My experience at CIEMAT, Madrid was a very positive one. I came looking for an opportunity to work with liquid metal, and live in a big city, and I left with countless memories, great friends, and some solid lab experience under my belt. Thanks to FuseNet, I had the financial means to take on the move to another country to gain experience with the unique equipment and expertise available at the Liquid Metals Laboratory. 

I came into contact with CIEMAT because I knew I was looking for an MSc graduation project with a strong focus on experimental work. I ended up working in the Liquid Metals Laboratory, where I had the opportunity to help commission a new experiment. This experiment was designed to test a new sensor that measures hydrogen content in liquid lead-lithium, in hopes of advancing Permeation Against Vacuum as a concept for future tritium sensors in reactor breeding blankets. The work involved modelling the experimental setup, preparing and designing a first experimental campaign, and executing it. In the end, it was a lovely mix of theory, application, and hands-on experience, where I improved my programming skills, understanding of material science, as well as my understanding of day-to-day work in a lab.  

My experience in the city of Madrid surpassed my expectations as well. It truly is a vibrant, cosmopolitan city, and thanks to it’s excellent public transport system and walkability, it’s very accessible. The people were friendly and very encouraging of my attempts to speak Spanish, something that I appreciated a lot. Good food, good weather (apart from July and August), and a constant variety of events and happenings made for a great place to explore outside of office hours.