I am the Cryogenic Team Leader within the Experimental Operations Division Sample Environment Group. My team supports all experimental and instrument based cryogenic systems on ISIS. My role is diverse and includes hands on cryogenics, management, project planning, budgetary control and liaison with science and industry.
I’m currently involved in a ultra-low temperature upgrade for dilution refrigerator systems on ISIS and many other sample environment and helium recovery based projects. I am a committee member of the British Cryogenics Council and represent BCC as a British Standards committee member on the BS PVE 18 cryogenic vessels and a European Standard CEN/TC 268/WG6 Specific Helium Technologies “Helium cryostats - Protection against excessive pressure”. I am also involved in a European LENS collaboration on Helium Stewardship, which focuses on the control and monitoring of the Helium recovery process and cryogenic operations with the goal to reduce Helium usage through various hard and software based technologies.
I served a 4 year Mechanical Apprenticeship at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston, qualified as a universal miller then changed working area and became a fitter turner, I left in 1989 and started contract work as a technician on both the Aldermaston and Culham sites; I gained experience of vacuum, high pressure and cryogenics with some interesting time spent at the JET Taurus developing Hydrogen propelled guns capable of firing solid D2 and 3H ice pellets at high velocity (5km/s) into the plasma within the tokomak. I started at ISIS in 1993 as a technician in the Sample Environment Group; gained a HND in Mechanical and Production Engineering in 1997, my knowledge of cryogenics at ISIS now spans 20 years, I became Cryogenic Team Leader in 2003.
Publications:
For my most recent publications see here and here. Three of my most recent publications are listed below:
Cryogen free sample environment for neutron scattering experiments at ISIS
Proc. 5th European Conference on Neutron Scattering, Journal of Physics: Conference Series 340 012009 (2012)[doi:10.1088/1742-6596/340/1/012009] ISIS STFC
Au. O Kirichek, Au. RBE Down, Au. J Keeping, Au. B Evans, Au. ZA Bowden
Cryogen free high magnetic field sample environment for neutron scattering
International Conference on Neutron Scattering 2009 (ICNS 2009), J Phys Conf Ser 251 012092 (2010) [10.1088/1742-6596/251/1/0...] ISIS STFC
Au. RBE Down (STFC), Au. G Kouzmenko (Oxford Instruments), Au. O Kirichek (STFC), Au. R Wotherspoon(Oxford Instruments), Au. J Brown (Oxford Instruments), Au. ZA Bowden (STFC)
Operation of superconducting magnet with dilution refrigerator insert in zero boil-off regime
Cryogenics 50 (10) 666-669 (2010) [doi: 10.1016/j.cryogenics.2010.06.011] ISIS STFC
Au. O Kirichek (STFC), Au. RBE Down (STFC), Au. G Kouzmenko (Oxford Instruments), Au. J Keeping (STFC), Au. D Bunce (STFC), Au. R Wotherspoon (Oxford Instruments), Au. ZA Bowden (STFC)
For a comprehensive list please see here.
