TRIUMF Welcomes Infusion of Young Minds

The intellectual and enthusiasm level at TRIUMF is about to increase exponentially as the three TRIUMF Fellowship recipients – Adam deAbreu, Kiel Strang and Saige McVea, are set to arrive at the facility early July.

“This year's applicants for the TRIUMF's high school fellowship program were just exceptional and the selection committee had a very hard time making their choice,” remarks one of the judges, Oliver Stelzer-Chilton.

The TRIUMF Fellowship program offers distinguished graduating high-school students $3000 and an opportunity to spend six weeks working and researching under the guidance of a TRIUMF scientist.  The selection process is rigorous, with more than 60 applicants from all over the province being judged by two consecutive panels of five judges. Each of the three students selected will be involved in a specific research area.

“The world is complex, beautiful, and mysterious; understanding the laws that govern the universe only deepens my appreciation for it” explains one of the recipients, Saige McVea. The experience will also be a defining one - “this work term will give me a chance to learn more about current physics research and applications and help me see where I might fit in” adds Kiel Strang. The students will fully embrace the scientific process by ending off their term with a report or presentation detailing their work.

Stelzer-Chilton comments that, “It is inspiring to see so many talented young people engaging in science in and outside the classroom with independent ideas. At TRIUMF we are delighted to give these young emerging scientists a chance to develop their skill set in a real life research environment.”

Providing these students with the opportunity may very well be an investment in the future as some of the students, namely Adam deAbreu, foresee themselves returning to the lab. “I hope that this will be the first step on the never-ending pathway of my career. I hope that at some point my experience at the fellowship will bring me back to work at TRIUMF or even at CERN's LHC.”

As we eagerly wait for the arrival of these exceptional students, we would like to congratulate them once again on their significant accomplishment!

Written by Lena Sitnikova, Outreach Assistant