IEEE-NPSS School on Nuclear and Plasma Opportunities for Energy and Society

27 Mar 2025, 08:00 → 29 Mar 2025, 22:25 Asia/Kolkata

The IEEE-NPSS School on Nuclear and Plasma Opportunities for Energy and Society will cover the application of nuclear and plasma instrumentation and technology in energy and medicine. It will be held at Marwadi University, Rajkot, Gujarat, India from March 27-29, 2025

Venue of the school: Marwadi University, auditorium MC501

The program will consist of a series of lectures (some in-person, some online) and practical exercises with radiation measurements.  Please see the timetable for more details.

The school is open to students (master and PhD) from science and engineering. The number of participants is limited. You need to apply using the bottom of this page.

Application for the 3 day school is now closed

It is still possible to register for the program of Saturday, March 29 using this link

 

Thursday 27 March

09:00 Registration of participants

1 Inauguration of event, Address by Provost Sir, Welcome and Introduction by Marwadi

Updated.pdf

10:25 Group Photo

2 Welcome by IEEE NPSS and introduction to the school

11:00 Coffee & tea break

3 Effects of Climate Change on Under-represented groups and discussion, Harnessing Energy (including nuclear)

Climate change disproportionately affects under-represented groups, including low-income communities, indigenous populations, and marginalized regions. These groups often face greater exposure to extreme weather, food and water insecurity, and limited access to resources for adaptation and recovery. Socioeconomic disparities, and historical injustices, often exacerbate these disparities. A critical aspect of climate mitigation is energy transition, including renewable sources and nuclear energy. While solar, wind, and hydropower offer sustainable solutions, nuclear energy provides a reliable, low-carbon alternative. However, concerns about waste disposal, safety, and social perceptions still persist. This lecture explores how climate change impacts under-represented groups, the role of diverse energy sources in climate mitigation, and strategies to ensure a just transition toward a sustainable and equitable future.

Speaker: Cinzia Da Via (The University of Manchester (GB))

Energy Rajkot-2.pdf

13:00 Lunch

4 The NPSS booklet about radiation facts

This presentation intend to be a simple overview of so called ‘radiation’ and its use. Its main purpose is just for information and education.
•1.1 OUR WORLD IS BATHED IN RADIATION
Human has been exposed to radiation since his first appearance on Earth. For example, we are exposed to visible radiation coming from the Sun and from space.This is known as cosmic radiation or cosmic rays.
As well as visible light, this includes invisible radiation known as ultraviolet and infrared. Both kinds of radiation are electromagnetic waves, as are radio waves, X-rays and gamma
•1.2 Historical Context and Discovery
The discovery of nuclear radiation dates back to the late 19th century. Short history will be presented from the radioactivity to many technologies (Tracer principle, Invention of the Cyclotron, artificial radioactivity to vision and first graphite miller)
•1.3 Importance of Nuclear Radiation in Modern Society with applications spanning various fields will be presented.
•2.1 Basics types of Radiation an Introduction
•2.2 Measuring and Detecting Radiation Radiation Units is the way to measure and quantify the degree of radiation a short description of Curie, Becquerel, Gray, Seivert
•2.3 Example of Sources of Radiation over the world
•2.3.1 Example of Natural Sources -
Cosmic rays variation of natural radioactivity
•2.4 .Exposure for radiological X ray exposure example

Then I will be describe the application and the evolution in the medical radiation techniques from radiography, imaging modalities (Hanger camera, Spect, TDM, PET).
Finally particle therapy will be presented shortly with its radiation constraints.

Speaker: Patrick Le Du

BOOKLET-INTRODUCTION.pdf

15:00 Coffee & tea break

5 How to present your work

Speaker: Patrick Le Du

Highlighting..ppt

Friday 28 March

6 Radiation detectors basics (Photosensors ,Silicon detectors, Gaseous detectors)

Radiation detectors are essential for measuring and analyzing ionizing radiation in various fields, including medical imaging, particle- nuclear physics, and environmental monitoring. These detectors operate by converting radiation interactions into measurable electrical signals. This lecture will explore the three major kinds of radiation detectors currently used in the abovementioned fields: Photosensors which convert radiation into optical photons, Silicon detectors that exploit the ionization of silicon to generate charge carriers and Gaseous detectors which function by ionizing gas molecules, leading to the collection of charge under an applied electric field. The lecture will provide a foundational understanding of these detector types, highlighting their working principles, advantages, and their applications in radiation detection.

