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Departmental News

Best Student Oral Competition Awards at CAP 2020

Congratulations to Lilianna and Alex for placing first in their divisions for their oral presentations!

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Prof. Bhavin Shastri receives Undergraduate Research Mentorship Award from AMS

Professor Bhavin Shastri receives the 2019-20 Undergraduate Research Mentorship Award which is given out bi-annually and nominated by students.

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Accessing Stirling Hall during COVID-19

For safety during COVID-19 pandemic, there are new protocols and guidelines put in place for research and work at Stirling Hall...

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Department of Physics Statement on #ShutdownSTEM Day of Action - June 10, 2020

The events of the past few weeks have made it clear that serious and systemic racial injustices and violence are being committed against Black people, Indigenous peoples, and minorities in Canada. We have an urgent obligation to act against the ideology of white supremacy.

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Dr. Arthur McDonald involved with building ventilators

Professor Emeritus and Nobel Laureate Arthur McDonald works with internation team to build ventilators.

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Queen's wins third prize at CEC 2020

Queen's wins third prize at the Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC) 2020!

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Graduate Application Deadline Extended

Due to the global uncertainty, we have extended our graduate application deadline to April 30, 2020.

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Professor Emeritus and Nobel Laureate Arthur McDonald earns international honour from AAAS

Professor Emeritus and Nobel Laureate Arthur McDonald is named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

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Gavin Crowder receives Nixon Academic Leadership Award

Gavin Crowder receives Nixon Academic Leadership Award in Male Varsity Club category. Gavin is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy.

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Malcolm Stott Teaching Award Winners for 2018-2019

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Physics News & Events in Photos

The Canadian Association of Physicists Annual Congress was held virtually this year but still had student competitions. Congratulations to Lilianna Hariasz and Alex Inayeh who both placed first in their divisions for their oral presentations!

More info can be found at Best Student Oral Competition Awards.
The Summer of Science is a FREE online afternoon enrichment program for a small group of high school and middle school students (including students graduating this June). Over 12 afternoon sessions, this program focuses on physics and the process of doing science. The Summer of Science program is led by undergraduates and joined by scientists at the McDonald Institute.

For more information about the program and deadlines, please visit Summer of Science.
Prof. Bhavin Shastri (far left) receives Undergraduate Research Mentorship Award from AMS with support from his physics and engineering physics students who are part of his team at his research lab.

From left to right: Hugh Morison, Francesco Virga, Viraj Bangari, Murtadha Al-Dallal, Matteo Pennacchietti, Emma Howard, Zhimu Guo, Matthew Filipovich, Yashpreet (Yash) Masson, Bicky Marquez.

(Photo credit: Ishana Gopaul. To see a larger photo, please click here).
Toast to the Physics Graduates of 2020!!
Huge congratulations goes to the 24 students who graduated with a BSc in Physics this Spring!

To view a larger image, please click Toast to the Physics Grads of June 2020.

(Photo credit: Prof. Rob Knobel)
For more information about the TA Excellence Award, visit ASUS.

(Image from ASUS Facebook)
Like a beloved book or movie that you hope has a sequel, the most successful scientific projects cry out for a second act. That is just what has happened to the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO), which over the last decade has reinvented itself as SNO+, led by Mark Chen, the Gordon and Patricia Gray Chair in Particle Astrophysics, a project that has taken advantage of a unique piece of research infrastructure and set it on a new mission. Continue the story on the Research@Queen’s website.

(Illustration by: Gary Neill, photo of Prof. Chen courtesy of University Relations – Integrated Communications)
Dr. Judith Irwin (Principal Investigator) and her colleagues/members from project CHANG-ES (Continuum HAlos in Nearby Galaxies - an EVLA Survey) have released a composite image of the galaxy NGC 4631, the "Whale Galaxy", revealing large magnetic structures.

For more information about the exciting image results, please visit Giant Magnetic Ropes in a Galaxy's Halo. Hover over image for credits.
Celebrating with Dr. Schreiner on his retirement dinner at the Renaissance on November 27th. Congratulations John!

