Curriculum Vitae of Luca Bottura

Born: October, 7th, 1961
in: Parma (Italy)
Nationality : Italian

ADDRESS

Magnets, Superconductors and Cryostats
Technology Department
CERN M24320
CH-1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland
Tel: ++41-22-767-3729
Cell: ++41-76-487-5033
Fax: ++41-22-767-6230
e-mail: Luca.Bottura@cern.ch

EDUCATION

August 1991, Ph.D.
University College of Swansea, University of Wales, Swansea, UK.
Thesis Topic: Numerical study on the propagation of normal zones in force-flow cooled superconducting magnets with applications to the fusion magnets of NET and ITER.
February 1986, Degree in Nuclear Engineering
Faculty of Engineering, University of Bologna, Italy.
Thesis Topic: Analysis of fluid-structure interaction in a fuel element for the experimental reactor PEC.

EMPLOYMENT

July 2011 - Present, Senior Staff.
Leader of Magnets, Superconductor and Cryostats Group, TE Department (TE-MSC), CERN, Geneva, Switzerland (as of July 2011).
The group is responsible for resistive and superconducting accelerator magnets, and their integration in the CERN Accelerator Complex. The activities of the MSC group cover all aspects from design through manufacturing, installation and maintenance, the R&D in associated technologies (e.g. superconductivity, magnetic materials and measurements, polymers and insulation), as well as CERN-wide services in the above fields.
Direct supervisor: F. Bordry, TE Department Leader.
December 2007 - July 2011, Senior Staff.
Leader of Superconductor and Devices Section in the MSC Group, TE Department (TE-MSC-SCD), CERN, Geneva, Switzerland (as of Sepember 2008).
Activity of the section: design, procurement and characterization of superconducting wires, tapes, cables and other electrical devices (busbars, current leads, power transmission and energy management systems) based on superconductors; support to the installation and operation of the CERN accelerator complex, and in particular for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), in all aspects related to superconducting materials.
Additional duties: Deputy Group Leader of TE-MSC, with CERN-wide responsibility for accelerator magnet and associated technology; Activity Leader for the Fast Cycled superconducting Magnet (FCM) R&D; Chairman of the Magnet Evaluation Board (MEB) of the LHC.
Direct supervisor: L. Rossi, TE-MSC Group Leader.
December 2002 - December 2007, Senior Staff.
Leader of Analysis and Studies Section in the MTM Group, AT Department (AT-MTM-AS), CERN, Geneva, Switzerland.
Activity of the section: analysis of measurement data from the cold series tests of the superconducting magnets for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC); conceptual design and specification of new measurement equipment; interface to LHC commissioning and initial operation (FiDeL).
Additional duties: Chairman of the Magnet Evaluation Board (MEB) of the LHC; Leader of the FiDeL Team.
Direct supervisor: L. Walckiers, MTM Group Leader.
March 1995 - December 2002, Staff (Electrical Engineer).
Leader of Field Measurement Section in the Magnet Test and Analysis Group, LHC Division (LHC-MTA-FM), CERN, Geneva, Switzerland.
Activity of the section: measurement of magnetic field in the superconducting magnets for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), associated data reduction and analysis methods; development of measurement equipment (mechanics, electronics, data acquisition) for series measurements of LHC superconducting magnets; analysis of test results.
Direct supervisor: P. Sievers, MTA Group Leader.
January 1990 - March 1995, Research Engineer.
Europa Metalli - LMI, Centro Ricerche, Fornaci di Barga, Lucca, Italy.
Temporarily assigned (1/1990 - 3/1995) to the NET Team, Garching, BRD.
Activity: design and analysis of superconducting magnets for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER); coordination of R&D activities on applied superconductivity (experiments and analysis) for ITER.
Direct supervisor: E. Salpietro, Magnet Field Coordinator for EU-ITER Home Team.
December 1986 - December 1989, Postgraduate and Doctorate Researcher.
CEC Sectoral Grant, DG XII (fusion) at the NET Team, Garching, BRD.
Activity: analysis of superconducting magnets and cables, quench propagation and stability; transient electromagnetic analysis of structural components (eddy currents).
Direct supervisor: N. Mitchell, Magnets/PF system Group Leader.
March 1985 - December 1985, Graduate Researcher.
ENEA - Centro Ricerche Arcoveggio, Bologna, Italy.
Activity: numerical simulation of coupled fluid-structure interactions during a safety event in the fuel elements of a fast breeder reactor (PEC).
Direct supervisor: E. Sobrero (Universita' di Bologna), F. Cesari (ENEA).

