One year ago TRIUMF became a Partner in Innovation with Science World at the TELUS World of Science. A key goal was to explore ways we could collaborate in bringing quality science education programming to youth and the public in B.C. Over this past year, the partnership has produced a couple of very successful public lectures (CERN’s Rolf Heuer in June and ATLAS-Canada’s Bernd Stelzer in October) with another scheduled later this fall. In addition, Science World placed two of their Future Science Leaders students at TRIUMF for summer work experiences. The Future Science Leaders is a program that inspires and challenges top students to excel in science and technology.
Seventeen-year-old Carlos Xu spent his summer at TRIUMF working as an "apprentice theorist" under the guidance of postdoctoral research associate Rishi Sharma. Carlos presented some work at the American Junior Academy of Science’s conference at the AAAS meeting in February which looked at the repulsion of hypothesized gravitomagnetic fields in neutron stars. His work so impressed Dr. Sharma that they worked together on investigating whether quark matter (matter so dense that protons and neutrons are crushed to their constituent particles) could hypothetically sustain pressures at the centre of neutron stars with masses twice that of the sun. Together they are preparing a manuscript for publication.
Akshiv Bansal is now a 17-year-old grade 12 student in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at Semiahmoo Secondary in Surrey. Akshiv worked under TRIUMF's Head of Strategic Planning & Communication, Tim Meyer, on science communication related projects associated with Advanced Applied Physics Systems Inc. He learned about what things are important when starting new ventures or looking for partners, looking for ways to benefit both you and the partner. Akshiv is a very busy young man, volunteering in the green movement and the Surrey Youth Sustainability Squad.
The pilot project was deemed highly successful and TRIUMF and Science World are now working to expand the partnership by exploring other ways to bring high quality science-related experiences to youth in B.C.
--by Marcello Pavan, Outreach Coordinator