Back row from L-R: Prof. Rob Knobel (Department Head), Prof. Marc Dignam.
Front row from L-R: Roz, Dr. Dave Hanes, Dr. John Schreiner, Prof. Alastair McLean, Gill.

(Photo courtesy of Prof. Dignam)
Celebrating Sci Formal in a classy manner, pictured here are some of our amazing Eng Physics students, class of 2020.

(Photo credit: Matthew Filipovich)
Professors Gerbier, Rau and Noble are particle astrophysics researchers on the hunt for dark matter! They are "playing key roles in large collaborative teams of Canadian and international researchers conducting three competing, but complementary experiments that use different tools to seek, find and ultimately understand the nature of dark matter". For more information on the hunt, please visit Dark Matter Detectives.

(Illustrations by Zachary Kenny)
Congratulations to all the hard working TAs! The winners of Malcolm Stott Teaching Award was announced in early October. To see the results please visit Winners of 2018-2019!

(Photos credit: Prof. James Fraser)
Queen's-associated female astrophysicists. Queen's long history of promoting women in astrophysics goes back to Allie Vibert Douglas, who was an astronomer and a pioneer in the teaching of astrophysics - see https://www.queensu.ca/gazette/alumnireview/stories/allie-vibert-douglas

Please hover over the image for names of Queen's-associated female astrophysicists. (Photo credit: David van Vliet)
Engineering Physics student Sarah Choudhury created the smallest Queen's logo ever (67 microns long, smallest features 18 nanometres wide) using electron beam lithography and metal deposition. This work was done at Nano Fabrication Kingston where Queen's researchers make big discoveries about small things.

For more images, please click on Small Images.
Dr. Bhavin Shastri was interviewed by The Optical Society (OSA) about his research in silicon photonic for neuromorphic computing and artificial intelligence, and shares his excitement about working with his students at Queen's University.

Please click on Shastri Lab to watch the interview.
The Queen's Hyperloop Design Team (which has a number of Engineering Physics members, including Matthew Filipovich pictured here draped in the Queen's flag, beside Elon Musk) competed in the 2019 Hyperloop Pod Competition hosted by SpaceX in Hawthorne, California. For more information you can visit https://queenshyperloop.ca/.

Visit QHDT at the 2019 Hyperloop Pod Competition for more photos and access other media coverage. (Photo courtesy of M. Filipovich)
A huge congratulations to graduating Physics student Erin Avryl Crawley for the four medals: The Governor General's Academic Medal for the highest academic standing in a Bachelor degree program at Queen's, The Prince of Wales Prize for the highest academic record in the Faculty of Arts and Science, the Medal in Mathematics and Statistics, and the Medal in Physics.

Erin with her parents and Prof. Marc Dignam, Physics Department Head. (Photo courtesy of Prof. Dignam)
Graduate student volunteer Heidi Miller helps a camper make electrical measurements at the first G.I.R.L.S. camp held on July 22-26 at Queen's. For more information on the success, please visit GIRLS Camp was "out of this world".

(Photo courtesy of GIRLS Camp)
NSERC CREATE-MAPS students from Physics, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering taking part in their annual retreat on the shores of Elbow Lake, in the UNESCO Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve, just north of Kingston.

For more information about the program, please visit Materials for Advanced Photonic and Sensing web site.

(Photo courtesy of Prof. Fraser)
Congratulations to the Arts & Science Physics Graduates of 2019!

(Photo courtesy of Prof. Fraser)
Graduate student Ingrida Semenec (centre) tests out the van de Graaf generator as she and graduate students Liz Fletcher (left) and Ben Tam (right) help to set up for the annual Science Rendezvous Kingston outreach event. Researchers from the Department of Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy contributed three interactive displays to the event, which welcomed over 5200 budding scientists and their families to the Leon’s Centre in Kingston, Ontario.

