Cerdanyola del Vallès, 1st July 2019. The ALBA Open Day was held for the 8th time, obtaining again a new record number of visitors in the same day: 2,425 people.
The heat wave did not stop the visitors who, from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., made a tour around the facility of approximately two hours. During the event, they could explore the equipment through which the electrons circulate or the devices used to manipulate the synchrotron light. They also participated in demonstrations where they could experiment with concepts such as vacuum, microscopy or spectroscopy.
More than 100 volunteers, members of the staff and students, attended the visitors and offered explanations and understandable demonstrations to decipher how ALBA operates and how their instruments can be very helpful in many scientific fields. In addition, one more year the event counted with the support of the volunteers from the Emergency Radio Network of Cerdanyola del Vallès (REMER).
In this celebration, visitors could enjoy of seeing the interior of the accelerators' tunnel, open for the occasion, and virtually entering it using 3D goggles. A campaign for collecting baby teeth was organized in collaboration with the National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH) in Burgos, gathering a total of 120 pieces. They will be part of the catalogue that this centre is generating and that serves to carry out research related to the dentition of extinct species as well as to analyse the development pattern and dental histology.
"One more year it's been very pleasant and heartwarming to welcome all these visitors to our facilities last Saturday and discover in their faces their interest and admiration to our work. Without the efforts of all the volunteers who have organized the event and who have served the visitors under the scorching heat, none of this would have been possible", says Caterina Biscari, director of the ALBA Synchrotron.
The social network accounts of ALBA in Twitter and Instagram were very active with many images and comments from visitors, under the label #ALBAOpenDay, that were visible in the different monitors placed in the building. An audio guide in Spanish and Catalan was also very popular among visitors, offering complementary information to the visit.
The ALBA Synchrotron has developed an outreach program, which includes the organization of the ALBA Open Day, guided tours inside the facility and Mision ALBA project, addressed to primary school students. More than 6,500 people visit the facility every year.
The ALBA Open Day 2019 has been organized with the support of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), the Obra Social "La Caixa", the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the Catalan Goverment.
At the left, general image of the entrance to the ALBA synchrotron last Saturday. At the right, visitors take a selfie with the thermal camera. Author: Pepo Segura
At the left, demonstrations area perfomed by ALBA staff. At the right, detail of one of the the demonstrations based on vacuum. Author: Pepo Segura
