Talking Technicians

S01-E01 Laser Technicians at Lawrence Livermore National Lab

December 31, 2020 Peter Kazarinoff Season 1 Episode 1
Talking Technicians
S01-E01 Laser Technicians at Lawrence Livermore National Lab
Show Notes Transcript

Cierstynn is a technician at Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL). Learn about her job at the National Ignition Facility at LLNL and her path to becoming a technician.

The Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC): https://ate.is/MNT-EC

Indian Hills Community College: http://www.indianhills.edu/

Laser and Optics Technology Program at Indian Hills Community College: http://www.indianhills.edu/academics/tech/laser.php

Lawrence Livermore National Lab: https://www.llnl.gov/

The National Ignition Facility, at Lawrence Livermore National Lab: https://lasers.llnl.gov/

Video about how a the National Ignition Facility works: https://youtu.be/yixhyPN0r3g


Episode Page:
https://talkingtechnicians.buzzsprout.com/

From MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center, this is Talking Technicians. The podcast about technicians: who they are, what they do, and where they come from. I'm your host Peter Kazarinoff. I teach technicians and Engineers at Portland Community College.

In each episode, you'll meet a working technician and hear their story. That means real interviews, with real technicians, about real jobs. And at the end of each episode, I'll suggest actions you can take if you want to be a technician too.

In this episode, you'll meet Cierstynn Welcher. Cierstynn is a technician at Lawrence Livermore National Lab in Livermore California.

Peter: Cierstynn, welcome to Talking Technicians.

Cierstynn: Thank you.

Peter: So tell me a little about yourself. Where do you live?

Cierstynn: I live here in Livermore, California. My name is Cierstynn Welcher and I've lived here for 2 years now in Livermore.

Peter: And what's something people might not know about Livermore, California? I've never been there.

Cierstynn: Something people might not know is that our fire department has the Centennial Light. It's the world's longest-lasting lightbulb, and it has been on since 1901.

Peter: That is amazing! Do you know what it's made out of? How is that possible that one lightbulb has been on since 1901?

Cierstynn: So from what I've read, it's mostly on all of the time. There have been instances where it's been turned off. I know, I can't speak for them, but I do know during these latest fires, there have been rolling blackouts so they've had to cut the power in some parts of the town. So I can't say it's been on these last couple of months, but for the most part, it is on.

Peter: Have you ever seen it or touched it?

Cierstynn: I have seen it.

Peter: That's so neat. I hadn't heard before that there was one lightbulb that has been on since 1901. That is amazing. So Cierstynn, where do you work? What's your job title? and what do you do?

Cierstynn: I work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory at their National Ignition Facility. And I am an Electronics Technologist. I am currently on the maintenance side of the week, and I am a beam control operator. Most of my day is spent in the control room, which is modeled after NASA's control room in Houston, Texas. If you can think of a bunch of desks, and people behind them all looking at a screen. That's kind of what it's modeled after. We don't have headsets, but we do have radios. And it's definitely a cool experience. 

Peter: Tell me a little bit more about the National Ignition Facility. That sounds incredibly dangerous. What is it?

Cierstynn: The goal of the National Ignition Facility is to create fusion energy. Which is what the sun runs off of. We are trying to create a mini-sun in our target chamber. And how we do this is we point 192 beams onto a small hohlraum, which is a target that is roughly the size of a pencil eraser. What a lot of people don't know is that we create fusion every time, but we just don't get ignition every time. Which is why it's called the National Ignition Facility.

Peter: That is amazing! So there are 192 lasers that are pointing at something the size of a pencil eraser?

Cierstynn: Correct.

Peter: Wow! What's the pencil eraser made out of?

Cierstynn: Well it depends. We don't always try to do ignition shots. We do various experiments because we have a very unique set-up in our target chamber. There's a lot of different target types depending on the shot. We have a gold sphere kind of target, which is tricky to align, given that it reflects light, and it's not always the easiest on our cameras to pick up.

Peter: When you say "shot", what do you mean by "shot"? What is a "shot" at the National Ignition Facility?

Cierstynn: Shots are on the A-side of the week, which is when we do our experiments. When I say a "shot" what I mean is an experiment. We are either sending light to the target chamber. I should be tricky- I should word this better. We have different kinds of shots, not all of our shots go to the target chamber.

Peter: How long does a shot last? How long are those 192 lasers on for?

Cierstynn: Oh boy, that really depends. If the experiment is not that difficult, we can do two in a day. The longest ones are the arc shots, which take the whole entire shift, and maybe more, which is a 12-hour shot cycle. Just because there are so many steps that go into it.

Peter: You said that you work on the maintenance side of the week. So what does that mean? What do you maintain?

