Jaroslav Zalesak
Scientist
Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic

When I visited the French-Swiss border near Geneva for the first time in 2002, it was not to visit the CERN laboratory but to climb Mont Blanc. When we reached the summit it was a sunset. Little did I know at that time that I would later gaze at the summit while sitting in the CERN cafeteria, having coffee after a long day of working on one of the DUNE prototype detectors. Or that I would see the Mont Blanc when I missed the last CERN shuttle from the Prevessin to the Meyrin site and I had to walk instead. Working on the construction of the DUNE prototype detectors has been very rewarding because I like building and creating things from scratch. But what I enjoy the most about DUNE is the people. They are fun to work with. And then there are my two boys at home. They are the best and most challenging experiment of my life! The results are often unpredictable and unique as they manage to surprise me again and again.