Two retirement mementos presented to Ron Milks on the occasion of his retirement from the TASCC facility. The two “rods”, mounted on a wooden base, came from key components of the superconducting cyclotron. The taller rod, which measures 15 cm in length and is 4 cm in diameter, was originally one of the adjustable iron rods installed from the bottom of the cyclotron yoke to allow changes in the magnetic field. When manufactured, it must have been slightly outside the allowed tolerances and jammed in the yoke. Removing it was one of Ron’s less pleasant assignments. The shorter item is one of the bearings from the helium liquefiers that also contributed to a number of operational problems. The plaque reads “These “rods”, well-known to Ron, will remind him of the world’s most innovative superconducting cyclotron”.