Cierstynn: The maintenance side of the week, we do have our weekly maintenance. Which is pretty easy. It's not that difficult. It's just things that need to be done to make sure that all of our devices are working correctly. With the maintenance side there are also days where, you know, there is a monthly thing you've got to do. Which is nice. On the maintenance side you can get experience with different procedures that you wouldn't normally see on a weekly basis.

Peter: Do you work by yourself, or do you work in a team?

Cierstynn: I work in a team. Usually, it is two people on shift. Fridays and Saturdays it is a coworker and myself. When I say that, I just mean in our little console group in beam control. But now we have new hires coming in. We are working together in training with them, and getting them up to speed.

Peter: Wow. So when new people come on, about how much could a starting technician expect to make?

Cierstynn: I came here with a starting salary of $70,000. That was the highest paid in my class. The median if you are staying in the midwest, or you are going off to the east coast, that's going to be about $50,000 to $65,000. I am paid more just to compensate for the higher cost of living for living out here.

Peter: Do you remember what it felt like your first day of work, your first day of being a technician?

Cierstynn: I do. I was going to say quotation marks around technician because my first day I just went to the lab and I got my badge. When you go to the lab, there is security all around the perimeter, at the gates. They are going to make sure to check your badge and then allow you to go through. My first day I went to the badge office. I got all that set up. And at that time, I was a contractor. So it was mainly filling out paperwork, and they were explaining the job duties to me. And that was basically about it for my first day. It wasn't too bad.

Peter: How did you become a technician? What was your work experience before you worked at the National Ignition Facility?

Cierstynn: My first job ever was in high school. I was just a cook and I went to college, I went to Indian Hills in Atomla, Iowa to become a laser technician. While I was in college I did a bunch of different work studies. I was a lab technician there and I was mainly doing things around the lab, keeping it clean, staying late if other students wanted help, or wanted to work extra. Being in that lab role really helped hone my technician skills. Prior to college, I really didn't have much.

Peter: Before going to Indian Hills to join the optics technician program, what did you think technicians did?

Cierstynn: I mostly thought, like pharmacy technicians. Indian Hills also has an x-ray technician program. I thought it was mostly just hospital work. I never really thought about it too much.

Peter: What was the most difficult part of going through that program?

Cierstynn: There were a lot of challenges. I would say, starting off, I was pretty intimidated by a lot of guys in my class until I got to know them, of course. I had not a lot of experience with electronics. I had basic formula experience, but putting together, you know schematics was a little bit confusing to me. Because just the diagram is not exactly what you are physically going to wire together. But luckily, I got some people to help me, and that really made it better.

Peter: What advice would you give other students, if they were starting a technician program, just like you did?

Cierstynn: I would say if you have any problems, you should definitely talk to your Professor when you have a problem. Because sometimes I would just sit there trying to figure it out myself. That's OK for the first 10 to 20 minutes, but it's not going to help you like at 30 minutes, you should really get some help if you are struggling. And also Professors are there, that's their job. They want to teach you. So if you have any problems, you should definitely ask. Other than that just go through it. It's definitely worth it in the end.

Peter: What's something unexpected about being a technician, that you only learned after you started working?

Cierstynn: This really goes into my work, but it's something that comes up a lot - is two things. We say "trust, but verify." So if a coworker tells you a task is complete, you should trust them, but verify by double-checking. It never hurts to make sure that the work is done correctly. Another thing that comes up is deadline pressure. The facility always wants to be the most efficient. So it can be stressful when you are behind. But it's important to take it slow, because if you rush things- and mess it up, that's more time lost. So you have to do it right the first time. And that's always something important to remember.

Peter: Cierstynn, thanks so much for chatting with me. Do you have any final call to action? If someone out there is interested in being a technician like you, what should they do?

Cierstynn: I would say, you can always tour a place. If you are from Iowa, there is certainly Indian Hills. They have dates where you can come in and see what the class would be like. That was certainly helpful for me. That's why I went to Indian Hills in the first place. I had gone to those "Career Days" so to speak. But if you are not from Iowa, there are other states too, of course. I work with people from North Carolina and Texas. And there is even a certificate program out here in the Bay Area. So I would say do some searching, and once you find a place- maybe you tour it, and get a feel for it. If that is really, you know, right for you.

Peter: That's great advice. Cierstynn, thank you very much for being on Talking Technicians. I really appreciate it and I loved hearing about the work that you do. 

Cierstynn: Thank you. I had a great time.

Talking Technicians is produced by MNT-EC, the Micro Nano Technology Education Center, through financial support from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education grant program. 

Opinions expressed on this podcast do not necessarily represent those of the National Science Foundation. 

Join the conversation. If you are a working technician or know someone who is, reach out to us at info@talkingtechnicians.org. We are always looking out for great guests to share more stories with you.