Higgs@10 - Alumni Memories with Chiara Carrano
CERN Alumni: Chiara Carrano
Today: Project Manager Support Engineer in Barcelona, Spain
What memories do you have from the 4 July 2012 announcement of the discovery of the Higgs boson?
"I remember that I attended the event from one of the live streaming points organized by CERN, since the main auditorium was so crowded. I was with a friend who contributed to the discovery and could ‘translate’ the deep meaning of this breakthrough. It is difficult to put into words all the feelings we experienced that day, I can still feel the excitement and happiness of that moment…it was special, we all felt part of something incredible, something bigger than all of us."
What is your best memory of working at CERN?
"One day I learned how to make a cloud chamber (Cosmic Ray Detector) at home, the following week I had the chance to join the underground tour of the CMS detector, the following month I met the astronauts from NASA, and every time I was going to the cafeteria, I was passing by the room where the www was conceived… I do not think there is another place in the world where you can experience such events all at once! Each day was different, CERN is a place of which you can never get bored, and I love learning something new daily. Every day I was going to work happy and thrilled for the new day to come."
What skills did you develop during your CERN work experience which have been particularly useful in your subsequent career trajectory?
I would definitely say that working at CERN broadened my horizons and made me capable of looking at things from another perspective since I had the chance to collaborate with such amazing people with scientific and international backgrounds. Sometimes, people can be more intuitive versus analytical depending on how they process information, I was able to learn how to make the creative and communicative side of my personality fully integrate with the analytical side of things. For example, when people find out I worked at CERN or that I am currently working on nuclear research-related projects, they usually think my background is in science which is not. At times, I feel like I am some kind of facilitator who can make people from different backgrounds connect and speak the same language."
