Dr. Sammut read for his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at UoM. He then set up a collaboration between UoM and CERN through which he worked on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC); the largest scientific instrument ever built. He successfully defended his Ph.D. in 2006 after developing the Field Description for the LHC which is a critical core LHC control system that provides the transfer function and harmonics of all magnetic systems. Without this system, the LHC will not work.
Dr. Sammut then worked on the LHC commissioning which hit the international headlines in 2008. He also negotiated a high-level cooperation agreement between Malta and CERN which was signed by the Prime Minister of Malta in Geneva. Over 30 UoM students have benefited from this agreement.
In 2009, the Maltese government asked Dr. Sammut to revitalise the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) by appointing him Chairman for one year and as Vice Chairman and CEO for 3 years. During his tenure MCST was completely restructured. He dramatically increased its efficiency and its resources were increased significantly from €1.5m to €36m. The national research fund was increased by 5, resources from the EU framework programmes increased by €12m, the effort to construct a National Interactive Science Centre in Bighi was launched and Maltese participation in the COST programme was boosted from 2 to over 100 participants. Cooperation agreements were discussed with several international organisations and a cooperation agreement was signed between Malta and the European Space Agency. A number of research strategies were drawn up to boost research and innovation.
Dr. Sammut is known to have raised the profile of science, technology, research and innovation in Malta. He serves as board member on several international and national organisations. He is author of several international peer-reviewed publications and is widely cited. He is UoM team leader of several research projects and has supervised many master and Ph.D. students.
Dr. Sammut is also the founder and strategist of a 1:1 laptop per child project at Stella Maris College, Gzira since its implementation in 2009.
Accelerator Technology
Applied Superconductivity
Instrumentation and Measurement
Microsystems
Computational and Experimental Thermomechanical Analysis
Science, Technology, Research and Innovation Policy
