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CERN Alumni: Valerio GrassiToday: CEO , Atlas Advanced Technologies srl , Trezzano sul Naviglio, Milano , Italy What memories do you have from the 4 July 2012 announcement of the discovery of the Higgs boson? "I've attended the talks at Point 1 with LHC running 100 mt below the surface, the colliding particles at ATLAS were creating Higgs bosons live..."Valeriob at ATLASWhat is your best memory of

CERN Alumni: Chiara BianchinToday: Data scientist working in VW Financial Services in Berlin and Braunschweig, GermanyWhat memories do you have from the 4 July 2012 announcement of the discovery of the Higgs boson? "I was in building 222 (if I remember correctly the building numbers!). I felt like history was being written in front of my eyes. I felt so lucky to be there! Studying in books that th

CERN Alumna: Caterina VernieriToday:  Assistant Professor at Stanford UniversityCaterina Vernieri shares her memories of 4 July 2012, the day on which the landmark discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider was announced. Find out more about her CERN experience and why staying connected via the CERN Alumni Network is so important for her.

CERN Alumni: Chiara CarranoToday: Project Manager Support Engineer in  Barcelona, SpainWhat 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

CERN Alumni: Alejandro Sanz UllToday: Data scientist at Caterpillar, Geneva What memories do you have of Run2? "Run 2:- Installing dosimeters in the LHC magnets at the end of LS1, time was really tight.- Following the restart of the LHC with my officemates.- The weasel incident.- Superconducting magnet testing at the end of LS1.- The open days! (LS2)- The 750 GeV particle announcement at the end o

CERN Alumni: Valentin PricopToday: Senior Hardware Designer in The NetherlandsWhat memories do you have from the 4 July 2012 announcement of the discovery of the Higgs boson? "On July 4th 2012 I was working at CERN as a technical student for 5 months already. I remember that on that day we were invited to a conference room for a presentation but the organizers did not let us know the topic of the

CERN Alumnus: Alberto Ruiz JimenoToday: Working at the CMS experiment as researcher from the Cantabria Institute of Physics, of which he was one of the foundersWhat memories do you have from the 4 July 2012 announcement of the discovery of the Higgs boson? "It was the most important day in my research career, which has been dedicated to the search for Higgs for more than 20 years. I was at CERN an

CERN Alumni: Eleni NtomariToday: Science Teacher in a High School in Athens, Greece.What memories do you have from the 4 July 2012 announcement of the discovery of the Higgs boson?"I remember that we woke up around 5 in the morning in order to be able to have a seat in the main auditorium where the announcement took place. With my colleaugue we were one of the last people that managed to get in so

CERN Alumni: Octavio DominguezToday: Maths teacher in a secondary school in Edinburgh.What memories do you have from the 4 July 2012 announcement of the discovery of the Higgs boson? "I remember I arrived early on the 4th of July 2012, planning to do some efficient work before THE annoucement. My intention was to be there in the Main Auditorium, of course. But I guess being Spanish makes me think

CERN Alumni: Barbara Millan MejiasToday: Lead the product AI/ML and Data in a fintech called Fourthline that fights financial crime. What memories do you have from the 4 July 2012 announcement of the discovery of the Higgs boson? "The excitement and smiles on everyone around CERN the whole day. That day I was running around and I bumped into someone, and then I turned and said sorry, and when I sa

CERN Alumni: Cristy BurneToday: Science writer and children's author in Perth, AustraliaWhat memories do you have from 2008 when the LHC was first switched on?"2008: I remember the huge excitement as everyone gathered in the theatre to watch as the LHC was turned on for the first time. All the world's media was watching, everyone was there... We were all chatting nervously, glued to the big screen

CERN Alumni: John JowettToday: User in the ALICE experiment What memories do you have from the 4 July 2012 announcement of the discovery of the Higgs boson? “I could say a lot but briefly: I had the privilege of being a student of Peter Higgs at Edinburgh University in the 1970s and my wife and I have remained close friends with him.  He had his own insights into physics which were ahead of their

CERN Alumni: Luisa Fernanda Chaparro SierraToday: Data Science and Physics Professor at Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico What memories do you have from the 4 July 2012 announcement of the Higgs boson? "The line at the entrance of the auditorium the day of the announcement, and the applause that Peter Higgs received after the announcement."What is your best memory of working at CERN? "The friends t

CERN Alumni: Aditi ChandraToday: Executive Director of Kay Bouvet Engineering, India & Founder of Nisaba Education Aditi - second on the leftWhat memories do you have from the 4 July 2012 announcement of the Higgs boson? "I was a summer student at CERN in 2012. I couldn't believe my luck when I was one of 3 summer students selected to be present in the auditorium as the discovery of the Higgs Boso

CERN Alumnus: Will Hogan FlanaganToday: Developing miniature neutron detector at Cerium Labs in Austin, Texas & Affiliate Professor at The University of Dallas What memories do you have from the 4 July 2012 announcement of the Higgs boson? "I certainly remember the run-up to the Higgs announcement. Since I was part of CMS, we had many months of approval meetings before unveiling the new result. On

"As a layman I would now say… I think we have it."4 July 2012:A packed auditorium at CERN listens keenlyto the announcement from CMS and ATLAS(Image: Maximilien Brice/CERN)“It” was the Higgs boson, the almost-mythical entity that had put particle physics in the global spotlight, and the man proclaiming to be a mere layman was none other than CERN’s Director-General, Rolf Heuer. Heuer spoke in the