“At SESAME, we are lucky to benefit from others’ issues and challenges, for example here we are working to establish our data policy before collecting and storing the big data. That is the opposite of many existing synchrotrons, which have had to implement data policies while managing in parallel exponential increases in data.
Today, experimental data management is a big issue at synchrotron facilities, especially when it comes to the beamlines that generate massive data, like a micro tomography beamline. Such installations can typically generate 2TB of data for an 8-hour experiment and require high-end computational resources and storage capacities to be able to treat the data.
I really enjoy the working atmosphere at SESAME. I like the philosophy of so many different nationalities working together. In addition, in terms of functionalities and ideas, SESAME is a unique place in Jordan and in the Middle East region. We have a small team, just 65 staff members. It meant that before the pandemic we could easily all meet together. Every Monday, we would have a joint meeting between the scientific and technical divisions; now we do this remotely.
In the Computing Group at SESAME, we have to multi-task to cover all activities linked to computing aspects, from providing essential resources to users and operating the network to taking care of the advanced computing infrastructure needed to run the machine and beamlines, and then managing the curation of experimental data.
I have always worked in a multi-cultural environment and I would not want it any other way. By working and exchanging with different people, you learn more and it is rewarding to share your own different viewpoint with others. At SESAME, before the COVID-19 pandemic, occasionally we had morning breakfast together, sharing our cultures through food, coffee and sweets from a different part of the world!”
Mustafa Alzu’bi is a supervisor and computing system engineer from Jordan. He is part of the BEATS team working on the data analysis and management systems for the new beamline. He holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science and has a wide experience in operating and administrating heterogeneous complex IT environments and in software development. He is in charge of designing and implementing SESAME’s computational infrastructure and IT services.