Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi will later this week sign a memorandum of understanding with the European Laboratory for Particle Physics in Geneva (CERN), the largest laboratory of its kind in the world, which will create new opportunities for Maltese engineers and scientists.
This agreement will be the first step in the creation of an infrastructure to involve Maltese in CERN research and innovation projects.
Under normal circumstances, Maltese citizens are not allowed to conduct research at the laboratory as Malta is not a CERN member state.
However, Nicholas Sammut is currently a research engineer at CERN responsible for the implementation and optimisation of the feed forward control system of the LHC. Backed by the Government and the University of Malta, he is now working to set up a concrete collaboration with CERN.
"This will provide the opportunity for Maltese nationals to undergo top-notch postgraduate studies in an undisputed global nucleus of advanced technical research, development and innovation in the fields of engineering, information technology and the physical sciences," Dr Sammut said.
"Such an opportunity would be highly instrumental in attracting foreign investment to Malta in high-tech industries as it would provide a very good demonstration of the quality and potential of Maltese personnel. This collaboration project may also result in CERN projects being subcontracted to Malta hence enhancing further the profile of the University and local industry."
CERN is funded by 20 European member states with a budget of €600 million per year and performs non-military, fundamental science. Since 1954, it has become a shining example of international collaboration worldwide bringing together 6,500 physicists, engineers and computer scientists from over 500 institutions in over 80 countries.
Dr Sammut attained his prestigious position thanks to the results he obtained in his PhD, the fruit of a temporary collaboration agreement he personally set up between CERN and the Department of Micro-electronics at the University of Malta.
Through this collaboration, Dr Sammut gained access to a cryogenic infrastructure of €25 million, co-ordinating a team of engineers and technicians to build an electronic instrument that measures dynamic properties of LHC superconducting magnets. At the time of completion, this instrument was the fastest and most precise of its kind in the world. At the end of his research campaign, Dr Sammut's thesis and other related work provided a control system that significantly reduces the machine's commissioning time, hence saving hundreds of millions of euros in CERN operation costs.
CERN is currently preparing the biggest and most expensive scientific experiment in history using the most powerful scientific instrument ever constructed by mankind: a particle accelerator known as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC is 27km long and is 100m underground. If it was linear, it would cover the distance between Ċirkewwa and Marsaxlokk.
This machine, together with its four detectors, will act like a giant microscope to unlock the secrets of the universe and hence understand better the laws of nature. Its cutting edge technology may have profound implications on physics, engineering, computing and medicine.
The most publicly known application originating from CERN is the World Wide Web, which was invented in 1990. It is now heading a research effort to develop the second generation web known as The Grid. The global effect of The Grid cannot as yet be foreseen but it has already spread to applications in various fields such as astrophysics.