What do you do at Fermilab?
Samantha Panock is working to advance environmental protection and sustainability at Fermilab. Photo: Dan Svoboda, Fermilab
I’m an environmental specialist within ES&H here at Fermilab. So, my duty is to help each project and each department understand and ensure alignment with environmental regulations.
At the lab, you’re hearing the term sustainability a lot more, same thing with environmental protection. Environment, Safety and Health, and Infrastructure Services Division have been working together to promote environmental protection and sustainability at the lab. Sustainability, in this case, refers to how we evaluate actions we take at Fermilab, with the goal to have an overall smaller environmental footprint.
It’s hard to pin what I do down to just one thing. My day consists of reviewing all of Fermilab’s proposed projects, and activities — any project that requires an environmental perspective. I help them comply with environmental regulations. The team and I work together to protect Fermilab’s land as well as the environment in general.
Also, I’m the lead for three major programs within the Environmental Protection Group. I’m the clean air compliance manager, the National Environmental Policy Act program manager and the lab’s cultural resources subject matter expert.
What I do stems from my love and appreciation for nature. I’ve made it my career to protect the environment to the best of my ability. I help find a balance between preserving nature while also promoting the advancement of human society. It’s difficult, but important work.
How long have you worked at Fermilab?
I just finished my sixth month at Fermilab — it’s been a whirlwind of information, meeting people, and understanding how the Department of Energy operates. Everyday I’m learning more about how Fermilab works. I’m a huge believer in collaboration. I’ve been out and about meeting scientists and technicians. I want to help foster more discussion between my group and all the other groups at the lab.
Prior to Fermilab, I worked for the Environmental Protection Agency, and I worked for a research facility studying plant ecology and evolution.
What is the most challenging part of your work?
As the NEPA Program Manager, part of my job is to promote collaboration and facilitate conversation between projects and departments across the lab. I like to acknowledge that each project or department has its own set of priorities, so it’s an interesting, but not impossible, challenge to get everyone aligned. I think alignment is the key to safe, efficient and successful operations.
One of the goals of the environmental department is to increase awareness of our existence and what we can do for other departments across the lab. We want to support all projects and activities. Everyone in the environmental department is knowledgeable and hardworking. We’re a team of scientists with a strong understanding of the environment and environmental policy.
What is the most rewarding part of the work you do at Fermilab?
For me, the collaboration and networking across all the departments at the lab is one of the most rewarding parts of my job. I get to meet with people across different disciplines and from different walks of life — I learn something new every day!
Fermilab is a leading research facility in particle physics; it’s next level in terms of science and research. When you think about the amazing work that happens here, it’s inspiring. I get to play a small part in accomplishing Fermilab’s mission; it’s motivating for me.
What do you do for fun outside of work?
I’m a big advocate for physical and mental well-being. So, I spend a lot of time outside in nature. I hike and practice yoga and meditation. On top of that, I study martial arts. My hobbies are geared towards supporting my health so I can take care of myself and perform better at work.
I’ve been studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for about four years.
At this point, jiu-jitsu is 90% of my personality. Martial arts were pretty intimidating at first. When I started, I was way out of my comfort zone. It’s a male-dominated sport, so I had to get comfortable training with men. The confidence I’ve gained in martial arts has translated into the confidence I need to succeed as a woman in the STEM world. I’m proud of my progress. It takes 10 years to earn your blackbelt in jiu jitsu. At this point in my journey, I have a firm understanding of the basics.
Some of my training partners have become my best friends. You meet people from all walks of life in the world of martial arts. If anyone is interested in studying martial arts, I’d be happy to talk to them about how to start!
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.
Engineers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory have partnered with RadiaBeam Technologies, a California-based small business that specializes in accelerator development and fabrication. Fermilab engineers used their expertise in cryomodule design and conduction cooling to help the company break into the superconducting industrial accelerator market. The engineers, part of the Illinois Accelerator Research Center known as IARC, worked with RadiaBeam to design and assemble a conduction-cooled cryomodule.
The nearly assembled cryomodule sits in Fermilab’s Heavy Assembling Building at IARC. Photo: Daniel Svoboda, Fermilab.
This partnership, part of Department of Energy’s Small Business Innovation Research program, began in February 2021. The SBIR program encourages U.S. small businesses to engage in federal research and development efforts with the potential for future commercialization of technologies. The cryomodule is fully assembled and on its way to California. There, RadiaBeam will put it through additional testing.
“One of IARCS’s missions is to engage with industry and help transfer technology developed at the lab to our industrial partners,” said Chris Edwards, engineering project manager at Fermilab. “At the moment, industry needs the capability to deliver high enough power and run an accelerator efficiently enough to make a good business case for the use of an accelerator.”
Industry uses accelerators for a variety of applications such as medical device sterilization, isotope generation and more. There are several new markets emerging in the areas of waste remediation, pavement treatment and treatment of PFAS chemicals. Typical industrial accelerators today use room-temperature copper, which is relatively inefficient and expensive at higher power.
In contrast, superconducting radiofrequency accelerators can run at very high power and are much more efficient. However, traditional SRF accelerators often rely on liquid helium to cool their cavities. This introduces a lot of complexity in the infrastructure, as the use of liquid helium requires a cryogen plant, sophisticated machinery and specialized operators. Large companies and scientific facilities like Fermilab have the infrastructure and expertise required to do this; smaller businesses and universities do not.
Fortunately, advances in the cryocooling industry have simplified the cooling infrastructure needed in SRF machines.
“Modern cryocoolers, the units which remove the heat produced in the accelerator cavity, enable conduction cooling of these cavities. This provides a higher cooling capacity at higher temperatures than conventional cryomodules require,” said Charles Thangaraj, technology development and commercialization manager at Fermilab.
RadiaBeam engineers designed the cryomodule with help from their Fermilab counterparts. Their goal was to have a cryomodule with minimum thermal losses. It needed to take full advantage of multistage cryocoolers to conductively cool an SRF cavity to operate within a facility or to be used in the field. The cryomodule included thermal and magnetic shielding and was scaled to fit up to a four-and-a-half cell 650MHz cavity, about the size of a kitchen refrigerator. All purchased equipment and components were procured, fabricated and validated at RadiaBeam before being shipped to Fermilab for assembly and testing.
Engineering associate Michael Henry helped assemble a cryomodule that will be used by Fermilab industrial partner RadiaBeam Technologies. Photo: Daniel Svoboda, Fermilab.
Michael Henry, an engineering associate at Fermilab, performed most of the assembly of the cryomodule, which consists of a cryocooler on top and a vessel and cavity inside. He had to build the cryomodule in stages, ordering new components, adding them, and then testing the components as needed. Throughout this process, he regularly worked with RadiaBeam engineers. He kept them abreast of progress, explained any issues and shared solutions or potential solutions they would work together to address.
Once the assembly was complete, Henry and his team tested the vacuum and cooldown systems. After determining the cryomodule was in tip-top shape, they shipped it to RadiaBeam.
“This partnership completely changes the game. Now, we can construct conduction cooled cryomodules that can handle higher-energy electron beams and have an industrial capability to build such modules,” said Thangaraj.
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.