cyclotronboy's profile (website)

Info

profile photo
Name: Fred Niell
Joined: September 7, 2012

Contributions

MeFi: 0 posts , 26 comments
MetaTalk: 0 posts , 0 comments
Ask MeFi: 1 question , 0 answers
Music: 0 posts , 0 comments, 0 playlists
Music Talk: 0 posts, 0 comments
Projects: 0 posts, 0 comments, 0 votes
Jobs: 0 posts
IRL: 0 posts, 0 comments
FanFare: 0 posts, 0 comments
FanFare Talk: 0 posts, 0 comments

View all activity

Favorites: 133
Favorited by others: 26

I help fund MetaFilter!

Social

Links to: 0 users
Linked by: 0 users
Ask MeFi tags: OS (1) kids (1) computer (1)

About

What's the deal with your nickname? How did you get it? If your nickname is self-explanatory, then tell everyone when you first started using the internet, and what was the first thing that made you say "wow, this isn't just a place for freaks after all?" Was it a website? Was it an email from a long-lost friend? Go on, spill it.

CyclotronBoy was a name given to me long after I was in grad school. I completed a cyclotron in 1994 in my garage and entered it into the ISEF in Birmingham that year. I did well. I don't usually discuss it in casual conversation, because hey - what's a better conversation killer than "I'm a nerdy physicist!" Years later, someone in my nerdy cohort recognized that I was that kid, and the name was born. Now I'm a physicist who plays "electrical engineer" at work. :)