Gieljan de Vries

Due to the Corona epidemic, Nikheffers are temporarily unable to go to CERN. Understandable but inconvenient, because a major upgrade campaign is underway there. I interviewed Nikhef technician Freek Sanders, who, as one of the few Nikheffers, was on site and had to install wafer-thin detector holders a hundred meters underground.

Sanders, dressed in a moon suit, breathing mask and three layers of gloves, installed the micrometer-thin VELO boxes that Nikhef created in a years-long milling process. Three video-conferencing colleagues helped him over unexpected bumps.