Work Packages

WP1

Management, coordination and dissemination

WP leader: Sylvie Leray (CEA)

The general objective of this WP is the overall management of the project in order to ensure the achievement of the project objectives and the coordination of the work done in the different WPs. Specific objectives are:

  • Relations with EC including progress and financial reporting,
  • Exchange of information between the partners and with industry,
  • External dissemination of the project results,
  • Communication and outreach activities.

Since one of the goals of the project is to establish strong relations with industry, one of the first tasks will consist in defining how industry, from large enterprises to SMEs, will be associated to the project and their role in the different WPs.


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WP2

Strategy

WP leader: Walid Kaabi (CNRS)

The objective of this WP is to identify the strategic elements necessary to successfully implement a viable and sustainable cluster of Technological Infrastructures in partnership with industry, creating an ecosystem helping to boost basic research and applications through laboratories or universities and industry, large or SME.

The first element is the identification of the Key Accelerators Technological Areas which are essential for the sustainability and long term development of the Technological Infrastructures. The output from TIARA-CNI-PP will be updated and will include the new needs from industry and applications of accelerators, superconducting magnets, as well as the new trends from emerging technologies.

The second element is the taking into account of background strategic aspects: the existing scientific roadmap of Research Infrastructures in Europe (ESFRI) and worldwide, and their specific agendas; the approaches to Innovation in the EC and in the other regions. The societal applications constitute another driving stimulus for the Technological Infrastructures: the main industrial actors, their strategic plans and the emerging fields will also be studied.

These two elements will be used to establish technological roadmaps for the different identified Key Technological Areas.

The third element will be to study how to support and develop the Technological Infrastructures in future. Each of the currently proposed future accelerator construction or upgrade Research Infrastructure projects is typically larger or much larger than hitherto Research Infrastructures, in many cases calling for a global collaboration for, and financing of, the construction work. The much larger size will lead to that there will be significantly fewer projects under construction in future. This implies that there will be larger fluctuations with time in the demand for the support from the Technical Infrastructures and of high-tech specialized industrial companies. There will probably be time periods of significant length when there will be no demand for accelerator or large magnet development and construction, and other time periods when there will be too large a demand to be satisfied by the currently existing accelerator and magnet Technical Infrastructures and high-tech specialized industrial companies. These fluctuations with time imply that there will be, and already to some extent is, a sustainability problem for the Technical Infrastructures and also for the specialized industrial production lines.

The AMICI Partner and Industry days for Scientific Technology Infrastructure provided an overview of the perspectives for accelerator based research facilities in Asia and in the Americas through two talks:


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WP3

Cooperation

WP leader: Hans Weise (DESY)

​The overall goal of this Work Package is to define the conditions of the coordination of Technological Infrastructures (TI) in the area of accelerators and superconducting magnets in order to harmonise their operation and increase their efficiency, to adapt to the development of present and future European Research Infrastructures and establish a co-innovation platform with industry. Eligibility criteria for the participation and networking of TIs will be investigated in detail, in order to finally propose an appropriate coordination model. It is anticipated that cooperation between existing major and active TIs can be used for the formation of a core group, with the incorporation of flexible links to smaller TIs as being an essential mechanism for improving innovation and support to smaller research centres and also universities. Possible links to industrial partners will also be identified with the aim to fostering innovation and competitiveness. TIs can foster innovation potential through cooperation, but also by initiating collaboration to achieve shared objectives. This targeted network can support temporary exchange of highly qualified personnel; as innovative expert teams should have access to dedicated TIs for education and training purposes. The elaboration of a consortium agreement reflecting the goals of the overall Cooperation programme will be sought.


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WP4

Innovation

WP leader: Anthony Gleeson (STFC)

The overall objective of this Work Package is to promote the potential applications of mature Accelerator and Magnet technologies to European businesses, with a particular focus on innovative SMEs, which have the potential to apply their expertise to applications for societal needs through successful engagement with Technological Infrastructures. This can be broken down as follows:

  • Identify a European network of commercial organisations, consisting of both large companies and SMEs, that has the potential to innovate in the field of mature Accelerator and Magnet technologies
  • Identify domains of societal applications and potential markets beyond Research Infrastructures that can be developed by these innovative commercial organisations
  • Identify ways to optimise the effective engagement between Industry and the Technological Infrastructures to support the development of societal applications by industry

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WP5

Industrialization

WP leader: Pasquale Fabbricatore (INFN)

The overall goal of this Work Package is to sensitize and train the industrial companies in the needs, the know-hows, the techniques, the methods and the quality standards of laboratories developing accelerator and superconducting magnet technologies in their Technological Infrastructures. This work package is central in establishing links between Research Infrastructure and industrial companies and is a fundamental step towards a TRL6 (Technology demonstrated in relevant environment), i.e. allowing the industries to be able to develop and construct, almost independently, accelerators (or components of accelerators) and SC magnets not only for research projects but also for potential applications beyond Research Infrastructure (RI) interests. The model to be developed is based on the paradigm that the industrialization of technologies involved in accelerator related activities will be able to fostering innovation and to placing European Industries in position to take a major part in the construction of new Research Infrastructures in Europe and worldwide. This process of upgrading industry to the know-hows of laboratories in key techniques developed in their Technological Infrastructures shall be continuously updated along the trends which are crucial for the further development of Research Infrastructures.

In this framework it is of great importance that TI and industries speak the same language regarding some fundamental aspects. Activities aiming to understand how to standardize basic knowledges and general safety procedures will be performed. In particular, two study cases were considered as interesting examples of harmonization. One is aimed to put a common background for material and components for accelerators and SC magnet. The second one is related to the use of cryogenic equipment, because it includes many critical aspects regarding safety standards.


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