How We Do Business (HWDB) (Chair - Glen Johns)

Are you new to WAO? Have you changed your organization or made a major modification or update to your facility? This session is an opportunity to tell the broader accelerator operations community all about your operations. Tell us about your mission, how you are organized, how you staff the control room, your operational rhythm, how your operators are trained, and any other operations-focused topics you want to share.

Training, Digital Twins, and Flight Simulators (Chair - Kathleen Genge)

At WAO'23, we learned that some labs use structured programs to train their operators, while others provide training through informal teaching and assessment. This session will expand on this topic, providing an opportunity to share what methods and technologies your facility uses to engage operators with their training. Perhaps your lab uses a digital twin or "flight simulator" to provide hands-on experience when machine time is hard to get. Or you’ve created training plans using AI-generated content. What strategies do you use to ensure knowledge and skills are not lost during an extended shutdown? Has using technology improved operator development and knowledge retention?

Operator made tools (Chair - Stephan Reimann)

Most of the important tools that are used daily in our control rooms are provided to the operators by other groups. Not all of them are optimally designed to meet our needs and it often takes a lot of coordination and convincing to subsequently adapt them to our requirements. In this session, we will focus on the operators' contributions to their own toolbox. Which software projects for control, monitoring or beam diagnostics have been implemented or initiated by operators? Which self-developed helper tools have increased efficiency in operation? Are there any operator projects that go even deeper and have had an influence on the specification of hardware components installed in the accelerator?

Operator Initiatives (Chair - Brian Freeman)

What do your Operators work on while not operating? At some labs operating an accelerator is a not a year round job. Many operators work on projects or initiatives that could benefit operations and operators in many ways. So what kinds of things do they work on? Machine maintenance/ performance? Diagnostics, or installing control room or machine hardware? Do they write software or develop procedures? Update training and documentation? There are many systems and aspects of an accelerator that can fall into this category. This session is an opportunity for Operators to present their involvement and contributions for their respective machines, that may not fit nicely into one of the other sessions.

Involving Operators in Accelerator Physics and Commissioning (Chair - Rende Steerenberg)

Effective accelerator operation requires strong collaboration between operators and accelerator physicists, especially as today’s tools increasingly rely on complex physics models. Enhancing accelerator performance depends not only on theoretical knowledge but also on practical experience from daily operations. Joint commissioning phases, especially after upgrades or extended shutdowns, offer unique opportunities for operators and physicists to work closely together, developing a shared understanding of the machine's intricacies. This session invites discussions on best practices for involving operations teams in machine physics studies and commissioning activities. By actively engaging in beam setup, performance optimisation, and studies, operators contribute directly to performance gains and acquire essential knowledge for continued support. We welcome insights on collaborative frameworks that enhance knowledge transfer, motivation, and streamlined commissioning processes and/or performance enhancements across various facilities. What is your input to the process?

Innovative Solutions for Operations including AI and ML (Chair - Gregory Marr)

Times are changing, and Operations always adapts. In some cases, we are leading the charge to make use of new technologies to improve operational efficiency. At the very least, aging systems require updates when parts or software becomes obsolete, and there is an opportunity to be inventive. Moreover, technology and modern communication affords the possibility of more remote interactions: with devices, or with colleagues. What creations have you incorporated into operations - in the control room, the accelerator, or abroad? Does automation give way to Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning initiatives that your control room finds useful? Dazzle us with your cutting edge technology and new initiatives!

Operating Accelerators for medical, industrial and non-research Applications (Chair - Yoshiyuki Iwata)

This session is aimed to discuss unique operation problems arisen from running accelerators for medical, industrial and non-research applications. Since these accelerators are operated mostly by small organizations, operators need to handle all aspects of the accelerator facility without sufficient technical support. How do you gain and keep enough knowledge and skills to run the machine?

How is Operations Involved in Upgrades (Chair - Montse Pont)

Accelerators go periodically through upgrades. Some involve dark periods of several months, even years. How is the operations group involved in such an upgrade? how are the skills of the operators maintained during the dark period? And how do the operators learn to operate the new machine? If you've experienced an upgrade, are in the middle of one or are planning one, come and tell us how the operations group is involved.\

Communications (Chair - Laurent Hardy)

In a research Institute equipped with Particle Accelerators, the control room (CTRM) can be considered as the nervous central system of the accelerators.

This is therefore the place where a lot of information circulate. If furthermore, the CTRM works 24/24, the information must flow correctly through the different teams of Operators on shift-work.

An erroneous communication may lead to safety issue.

In your Institute, which kind of information or instructions flows through the CTRM ? How do you keep track of it ? How can you retrieve it days later ? Is anyone authorized to call to the CTRM to provide instructions or do you have a bottleneck to filter the information provided to the Operators ? Can anyone outside the Control Room access the CTRM e-logbook and write instructions to be done ? Are your Users authorized to call the Control Room to get or provide information ?

Once the information has reached the Control Room, how do you make sure that all teams working in shift will be aware ?

How do you communicate to the Users / customers using the beam ? Do you have different channels depending upon the emergency ?

As Operation Manager, do you organize regular meetings to communicate internally (with the Operation Group or within Accelerator Division) or externally (others Divisions or outside your Institute) ?

Have you had already safety issues or incident following a gap in communication ?

All topics linked with Communication within, from and to a Control Room or the Operation Group will be welcome!