IUCF, realizes the importance the facility has to the community. \n"It's not like working in a factory on an assembly line," he said. "We're actually doing something that benefits mankind. Nuclear physics benefits mankind in hundreds of ways if we're smart enough to use it."\n-- Contact staff writer Kelsey Flora at kflora@indiana.edu.

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