Maltese part in the Higgs discovery
I read with great pride that Alan Tua’s name appears on the discovery paper of the Higgs Boson.
Mr Tua, the only Maltese person on the long list of co-authors of this seminal paper, graduated from the University of Malta through the Departments of Physics and Mathematics, where he was the best student for several years running.
Following graduation with flying colours he was accepted to the ATLAS team in the University of Sheffield. His work currently focuses on finding new particles, which, if found, would be the next big discovery at CERN.
It is a great honour for me as part of the Physics Department to have taught such a humble and talented individual and did not wish for his contribution to the discovery to go unnoticed.
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Charles DeMicoli
Aug 4th 2012, 14:13
Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
Well done to Alan Tua and well done to you Kristian, for instilling the love of Physics in your students. Teachers are a major influence in the success of their students.
I think we should hang a picture of Alan in Science departments in schools, with a caption explaining his success.
Pule' Carmel
Aug 4th 2012, 16:31
It is such a pity that many Maltese people do not bother to sell themselves and they go unnotived because they hid their lanterns under the bushels.
** I knew a Mr Christinu Vassallo from Rabat whom I met over 40 years ago and he showed me,what he had invented. Three dimensional photography, the impulse jet and some other ideas. When he was young he tried his jet at Mtarfa square and it made so much noise that he tought it was going to explode and he stopped and shelved it. During the war he say photographs of the inpulse jet used by the German and it was exatly as he had built his over ten years before! At the age of 12, as a student Mr Vassallo used to be released from school to be taken to Gozo to adjust the steam valves on the steam road rollers, because he had such a flare for mechanical engineering. His ideas went as far as him and his brother in America having an appointment with Walt Disney.
** I knew other people who were given a nice hand out and great respect for inventing a few procedures and ideas that made the RAF planes more safe and easier to be maintained.
** I knew another Maltese person who noticed the reverse breakdown or a diode, many years before ZENER did and if he only spoke about his findings it would now be knowed by hius name. Also while using ermanium transistors, this person noticed that the output contained other signals for which at first he could not account, Then he deduced that the base emmitter junction of the earlier germanium transistors were being affected by the ambient light in addition to the input signal. If he spoke about it at the time, he would have added his name to HIstory.
* perhaps we should teach our students not to hide their lanterns under a bushel. Those who shout a lot have a better chance to sell themselves. All students should never forget that. The modern world must no longer teach modesty in our students because they would be left behind. So all students advertise yourself, even if wht you want to sell is not that special.
Pule' Carmel
Aug 4th 2012, 12:59
Congratulations to all concerned, especially Mr Alan Tua.
I my career I knew a Mr Tua who was also our student and was responsible for the introduction of Osmosis Plants in Malta.
Also I knew a Mr Tua, his father who introduced the microlight planes in Malta, I saw him fly at Mistra over the water and at Ghajn Tuffieha near the Hotel, Even my daughter Sarah flew on his microlight. When they took off from Mistra on floats, my brother and Mr Tua had an engine sputter and landed at Ghajn tuffieha but as the engine was restarted they decided to fly at water surface level to return to Mistra.
I wonder if Mr Alan Tua is related to the Tuas I knew? The Tuas seem to be high calibre personalities.
Well done.
Chris Gatt
Aug 4th 2012, 12:06
What a refreshing letter. It is not every day that lecturers at University of Malta show such encouragement to ex-students. Some lecturers should take note!
Ramon Casha
Aug 4th 2012, 11:08
Alan Tua will be giving a presentation on particle physics, courtesy of the Malta Humanist Association, on the 30th August. This will be aimed at the general public, though some knowledge of physics will be helpful. More information including time and location will be available from our facebook group or our website on www.maltahuamnist.org closer to the date.
Gerry Cowie
Aug 5th 2012, 11:50
Will he deny the existence of God?
Please choose the reason of your report below: