About the Author

Mike Syphers retired in 2022 from his roles as Research Professor of Physics at Northern Illinois University and as a Senior Scientist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in nearby Batavia, Illinois, USA.

His career has been dedicated to the design and study of large-scale particle accelerators and charged particle beam transport systems, as well as to education in the field of accelerator physics. He has held scientific appointments at several national laboratories, including Fermilab, the Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory in Texas, Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, and the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University.

From his experience at the National Labs, Mike has worked directly on a large variety of particle accelerator projects such as the Tevatron, upgrades to the AGS, polarized proton beam aspects for RHIC, and U.S. contributions to the LHC, as well as several design studies for future accelerator options. More recently he was a member of the Muon g-2 experiment at Fermilab, involving the production, collection, and retention of particles (muons) in a superconducting magnetic storage ring, leading to a high-precision test of the Standard Model of particle physics. He has also been a popular instructor and course developer for the U.S. Particle Accelerator School (USPAS) for over 35 years.

Mike is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a member of the Oughtred Society and of the UK Slide Rule Circle, an advisor to the International Slide Rule Museum, and a frequent participant of the Slide Rule Fan Club Facebook group.

email: syphersm@gmail.com

web: SyPhy.com

slide rule publications:

  • “A Transitional K&E 4092-3”, Jour. Oughtred Soc., V30.2, p63 (2021).
    • Reply in “Letters to the Editor”, Jour. Oughtred Soc., V31.1, p7 (2022).
  • “An Early Home-Made Spring Calculation Slide Rule”, Jour. Oughtred Soc., V31.2, p57 (2022).
  • “Fermi’s Golden (Slide) Rule”, Jour. Oughtred Soc., to be published.