March 25, 2010
MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact: Tom Gutierrez
Department of Physics
805-756-2455; tdgutier@calpoly.edu
International Physics Collaboration Happening Through Saturday at Cal Poly
WHAT: The International CUORE Collaboration is taking place on the Cal Poly campus. Cal Poly physics students are being joined by researchers from around the world. Thomas Gutierrez, assistant professor of physics at Cal Poly, volunteered to host this first CUORE Collaboration meeting in the U.S. since 2005. Research contributing to a host of technologies and projects will be discussed. The research also provides an important training forum for future scientists and engineers.
WHEN: March 25-27, 2010
WHY: CUORE stands for “Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events.” It is among a suite of experiments searching for an exotic nuclear decay called neutrinoless double beta decay. Among the top priorities of physics, the research drives activities related to sensitive radiation detection, cryogenics and underground science.
WHO: Attendees of the three-day collaboration include researchers from UC Berkeley, UCLA, Livermore Lab, Berkeley Lab, University of Wisconsin, University of South Carolina, University of Milan, University of Rome, University of Genoa, University of Insubria and Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy. The event is open only to members of the CUORE Collaboration; it is not open to the public.
MORE ON CAL POLY’S INVOLVEMENT: Generous support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) has allowed Gutierrez and several Cal Poly students to travel to the CUORE facility in Italy the past three summers. CUORE is housed at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Assergi, Italy, a world-class underground facility for scientific research. The students and Gutierrez assisted collaborators with various activities associated with the experiments.
Gutierrez notes that Cal Poly's main objective in participating is to provide its undergraduates with valuable research experiences while contributing to the overall goals of the experiment. “Our contributions are relatively modest,” states Gutierrez, “but they are valued by our collaborators.”
More information and photos of Cal Poly involvement can be found at http://nuclear.calpoly.edu/~cuore.
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