Ummmm.....
May. 17th, 2007 04:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
camper4lyfeI think a whole world of opportunity has just dropped into my lap.
I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the importance of the project that I've just been pulled into.
The backstory: I've been involved VERY intimately with the deformable mirror (DM) project here at work that we're doing for Lawrence Livermore National Labs (LLNL) and the National Ignition Facility (NIF). The DM project is quite important to the entire NIF project because of its complexity and, well, for what it does. RDCV: The DM is a mirror that can be twisted and contorted to account for the error created by each lense and mirror in the laser system that covers roughly 6 football fields. Pretty important if you ask me. Involved with this project was cleaning and qualifying parts. To qualify the parts, we take what is called a non-volatile residue test (NVR) which requires that we spray the parts with either freon or methylene chloride (dichloro methane). The methylene chloride is them evaporated off and weighed to give us a quantitative figure on the actual cleanliness of the part.
My involvement with the cleaning and NVR testing of the DM parts lead me to more or less head up the NVR testing of all the parts being cleaned for the expansion going on at the lab, OMEGA EP. As agonizing as it is, it's essential to have parts as clean as possible as they'll be used in a vacuum, and it's imperitive that we eliminate anything that may outgas, else we risk ruining millions of dollars in optics.
THIS experience lead me to being pulled into the organizing of the cleaning and NVR'ing of the parts for the tiled grating assemblies (TGA). These assemblies, when done (factoring in the hardware, controls, and man hours), total roughly $1million each (we're building a total of 9). These parts, of all of them, HAVE to be perfectly clean due to their proximity to the most expensive optics in the entire system.
Long story short, my involvement in the TGA project has just gotten even deeper. I've been pulled in to actually assemble the assemblies so that they can be done and ready to be installed by June 30. 1 assembly is done and qualified. 1 assembly is in the process of being qualified. The 3rd assembly is just in pieces waiting to be assembled. It's going to be my responsibility to assemble the remaining assemblies as well as manage the cleaning and testing of all the parts necessary to complete the builds.
The TGA project is the flagship of the entire EP project as of right now. Without the TGA's, this project will fall through the floor. Responsibility? Hell yes. Do I want it? Yes. Do I like the fact that I may be putting in WAY too many hours? No, but this will certainly look good for me come review time. Tech III here I come! Tech IV? Not out of the question as the guy approving raises is VERY aware of what the project entails and how important it is that it's done on time.
I need a beer!
I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the importance of the project that I've just been pulled into.
The backstory: I've been involved VERY intimately with the deformable mirror (DM) project here at work that we're doing for Lawrence Livermore National Labs (LLNL) and the National Ignition Facility (NIF). The DM project is quite important to the entire NIF project because of its complexity and, well, for what it does. RDCV: The DM is a mirror that can be twisted and contorted to account for the error created by each lense and mirror in the laser system that covers roughly 6 football fields. Pretty important if you ask me. Involved with this project was cleaning and qualifying parts. To qualify the parts, we take what is called a non-volatile residue test (NVR) which requires that we spray the parts with either freon or methylene chloride (dichloro methane). The methylene chloride is them evaporated off and weighed to give us a quantitative figure on the actual cleanliness of the part.
My involvement with the cleaning and NVR testing of the DM parts lead me to more or less head up the NVR testing of all the parts being cleaned for the expansion going on at the lab, OMEGA EP. As agonizing as it is, it's essential to have parts as clean as possible as they'll be used in a vacuum, and it's imperitive that we eliminate anything that may outgas, else we risk ruining millions of dollars in optics.
THIS experience lead me to being pulled into the organizing of the cleaning and NVR'ing of the parts for the tiled grating assemblies (TGA). These assemblies, when done (factoring in the hardware, controls, and man hours), total roughly $1million each (we're building a total of 9). These parts, of all of them, HAVE to be perfectly clean due to their proximity to the most expensive optics in the entire system.
Long story short, my involvement in the TGA project has just gotten even deeper. I've been pulled in to actually assemble the assemblies so that they can be done and ready to be installed by June 30. 1 assembly is done and qualified. 1 assembly is in the process of being qualified. The 3rd assembly is just in pieces waiting to be assembled. It's going to be my responsibility to assemble the remaining assemblies as well as manage the cleaning and testing of all the parts necessary to complete the builds.
The TGA project is the flagship of the entire EP project as of right now. Without the TGA's, this project will fall through the floor. Responsibility? Hell yes. Do I want it? Yes. Do I like the fact that I may be putting in WAY too many hours? No, but this will certainly look good for me come review time. Tech III here I come! Tech IV? Not out of the question as the guy approving raises is VERY aware of what the project entails and how important it is that it's done on time.
I need a beer!
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no subject
Date: 2007-05-18 01:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-18 02:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-05-18 10:22 am (UTC)Good job.