Speakers: Cinzia Da Via (The University of Manchester (GB)), MASAHARU NOMACHI, Patrick Le Du

RadiationDetectorRajkot.pdf

10:45 Coffee & tea break

7 Exercise; analysis of natural radioactive sources

Speaker: Martin Grossmann (Paul Scherrer Institut)

250320_RadiacodeHandout.pdf

RC-10x_Android.pdf

RC-10x_Device_Manual.pdf

12:30 Lunch

8 Introduction Medical Imaging and PET

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging constitutes the molecular imaging technique of excellence and is used to evaluate a radio-tracer uptake by an organ or lesion. PET imaging is used in both the clinical (humans) and preclinical (small animal) fields. PET is often combined with other imaging modalities such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) or Computed Tomography (CT) to provide both anatomical and functional information and thus, enhaced diagnostics.
The performance requirements for clinical and preclinical PET systems are different since the sizes of the structures to be observed as well as the targeted information provided by the PET images varies from one collective to the other.
In these talks, we will review the mechanical aspects (size, geometry, electronics…) to be considered and main performance parameters in terms of 3D Spatial, Energy and Temporal resolution in clinical and preclinical PET systems. Moreover, a revision of the state-of-the-art PET technology and future trends is provided. A short introduction to X-ray, CT and MRI techniques will be also outlined.

Speaker: Andrea Gonzalez-Montoro

Marwadi_PET_AGM.pdf

15:30 Coffee & tea break

9 Positron Emission Tomograhpy simulation using GATE

Speaker: Trang Hoang (University of Science, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)

PET simulation_India-20250326.pdf

Saturday 29 March

10 Protontherapy - technology for the benefit of patients

The use of proton beams for radiotherapy has been proposed in the 1940s and patients have been treated with this modality since the 1960s. With the advent of more powerful computers for therapy planning and fast electronics for sophisticated controls in the 1990s it became possible to even better exploit the therapeutic advantage of protons by employing magnetic pencil beam scanning. While pioneering work was carried out in physics research laboratories therapy facilities have now become commercially available by a number of vendors. Technology-driven research is ongoing to further improve the quality of protontherapy and make it available to a larger number of patients.

The talk will give an overview of the development of protontherapy and illustrate how therapeutic innovations have been driven by technological progress. Current research topics like ultra-high dose rate beam delivery (“FLASH”) and approaches to compensate the effect of organ motion will be presented.

Speaker: Martin Grossmann (Paul Scherrer Institut)

250326_Marwadi_Protontherapy.pdf

11 Photon counting and statistical fluctuations and resolution

Speaker: MASAHARU NOMACHI

Photosensor-2025-Rajkot-v5.pdf

12 School on radiological effects, present life in Hamadohri, decontamination works

Speaker: MASAHARU NOMACHI

Hamadohri-2025-Rajkot-v5.pdf

10:45 Coffee & tea break

13 Smart ideas are not enough - the Role of Technological Innovations in Physics Applications for Medicine

Sometimes it takes time to put a good idea into practice: magnets are not strong enough, electronics are not fast enough, computers are not powerful enough. The idea’s realization needs the proper technology. This presentation will highlight some examples how technological innovations, in particular in nuclear instrumentation, played a crucial role for advances in physics applications in medicine, in particular for medical imaging and radiation therapy.

Speaker: Martin Grossmann (Paul Scherrer Institut)

250326_Marwadi_SmartIdeas.pdf

14 Feedback from Marwadi Students and Tutors, discussion about possible future events

Speaker: Ramalatha Marimuthu

12:15 Lunch

15 Women in Engineering event: Panel Discussion on Women's role in Climate Change Mitigations

Speakers: Cinzia Da Via (The University of Manchester (GB)), Foram Chandarana, Ramalatha Marimuthu

WIE-panel.pdf