Erasmus Mundus Winter Event - Cadarache, France
Report by Davide Silvagni. Powered by FuseNet
I am an Italian engineer student who is currently in his first year of the European Master of Science in Nuclear Fusion and Engineering Physics. Thanks to FuseNet funding and to the Erasmus Mundus (EM) Fusion Master staff, I was able to attend the Winter event 2016 in Cadarache, on the 25th and 26th of February 2016. Usually the Winter event is only reserved for second year students of the EM program, however, for the first time this year, also first year students were allowed to join it.
Bonding of Fusioneers
We arrived at Aix-en-Provence on the afternoon of the 25th and each group of students came from various European cities (Nancy, Stuttgart, Gent and Madrid). When we first met at the train station, we bonded immediately, especially because, due to our similarities and analogous interests, we could relate rather well with each other. As we were enjoying ourselves and having a very good time, the evening came very soon. At the residence, located in Gréoux-les-Bains, we were welcomed by the second year students who were noticeably busy with the preparation for the presentation of their work.
Visiting ITER!
The following day, Friday the 26th, was a really exciting day, full of inspiring and stimulating occasions. In the morning we visited the ITER construction site, a location that any Fusion enthusiast would certainly dream to visit at least once in a lifetime. Needless to say, it was an incredible experience which will be hard to forget. Later in the day, we went to the CEA building and we listened to the speeches held by the second year students until early evening. Surprisingly, this was perhaps the most interesting activity of the day: I learned a lot about different fusion-related topics, realized what makes a good presentation and, lastly, I was able to grasp some very useful information about my thesis subject by speaking with a few of the presenters. After going back to our residence we had a refreshing get-together, which was another nice occasion to get to know each other better, in particular the second year students whom I did not have the opportunity to know, as they had been very stressed for their lectures.
Hence, I would like to express sincere gratitude to Fusenet, for having helped me accomplish this amazing experience!
