Diana_Fang CERN Summary

It was truly surreal to be displaced from the familiar setting of design school into the hallways of a physics campus, and to be reminded of the divergent milieus of different disciplines. While learning about antimatter particle collisions, I thought about the influence of the monumental open factory space occupied by scientists, its modular arrangement, and lean, mechanical aesthetic. It was impressive to see new visualization technologies in play at the Data Center and Control Center - a big topic of interest is representing complex technical knowledge in terms easily understood by laypeople, which is where design has an important role. There is no equal to seeing the actual detectors and understanding the many-shelled structure within the complex labyrinth that is carefully engineered and maintained in order to interpret subatomic information - a truly thought-provoking experience that invites us to question our understanding and perception of scale. Overall, it is important to have a working knowledge of the persistent role of elemental forces, subatomic particles, and emergent physical and cosmic discoveries that are responsible for our everyday reality.