From Goa to Provence

Chandresh Hansalia took his first steps in fusion at the Indian Institute for Plasma Research. The centre for thermo-nuclear fusion research was founded by the current Chairman of the Science and Technology Advisory Committee, Predhiman Kaw, in 1986. As the institute has now turned into being the Indian Domestic Agency for the ITER Organization, Chandresh Hansalia was in for some international exposure.

Chandresh Hansalia arrived at ITER on 3 March, 2008. He is an Instrumentation & Control Engineer at the Department for CODAC & IT, Heating and CD and Diagnostics (CHD). On his arrival, he found that the CODAC team was still in its formative stage and the CODAC & IT Division Head, Dr.Wolf-Dieter Klotz, had joined ITER on the same day. So, the team coach did arrive and now the team was waiting for its captain to arrive, the new CODAC Responsible Officer, Anders Wallander.

"Working in such a multi-cultural environment as ITER is a totally new and refreshing experience," he says. "Issues at CODAC are quite varied and challenging but the team spirit seems very high. Being a football freak, our captain seems to know the virtue of a good team. And having a coach with a very good sense of humour makes life so much easier, especially when certain issues are bugging our minds to no end!"

Chandresh and his wife Ila found a place to live in Manosque, but their 18 year old son has had to stay back home in Goa, India, where he is going to an engineering college for Electronics & Instrumentation—thus following the footsteps of his father.

"People are very friendly and hospitable in our neighbourhood. In order to be able to socialize with them I am doing my best to learn French as quickly as I can."