My father is one of the active team members of the Outer Hadron Calorimeter of the CMS experiment. He is also a key member of the India-based Neutrino Observatory project, in which I did final year project during my bachelors. I inherited the research 'mind set' from him. I also came to know about the CERN summer student programme through him.

I was not familiar about the area of my project at CERN. Thanks to my supervisor Dr. Alan Bell who sent me enough material, I could head start my project before coming at CERN.

Srinidhi Bheesette a student working in the CMS tracker in front of the ATLAS maquette in Building 40.  

I was fortunate to be involved in the CMS tracker as a summer student.  Analog Optohybrids (AOHs) are one of the most crucial components of the CMS tracker readout system. It comprises of front-end amplifier ASIC, Laser, temperature sensors, CVD metalisation, gain adjustment and laser control through I2C bus. I am currently characterising these units using a test up and MatLab code and comparing the performance between the units used in LHC run and the new units.

I had formed a fairly clear impression about CERN over the years, largely due to my father. In spite of this, my experiences at CERN so far have surpassed all my prior expectations. I was immensely impressed and inspired by the dedicated and collective research efforts by the scientists from all over the world.

I did my undergraduate studies in Electronics and Telecommunication engineering and If I had the opportunity I would love to spend more time at CERN moving further with research in the areas of electronics and data acquisition systems.

I enjoyed the Swiss summer, though it was a bit like winter during the first week of my stay. I along with my newly made summer student friends went around to a few places during the weekends.  The locales are refreshingly different in Swiss and France compared to home town.

From my time as a summer student at CERN, I will certainly remember that doing science is the most satisfying profession and it is fun too. It brings the best out of you.