The Secrets of Particle Accelerators, Dr Suzie Sheehy (Wuthering Bytes 2017)
Channel: AB Open
Date: 2018-06-21

Join physicist Dr. Suzie Sheehy on a journey into the atom smashing world of particle accelerators. With live demonstrations, explore the science of the most advanced machines on the planet and uncover some of the unexpected ways they are changing our lives, from treating cancer to addressing our global energy needs. 

— Dr Suzie Sheehy's research focuses on developing new particle accelerators for future applications in areas such as medicine and energy, alongside investigating the fundamental limitations of high intensity proton beams. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Melbourne in her native Australia and DPhil in the John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science at the University of Oxford, UK (2010). She was subsequently based at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford first as the Brunel Fellow of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 and then as Senior Accelerator Physicist in the ASTeC department, focusing on the design, simulation and beam dynamics of novel high power proton accelerators. Suzie is currently a researcher in the John Adams Institute at the University of Oxford, focusing on research in high power hadron beams and teaching graduate level accelerator physics in a joint appointment with STFC.

Alongside her research, Suzie has received a number of awards for the promotion and communication of science, including the British Science Association Lord Kelvin Award, Institute of Physics HEPP Group Science in Society Award and the University of Oxford Vice Chancellors Civic Award. She is an expert presenter for Impossible Engineering on Discovery Channel, and delivers high octane live headline shows for tens of thousands of students at the Big Bang Fair alongside food writer Stefan Gates. She also regularly presents invited public lectures at well-known UK festivals and venues including the Royal Institution and Institute of Physics.