A Tucson company is set to receive an award from the European Organization for Nuclear Research on Monday in Geneva, Switzerland, for the work it did for the Large Hadron Collider.
Composite Mirror Applications was nominated for its outstanding performance in its contribution to experiments at the collider.
CMA is one of 10 companies being recognized in Geneva, and it is the only American company to take part in the award ceremony that is also part of a dedication ceremony for the collider facility. The Large Hadron Collider is an expansive $10 billion, 17-mile particle accelerator buried underground near the Switzerland-France border that smashes particles traveling at close to the speed of light.
The LHC has made international news with charges that it may cause the destruction of Earth by creating a black hole. However, said Robert Romeo, Composite Mirror Application's president, his company is certain the system will not end the world and CMA is happy to contribute to the science of it.
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"This award gives us the recognition that we're able to produce high-quality optics," Romeo said. "The fact that we were the only American company to get this award was really surprising for us, and we're really happy about that."
The company was able to get involved with the high-profile project because it did similar work for other particle accelerators and word of its work spread.
CMA produced a set of carbon fiber mirrors that were used as part of the Ring Imaging Cherenkov Detector One experiment at the collider. In the experiment, CMA's mirrors deflected blue light into a detector while letting other particles continue down through the system.
The particle smasher was turned on for the first time in September. The world didn't end, but problems forced the device to shut down for repairs after an electrical transformer failure and a helium leak.
But this hasn't been CMA's only experience in high-profile and high-tech projects.
The company has been in business since 1991 and had done work with NASA, the National Science Foundation, the Navy and the Air Force, among others.
Currently, the company is scheduled to have one of its mirrors launched into space and mounted on the International Space Station in one of the European Space Agency modules.
CMA is also doing work with the Navy Prototype Optical Interferometer to produce an extremely lightweight carbon fiber telescope with a carbon fiber mirror.
CMA is a member of the Arizona Optics Industry Association, and AOIA President Bob Breault said the award will be good for the optics community because it will give the community even more recognition around the world.
"We see ourselves as a leader in lightweight optics in Southern Arizona," Romeo said.