DEVELOPING SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS FOR BE-OP-ISO

The on-line isotope mass separator ISOLDE is a facility dedicated to the production of a large variety of radioactive ion beams for many different experiments in the fields of nuclear and atomic physics, solid-state physics, materials science and life sciences. The ISOLDE section of the Operations group is responsible for operating the facility, notably setting up and monitoring the running of the machine in order to enable the users to perform their experiments. The operators’ work also includes maintaining operation schedules, collaborating with the physics coordinator regarding the physics schedule, preparation of operational procedures, providing beam statistics and writing software applications to control the facility [2], the last of which is also what I did as part of the CERN Summer Student Programme. My work comprised both of consolidating existing software and working on a new project that is in the process of being put into regular use.