LBNL Engineering Division

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Berkeley Lab's Engineering Division creates innovative tools, technologies and solutions to further scientific research.

10/09/2026

The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment recently made headlines with new data that could offer clues about the elusive particles known as weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs).

The Engineering Division is proud to be part of the collaboration behind LZ. This photo shows the Engineering Division’s Kelly Hanzel on site with LZ at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota.

Big science is powered by big, multidisciplinary teams, and we’re excited to play a role in the search for what makes up our universe.

Learn more. Follow the link in our bio.

09/25/2026

The Engineering Division’s Giorgio Vallone talks about his Genesis Mission project, what it’s like to work at Berkeley Lab, and how collaboration at the Lab can help solve challenging problems.

Read more: https://engineering.lbl.gov/2026/09/15/a-conversation-with-genesis-pi-giogio-vallone/

09/16/2026

Highlighting our student assistants! Berkeley Lab’s Engineering Division welcomed around a dozen student assistants this summer. Our student assistants represent the next generation of innovation in science and engineering.

Read more about their work at the Lab here: https://engineering.lbl.gov/2026/08/18/the-next-generation-of-innovation-highlighting-engineerings-2026-student-assistants/

09/11/2026

Why did we make a machine that looks like a pasta roller on steroids? A Lab researcher needed a way to quickly cool molten material–and engineering stepped up to help.

Learn more: https://engineering.lbl.gov/2026/08/24/engineering-a-custom-instrument-to-advance-battery-technology/

09/03/2026

The Engineering Division’s Bobby Besuner reflects on his career as an engineer working on high-impact physics and cosmology instrumentation projects and what it has meant to work in the Engineering Division at Berkeley Lab. He will retire in December of this year.

Learn more about Bobby’s career at the Lab: https://engineering.lbl.gov/2026/08/21/bobby-besuner-to-retire-after-an-engineering-career-dedicated-to-advancing-physics-and-cosmology/

08/26/2026

Meet the twin roller quencher, Engineering’s newest solution to an unexpected challenge. Research scientist Andrew Dopilka tasked Engineering with finding a way to quickly cool molten material for battery research. The team’s solution: a twin roller quencher. This device cools the material as it passes between two quickly spinning rollers. In the video, Dopilka pours molten material into the device.

Read more: https://engineering.lbl.gov/2026/08/24/engineering-a-custom-instrument-to-advance-battery-technology/

08/18/2026

Mechanical engineering technician Matthew Petagara measures and adjusts a section of the booster-to-accumulator transfer line—known as a raft—before its installation inside the Advanced Light Source.

“To make future adjustments easier, the magnets are aligned together so that any upcoming adjustment can be conducted using the struts located on the bottom of the raft,” Petagara explains. “This allows us to later perform raft-to-raft alignments instead of re-aligning every magnet.”

The yellow pusher blocks visible under the orange magnet allow Petagara to make ultra-fine adjustments using the associated screw for the desired axis.

The booster-to-accumulator transfer line, a critical component of the Advanced Light Source upgrade, will move electron beams from the existing booster synchrotron to the new accumulator ring.

08/11/2026

Celebrating our retirees! A cohort of 11 employees retired from Berkeley Lab’s Engineering Division this June.

These employees represent the Division’s ethos of innovation, excellence, and commitment to team science.

Read about some of our retirees' fondest memories and proudest achievements during their careers: https://engineering.lbl.gov/2026/06/29/commitment-to-science-stewardship-and-innovation-celebrating-engineerings-2026-retirees/

08/04/2026

ATLAS update! The Pixel Support Tube for the ATLAS upgrade is in the Engineering Division workshop.

We’re currently working on test bonding the rails, which will support the Pixel Detector, to the interior of the cylinder. Test bonding is important because the detector only has a few millimeters of clearance on the inside of the support tube, so the rails must be bonded in place to a tolerance of about 0.5 millimeters! Once the test confirms the rails are in the correct position, the real rails will be bonded in place and the structure will be shipped to CERN for the next stage in its construction.

07/01/2026

Meet the Berkeley Lab engineering team working on the upgrade for the ATLAS experiment at CERN. Mechanical engineering associate Thomas Johnson helped build the original detector and is now working on the upgrade. Find out what it’s like to be part of team science and contribute to one of the largest and most powerful particle detectors in the world!

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Berkeley, CA
94720

Website

https://engineering.lbl.gov/

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