(Photo courtesy of Prof. Wright)
Jonathan Corbett and Julia Puistonen awarding Prof. James Fraser the 2018/19 Geoff Lockwood Memorial Award for Excellence in Teaching.

(Photo credit: Prof. Dignam)
Jonathan Corbett and Julia Puistonen awarding Prof. Bob Gooding the 2018/19 Award for Excellence in Instruction in the Engineering Physics Program and Prof. Ryan Martin the 2018/19 Award for Excellence in Instruction in Pure Physics.

(Photo credit: Prof. Dignam)
The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Sport, was at Queen's yesterday to announce that more than 90 Queen’s University researchers, including faculty, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows, are the beneficiaries of $4.6 million from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Shown left to right: Ted Hsu, Prof. Stéphane Courteau (Physics), The Honourable Minister of Science and Sport Kirsty Duncan, and Prof. Mark Chen (Physics and Gray Chair).
(Photo by Bernard Clark)
Congratulations Prof. Knobel for receiving the Dean Nathan F. Dupuis Leadership in Engineering Education Award, a one-time prize presented to a deserving faculty member by the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science in recognition of the 125th anniversary of engineering education at Queen’s.

For more information, please visit Prof. Knobel's Award.

(Photo credit: Queen's Gazette)
Congratulations to the Queen's Engineering Team for winning top prize in the Junior Design competition category at the 2019 OEC! Now they are off to the national competition held in March. For more information on the winning design, visit 2019 OEC Junior Design Winners!

From left to right: Chas Meadows (mining) , Connor Chappell (computer), Justin Bonal (engineering physics), and Matt Julseth(civil).
(Photo courtesy of: Justin Bonal)
A group of 15 dedicated Queen's physics and engineering physics students who are passionate about their field as well as gender and minority equity in physics attend the 2019 Canadian Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CCUWiP) in Ottawa. Special congratulations to Hadiya Ma for winning the Delegate's Choice Best Talk!

Please see 2019 CCUWiP for more photos.
Huge congratulations goes to Prof. Hughes who received a prestigious Humboldt Research Award for his outstanding research!

For more information, please visit Queen's Gazette. (Photo credit: Queen's Gazette)
Proving that research is a team effort, past and present Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) employees and their family members gather around the plinth.

For more information, visit Commemorating the Nobel Prize-winning Research.
(University Communications)
Dr. Webster, who is a graduate of Queen's Engineering Physics, developed the key Laser Depth Dynamics (LDD) technology called Inline Coherent Imaging (ICI) during his PhD under the supervision of Prof. James Fraser. For more information about the purchase of LDD, please visit Inline Coherent Imaging Goes Global.

(Image:University Communications Queen's Gazette)
Congratulations! The first CFI grant, lead by Prof. Noble, will be used to build a next generation detector, PICO 500L, that will search for dark matter, while the second grant, lead by Profs. Hughes and Fraser, will be used to establish the Queen’s Nanophotonics Research Centre, which will explore the behaviour of light and light-matter interactions on the nanometre scale.

See full article on Queen's Gazette. (Photo credit: Queen's Gazette)
Celebrating Professor James Fraser's induction to prestigious 3M National Teaching Fellowship. From left to right, Provost Benoit-Antoine Bacon, Director-Centre for Teaching & Learning Peter Wolf, Department Head Marc Dignam, Prof. James Fraser.

(Photo: Queen's Gazette)
SNOLAB receives $28.8 million in provincial funding from Minister of Research, Innovation and Science, Reza Moridi (center).

(Photo credit:Queen's Gazette)
Congratulations to professor emeritus Arthur McDonald and the entire SNO Collaboration who have been awarded the 2016 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics! The $ 3 million prize is shared with four other international experimental collaborations studying neutrino oscillations: The Superkamiokande, Kamland, T2K/K2K and Daya Bay scientific collaborations.

(Background image: Roy Kaltschmidt from LBL)
Congratulations to professor emeritus Arthur McDonald, the co-winner of the 2015 Nobel Prize in physics!
(Background image: Roy Kaltschmidt from LBL)