PROFILE

Field of technical competence and direct professional experience:
  • Applied superconductivity, cryogenics, superconducting magnets design;
  • Precision field measurements in normal conducting and superconducting magnets;
  • Accelerator technology;
  • Test engineering;
  • Engineering modelling and analysis of multi-physics problems including transient electromagnetics, hydrodynamics, thermodynamics and mechanics;
  • Consulting in the field of magnet system design, cryogenics and applied superconductivity.

Management experience:
  • Leading a laboratory research and production team (up to 200 people) including s enior and junior physicists and engineers, technicians, and associates (fellows, students);
  • Budget planning, manpower planning, personnel selection, participation in hiring boards, performance reviews;
  • Definition of goals, design, and execution of medium size research projects (e.g. magnet R&D, measurement activities) with typical financial envelope in the range of 1 to 10 MEUR;
  • Conceptual design, planning, execution and evaluation of experiments (e.g. magnet tests), in collaboration with a team of technical and scientific staff, either locally managed or at collaborating institutions;
  • Supervision of master and doctoral theses.

Scientific charges and duties other than line management and project responsibility:
  • Participation in international review committees:
    • Chairman of the External Magnet Advisory Committee (EMAC) for the GSI-FAIR;
    • Member of the Magnet Advisory Board (MAB) for the Wendelstein 7-X Stellarator project;
    • Member of the Magnet Advisory Group (MAG) of the Large Hadron Collider Committee;
    • Member of the LHC ATLAS System Status Overview review committee (ASSO);
  • Organization of international scientific workshops and conferences:
    • Co-founder and Member of the Organizing Committee of the Workshop on Computation of Thermo-Hydraulic Transients in Superconductors (CHATS-AS, 8 workshops since 1993);
    • Member of the Board of Directors (2004-2010) and of Scientific Program Committees of the Applied Superconductivity Conference (ASC-2004, ASC-2006, ASC-2008);
    • Member of Scientific Program Committee of the International Magnet Technology Conference (MT-19, MT-20. MT-22);
    • Co-organizer of the 2005 International Magnetic Measurment Workshop at CERN;
  • Editor of the international journal Cryogenics (since July 2002);
  • Technical Editor of IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity (Special Issues for the ASC-2006, ASC-2008, and MT-20 conference proceedings);
  • Reviewer for international scientific journals publishing in the field of cryogenics, applied superconductivity, fusion technology, numerical mathematics and engineering;
  • Networking activities within the scope of the FP6 and FP7 Programs of the European Commission:
    • Coordinated Accelerator Research in Europe (FP6-CARE) program, as deputy coordinator of the HHH-AMT Working Group (High Energy, High Intensity Hadron Beams, Accelerator Magnet Technology Work Package). Participation in the organization of collaboration work, workshops (WAMS-2004, ECOMAG-05, WAMDO-2006, WAMSDO-2008), editing of proceedings and CARE reports to the European Commission;
    • Participation in the activities of FP7-EuCard-WP7 for the development of superconductors for High Field Magnets (high Jc Nb3Sn strand and cable, FRESCA upgrade).

Lecturing and teaching experience:
  • Seminars in the field of magnet technology, applied superconductivity, magnetic measurement technology, numerical methods;
  • Participation in organization and lecturing at graduate, post-graduate and post-doctoral scientific schools:
    • CERN Accelerator School on Magnetic Measurements and Alignment, Capri, 1997;
    • CERN Accelerator School on Superconductivity and Cryogenics, Erice, 2002;
    • Short Course on Superconducting Magnet Design, Applied Superconductivity Conference, Houston, 2002;
    • KIT Summer School on Materials and Applications on Superconductivity, Karlsruhe, 2007;
    • MaTeFu Summer School on Superconductors for Fusion, Rigi Kaltbad, 2007;
    • CERN Accelerator School on Magnets, Bruges, 2009;
    • European Summer School on Superconductivity, Grenoble, 2009;
    • MaTeFu Summer School on Superconducting Magnets, Erice, 2009;
    • CERN Accelerator School on Accelerators, Varna, 2010;
    • CERN Summar Students lecturer 2010, 2011;

Computers and informatics:
  • Expert level in numerical methods and scientific programming tools and environments for finite elements and computational physics;
  • Acquaintance with data acquisition, data base and data analysis environments, automation and control;
  • User of structural, thermal and electromagnetic analysis programs.

