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Asked by kushy103 to Mike, Pip, Tianfu, Tim, Tom on 22 Jun 2012.
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Tom Lister answered on 22 Jun 2012:
I don’t get to actually fire the lasers at people, which is probably fortunate for them.
It took me about 2 years to get to grips with all of the lasers here and understand them in enough detail to give good advice about how to use them. I am still learning though, and by the time I know everything about a laser, it will probably be time to buy a new one!
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Tim Stephens answered on 23 Jun 2012:
I’m not sure exactly because it’s something that I’ve picked up over quite a few years. I first used powerful lasers during my PhD, and spent 3 years using a couple of different lasers there to make flow measurements. Then, I worked at university as a researcher and used a couple of different types of laser. After that, I started at my current job and have used several more, different lasers including one that I designed the controls for.
Learning the fundamentals of what’s inside a laser was part of my university undergraduate course (I studied Physics), and the rest I’ve sort of picked up over the subsequent 10 years. You never really stop learning in this kind of profession, which is (I suspect) one of the reasons that all the scientists here love their jobs. -
Philippa Bird answered on 25 Jun 2012:
Three months to operate it. Three years to programme it myself!
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