Page 75 - A Life - my Live - my path

My career - the IRE

the power supplies for the electromagnets that had to divert
the flow of α (alpha) particles. I was able to make the
adjustments, take the measurements, calibrate and finish on
time. The results were convincing.

I was surprised when the ISNA secretariat summoned me
one day to explain that my official first name was not
"Ovidio", but "Dovidio". They asked me to provide an
administrative document from the municipality of San
Giovanni Lipioni certifying that behind these two first
names was the same person.
I provided them with the requested document and
graduated as a technical engineer at the end of September
1975.

On 1 October, I joined the IRE. I continued to work on the
'anemometer' developed during my internship. This device
was used to measure wind speed. It was very sensitive,
especially at low speeds. We used a radioactive source of
Americium-241 which emitted α (alpha) particles. These
positively charged particles (2 protons) ionised a few
66
centimetres of the ambient air confined in a small steel tube.
This ionisation produced an electric current that was
amplified so that it could be measured. The value of the
electric current was inversely proportional to the wind
speed. In effect, without wind, the ionisation produced
generated an electric current with a value of, say, 'x'. The

66 Ionisation frees electrons from their atoms. This is the basis of the electric
current.
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