SAMPLE OF
PROFESSIONAL
ACHIEVEMENTS

1999 - 2008: FiDeL - The Field Description for the LHC
A parametric model for the field and field errors in normal- and superconducting magnets for accelerator applications, presently the most complex and complete field forecast system ever implemented in a superconducting accelerator. The work covered the complete development, from the inception, through the conceptual design, validation, formal specification and commissioning of the system in the LHC Software Architecture (LSA) system that controls the LHC accelerator. The activity required approximately ten years of magnetic measurements, a dedicated instrumentation R&D, the systematic analysis of a significant amount of stored data (4.5 millions of coil rotations, for 50 GB of magnetic field data), scientific work in a new domain (3 Ph.D's and a few Masters Theses were granted on the subject), two years of data pruning and modeling leading a team of about ten professionals, collaborations and participation to runs in Tevatron and RHIC, and the final commissioning in the LHC.
2002 - 2007: Magnet sorting in the LHC, completion of Magnet Evaluation Board (MEB) activities
Magnet acceptance for installation and optimal sorting based on considerations of hardware (magnet types), magnet conformity (mainly interconnect or instrumentation issues), geometry (optimization of the mechanical aperture), field quality (optimization of beam quality parameters and minimization of the required correction in operation). As Chairman of MEB, leading a team of some fifteen physicists and engineers (beam physicists, magnet experts, magnet coordinators), defined the working procedures, monitored progress through regular meetings, and resolved interface and priority issues throughout the five years of intense activities. The result is the installation of the over 1900 LHC magnets in a sequence that is expected to be fully conform to the specified performance. In addition, we expect to have gained in mechanical aperture (by an estimate 1.5 mm, with a few exceptions where aperture bottlenecks have been identified timely for an adaption of the optics), have minimized the required corrector strength (e.g. below 30 % of the installed capability for the orbit correctors), minimized the beta-beating (all known effects are projected to be within the allocated 14 % budget), and reduced known instabilities sources (e.g. sorting should have reduced the third resonance driving term by more than a factor 2). Initial results at the LHC broadly confirmed these expectations.
2005 - 2007: Conceptual design and realisation of a novel integrator for magnetic measurments (FDI)
Following an analysis of performance requirements of magnetic measurement instrumentation at CERN for the coming years, initiated the design of a precision numerical integrator that replaces the presnt market standard. The new design is based on a fast ADC (18 bit SAR converter) to digitize the amplified input voltage, an FPGA (Spartan XC3S1000L) that performs all logic and I/O operation, and a DSP (Shark 21262) that performs numerical integration on the basis of a precision clock (50 ns). Prototype realised in collaboration with colleagues at CERN and in Italian Universities (Napoli, Benevento, two Ph.D.'s granted on this subject). The new integrator is presently licensed from CERN to Metrolab (Geneva, CH) for commercial use and distribution.
1995 - 2007: Completion of Series Test of the LHC Magnets
As responsible of the team in charge of field measurements (15 to 20 scientists and technicians), led the the field mapping of the LHC magnets at CERN. The work involved:
  • an analysis of needs (in collaboration with specialists of beam physics and magnet construction);
  • definition of the experimental program and measurement procedures;
  • design, construction and commissioning of measurement equipment (several innovations, mostly in-house developments, given the highly specialized requirements);
  • the specification and procurement of suitable control, acquisition and analysis software (mostly sub-contracted either within CERN or to collaborating institutes);
  • implementation of a continuous calibration procedure;
  • optimization of the measurement steps within the workflow of magnets reception, test and preparation for installation, including statistical considerations on the required sampling;
  • measurement follow-up (training of operators), data reduction, analysis and reporting in synthetic form.
The LHC measurement campaign is the largest field mapping exercise ever performed on accelerator magnets.
1986 - 1996: Supermagnet, a suite of codes for the integrated analysis of superconducting magnet systems
Development and distribution (EU collaboration) of a series of magnet design and analysis codes that cover cable design and optimization, magnetic design, thermal analysis, AC loss calculation, stability and quench. The codes are presently in use at over 20 scientific institutions and industries.

LANGUAGES

italian (mother language);
english (school education, working experience, fluent);
german (private courses, working experience, fluent);
french (private courses, working experience, fluent);
russian (private courses, basic knowledge);

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Last updated August 2011