During the week of January 26, the executive director of the SAPHIR Millennium Institute, Felipe Olivares, made a working visit to CERN, aimed at strengthening scientific and technological collaboration links, as well as promoting the institute's participation in strategic frontier science initiatives.
One of the highlights of the visit was the tour of the ATLAS detector, one of the most complex scientific instruments in the world, developed and operated by an international collaboration of thousands of researchers and engineers. The visit was conducted alongside its Spokesperson, Stéphane Willocq, who personally accompanied the tour and explained in detail the detector's architecture, how it works, and the challenges associated with its operation and upgrading.
In this context, Felipe Olivares highlighted the particularly significant nature of the experience, noting: "My visit to CERN included a particularly meaningful moment: touring the ATLAS detector with its spokesperson, Stéphane Willocq, who personally accompanied me to explain in detail its architecture, how it works, and the enormous human and technological effort that allows ATLAS to operate as one of the most complex scientific instruments in the world. Seeing the detector on site, understanding its actual scale, and discussing the challenges of operation and upgrading reinforces the conviction that Chile—through SAPHIR—is participating in frontier science with concrete and high-impact contributions."
The work agenda continued with technical meetings focused on the current status and future prospects of SAPHIR's contributions to CERN collaborations, addressing key areas such as the Muon Spectrometer upgrade (CMS) – Charge Monitoring Board and the ATLAS Inner Tracker (ITk) Pixel Sub-Detector.
In this regard, the Executive Director and administrative leader of SAPHIR emphasized the highly specialized nature of these contributions, stating: "The following day, we held a working meeting focused on the status and projection of SAPHIR's contributions to the collaboration, addressing key areas such as the Muon Spectrometer upgrade (CMS) – Charge Monitoring Board, and the ATLAS Inner Tracker (ITk) Pixel Sub-Detector, where our contribution is expressed in specific developments and capabilities: MOPS-HUB, Environmental Enclosure, module development for the ITk Pixel detector, production of strip modules, cooling system, and quality control of flexes in Chile. These components represent highly specialized technical work, international coordination, and a production chain that demands CERN-level standards of precision and traceability.
Finally, the visit allowed progress to be made in strategic discussions aimed at even more decisive participation by SAPHIR in the integration and installation stages of the ATLAS Phase-II upgrade for the High-Luminosity LHC, particularly in the context of Long Shutdown 3 (LS3).
In this regard, Olivares emphasized the structural value of this step for the institute and for the country, noting: "Finally, we discussed the strategic importance of moving toward even more decisive participation by SAPHIR in the integration and installation phase of the ATLAS Phase-II upgrade for the High-Luminosity LHC, particularly in the context of Long Shutdown 3 (LS3). For SAPHIR, this step not only consolidates our scientific and technological contribution, but also strengthens the training of advanced human capital and Chile's positioning as a reliable partner in major international experiments."