Participants from 15 countries (Canada inclusive) attended the Accelerator Reliability Workshop (ARW) hosted by TRIUMF January 26 – 30. Violeta Toma, Chair of the ARW, welcomed the 85 registrants from accelerator labs, engineering corporations, universities and TRIUMF as she shared the Committee’s motivation to create a valuable experience for all. In the words of Lia Merminga, TRIUMF’s Head of the Accelerator Division, “productivity largely depends on reliability.” As sophisticated frontier machines, accelerators are composed of complex systems and many components. Optimizing their reliability is an art form, and this workshop brought together some of the leading 'artists' and their brethren. Originally initiated in 2002, the first ARW was organized by ESRF in Grenoble, France. This year TRIUMF took the lead and hosted the second workshop inviting members of the international accelerator community to Canada for a five day session in Vancouver, BC.
As Doug Preddy, Co-chair of the ARW explains, reliability is the probability that a person or system will consistently perform a required function under stated conditions for a specified period of time. In other words, one must address the question “what is the output I expect and what is my time frame?” Once determined, ensuring that the results are valid and consistent becomes the next hurdle. The workshop attendees were able to tackle some of the challenges faced in their everyday work lives and the solutions adopted by different institutions. The ARW served as an excellent forum for exchange of ideas and addressing the most relevant questions. The participants also had the opportunity to attend a tour at TRIUMF and request to see specific sites based on their specialization.
Overall, the workshop was a success as the participants enjoyed their experience and provided some insight during their last Friday session…
“ Within the presentations given at ARW 2009, 17 ideas were presented which could directly enhance reliability at my home facility, the Advanced Light Source…of these ideas; five could be implemented within a 6 month time frame at little (or no) cost.”
Dave Richardson, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
"ARW has been very beneficial to my thesis on control system reliability. I’ve been exposed to aspects I had never seen before. This is good material to take home."
Artem Kazakov, KEK
“As an operator at TRIUMF, it was interesting to see that other labs have the same concerns, same issues we do.”
Jonathan Aoki, TRIUMF
“This was a significant experience for me as I was able to chat with experts from different labs and obtain advice on technical issues. I also enjoyed the TRIUMF tour and liked that it was broken down by areas of specialization.”
David P. Sanderson, NSCL-MSU
“This is my first time attending an ARW and I am very impressed. I learned important information in regards to maintenance and the control area that I will implement in my lab.”
Tetsuhito Kadowaki, Accelerator Engineering Corp.
“This workshop has made me realize we must change our mentality. During maintenance, we must think ahead on how to improve reliability. We have a lot to learn from the lab at TRIUMF.”
Davide Carlucci, LNL-INFN
"I appreciate TRIUMF provided a Japanese tour guide when we went to visit their facilities. I congratulate the organization for their dedication.”
Yuji Tachikawa, Accelerator Engineering Corp.
The 2009 ARW fostered a learning environment, where everyone was forthcoming with difficulties and practices as well as receptive and eager to learn. TRIUMF was proud to represent Canada as the second country to ever host this workshop.
Maria Jose Crousillat
TRIUMF's Communications Assistant
