Measurements are a powerful tool to assist and complement the complete cycle, from conceptual design, through engineering, fabrication, commissioning and operation. The presentation starts with a brief summary of magnet design for accelerators and other “Big Science” applications. It proceeds then to a summary of measurement techniques that are relevant to magnet science and engineering, and samples of its application to specific magnet projects. Finally, it gives a summary of perceived future challenges and perspective developments.

Luca Bottura has trained as a Nuclear Engineer at the Engineering Faculty of the University of Bologna (Italy), and was awarded a PhD from the University College of Swansea (Wales, UK) for the physical modeling, scaling and numerical analysis of quench in large-scale, force-flow cooled superconducting coils. After nine years of experience in the design and testing of superconducting cables and magnets for fusion (NET and ITER), he joined CERN in 1995, where he organized and supervised field mapping activities for the LHC magnets during prototyping and cryogenic series tests. The large amount of data was consolidated in the Field Description for the LHC (FiDeL), now an embedded system of the LHC controls. In July 2008 he took responsibility for superconductors (materials, cables, devices) at CERN, and initiated the conductor specification and industrial procurement of Nb3Sn for the High-Field Magnet program. As of July 2011, he is the leader of the Magnets Superconductors and Cryostats Group in the CERN Technology Department (CERN TE-MSC), in charge of the resistive and superconducting magnets for the CERN accelerator complex, the associated manufacturing and test technologies, and the cryogenic test installations.