Outreach Program Update

The summer is a busy time for TRIUMF’s outreach and science education programs, particularly so this year during the 2005 United Nations World Year of Physics (WYP2005). TRIUMF has been involved in many WYP2005 events, several of which were highlighted in the previous Newsletter (see Vol.3 No1).

The centerpiece of local WYP2005 celebrations was the opening weekend of the 2005 CAP Congress held in Vancouver. On Saturday June 4 TRIUMF opened its doors to the public for a site-wide open house. The response was overwhelming: almost a thousand guests kept the TRIUMF tour guides hopping throughout the day. The highly successful day was followed by an equally successful public lecture at UBC’s Chan Centre by (Canadian) Professor Clifford Will of Washington University in St. Louis. His talk, “Was Einstein Right?” enthralled hundreds of people, as did the opening performance by the Borealis String Quartet. The weekend festivities were very well received by all who attended.

TRIUMF has begun a new initiative creating science education videos for high schools. These videos aim to assist teachers with their classes by demonstrating how the high school physics curriculum is applied at a laboratory like TRIUMF. The first video, “Approaching the Speed of Light: Demonstrating Special Relativity using the TRIUMF Cyclotron”, was spearheaded by TRIUMF scientist Stan Yen and Richmond high school teacher Philip Freeman. Response from teachers has been very positive, so a copy of the DVD will be sent to every high school in Vancouver, and to any other high school in Canada that requests one. TRIUMF has applied to the NSERC PromoScience program for funds to create three more such videos.

For the second year the BC Innovation Council and TRIUMF have joined together to offer the $3000 High School Fellowship, attracting applications from over 100 of the top students in the province. This year’s winner Jacob Cosman of Kamloops spent a six-week work term at TRIUMF working under Professor Jess Brewer of UBC. His excellent work led to a joint publication with Prof. Brewer and his collaborators. The Fellowship has been very successful and highly regarded, so plans are underway to expand the program in the near future.

Summer at TRIUMF means a lot of undergraduate students cutting their research teeth on various lab experiments. Ten students from the undergraduate summer program gave presentations on their research projects at the 5th Summer Student Symposium in the TRIUMF auditorium on July 27. The three-judge panel invited Heather Crawford to present her talk at the next Canadian Winter Nuclear & Particle Physics Conference in February 2006 at Banff, Alberta, while Tam Nhan and Chris Campbell were commended with honourable mentions. Everyone present was very impressed with the quality of the talks, which are improving each year.

Jacob Cosman of Kamloops, BC displaying his 2005 TRIUMF High School Fellowhip certificate.

Graduate students and young post-docs from Canada and around the world have been well served by the TRIUMF Summer Institute (TSI) for 17 years. This year’s Institute was entitled “Atom and Ion Trap: Techniques and Applications” and it took place at TRIUMF from July 11-22. About 48 students studied atomic and molecular physics, nuclear and particle physics, applied solid state physics and even quantum computing, with formal lectures in the morning and an organized small-group discussion round plus tutorial session in the afternoon. Various extra curriculum activities were organized, and a poster session was held, where the participants presented their research to fellow students and lecturers. The posters were judged by the lecturers and prizes (donated by American Magnetics) were awarded at the fabulous conference dinner at the Vancouver Aquarium.

TRIUMF Summer Institute poster prize winners and organizers (from left): P. Schury (MSU/ NSCL), K. Madison (UBC, TSI Co-organizer) J. Dilling (TSI Chair) M. Brodeur (UBC/TRIUMF), W. Trimble (U of Washington), A. Shotter (Director TRIUMF).

In the fall several annual outreach activities will return to TRIUMF. On October 21, the BCAPT and the BC Science Teachers Association will host the Professional Development Day. About 90 teachers will attend lectures and lab activities for an entire day. This year’s focus will be on physics topics for grades 9 and 10. And starting in November, the Saturday Morning Lecture Series will begin anew with public lectures on topics ranging from the philosophy of Albert Einstein to the applications of liquid mirror telescopes. Some lectures are also planned off site in Sechelt, BC. The schedule has not yet been finalized, but if last year was any indication, the lectures should prove to be very popular once again.•

Marcello Pavan

For more information, visit the following websites:
WYP2005:	http://www.triumf.info/public/wyp/
TSI:	http://www.triumf.ca/tsi/
SML:	http://www.phas.ubc.ca/~outreach/satlect/index.htm


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