NI collaborates with the science museum for the LHC exhibition

NI has long supported fundamental research in areas such as particle physics, fusion and astronomy by providing commercial off-the-shelf tools for measurement and control. CERN uses NI LabVIEW software to control the LHC collimators that are responsible for intercepting misguided or unstable particle beams. To find out more about how LabVIEW software and PXI hardware control the world's largest particle accelerator, go to bit.ly/CERNcasestudy.

Ian Blatchford, Director of the Science Museum, says: "The LHC, the world's greatest experiment, is the cumulative endeavour of around ten thousand men and women from across the globe. We are extremely pleased to have the support of NI to celebrate such an important human achievement."

NI's mission to equip scientists and engineers with tools that accelerate productivity, innovation and discovery extends into education. By bringing real-world experiences to education, NI aims to inspire students to pursue and succeed in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers.

Kyle Voosen, Marketing Director, National Instruments UK & Ireland, says: "By sponsoring the Collider exhibition, NI is supporting its STEM educational initiatives, whilst also celebrating the incredible achievements and discoveries resulting from the Large Hadron Collider."

Visitors to Collider follow the journey of particle beams as they are injected into the accelerator chain, ramped up to speed and steered around the 27km tunnel. Visitors are immersed in the highlight of the exhibition - a wrap-around projection taking in both extremes of the scale of the LHC, from an enormous experiment cavern to the very heart of a particle collision.

The week after the opening of Collider, Dr Stephen Myers, OBE, the director for accelerators and technology at CERN, will deliver a keynote address at NIDays 2013, a technical conference for engineers, scientists and educators involved in measurement and control, held in Westminster, London. Dr Myers is responsible for accelerators, including the LHC, and has nearly 40 years of experience at CERN. To see Dr Stephen Myers present his keynote address at NIDays on 20th November, register for free at uk.ni.com/nidays.

In 2012, the Higgs boson particle, predicted in the 1960s by a group of physicists including recent Nobel laureates, Peter Higgs and Francois Englert, was finally discovered at the LHC. For further information about Collider at the Science Museum and to book tickets, visit www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/collider