2013 News Archive
2013 Department News
October 24, 2013
McMaster hosted this year’s Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference involving more than 160 students from across the country.
McMaster undergrads did very well and came away with 9 awards accounting for 1/3 of the total prizes. The McMaster undergraduate talk winners are:
First place in the area Astrophysics: Heather O’Halloran
First place in the area of Quantum Condensed Matter: Miles Couchman
First place in the area of Biophysics/Soft Matter: Hannah Dies
First place in the area of Medical Physics: Peter Hoang
Second place in the area of Particle/Nuclear Physics: Benjamin Davis-Purcell
Second place in the area of Biophysics/Soft Matter: Sean Ridout
Second place in the area of Geophysics: Nikolas Gazo
Third place in the area of Engineering/Applied Physics: Jason Munro
And for the poster session:
Third place overall poster: Obaidullah Khan
Congratulations to all.
October 7, 2013
Travis Williams has won the prestigious Eugene E. Wigner Fellowship at Oak Ridge National Lab and will start his position there after having received his PhD in October 2013.
September 24, 2013
Postdoctoral research fellow and manager of the planetarium Rob Cockcroft and Integrated Science Program teaching professor Sarah Symons launch the History of Ideas, Science and Technology Research and Education Network,HISTReENet.
Integrated Science Program teaching professor Sarah Symons are launching the History of Ideas, Science and Technology Research and Education Network – HISTReENet for short. – See more at: http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/article/science-is-history-new-group-to-promote-the-study-of-sciences-past/#sthash.araivp5p.dpufIntegrated Science Program teaching professor Sarah Symons are launching the History of Ideas, Science and Technology Research and Education Network – HISTReENet for short. – Read more at: Science is history: New group to promote the study of science’s past
September 16, 2013
Fourth-year undergraduate co-op student, Benjamin Davis-Purcell was TRIUMF’s 2013 Student Symposium winner for his talk entitled “Neck Optics Turning for the SNO+ Experiment”. He competed against approximately 30 other TRIUMF Spring and Summer Symposium students. Congratulations to Ben for an outstanding showing.
September 6, 2013
Christine Wilson, professor in the department of Physics & Astronomy, has been elected to the Royal Society of Canada in recognition of her outstanding contributions in long-wavelength astronomy.
The citation reads:
“Christine Wilson is a world expert on the structure and evolution of star formation within galaxies. She has played distinguished roles in an ever-widening series of international research programs that reveal the complex structures of the Giant Molecular Clouds inside which all star formation takes place. Her prolific and deeply thought out work forms a key connection to understanding galaxy formation in the early universe.”
The Royal Society of Canada – New Fellows of the Class of 2013
July 30, 2013
Recent research has determined the size of the proton to be smaller than previously thought and has prompted much discussion among scientists.Itay Yavinof the Department of Physics and Astronomy is among the contributors to the field and his work was cited in the New Scientist on the discrepancy between the old and new values. For more on this story please see Dr. Yavin’s article on the New Size of the Proton.
July 3, 2013
McMaster researchers, Adam Hitchcock and Bruce Gaulin, have received funding from an Ontario Research Fund: Research Infrastructure investment that will allow them to support research into the designing of new materials with interesting properties and thereby help develop materials for the medical, auto and communication industries.
May 27, 2013
The research work of McMaster University Department of Physics & Astronomy professors Tom Timusk and Jules Carbotte was celebrated at a two-day conference on May 23-24. Their research has been well recognised by those in the field of metals and superconductors with numerous awards including a Sloan Fellowship, Brockhouse Medal, Steacie prize and CAP Gold medals. For more information please visit the Tom and Jules Fest website.
May 3, 2013
Physics & Astronomy Professor Kari Dalnoki-Veress has been awarded the 2013 CAP Brockhouse Medalin Condensed Matter Physics, in a team nomination with James Forrest of Waterloo.
This is a well-deserved peer recognition of Kari’s consistent string of outstanding and elegant experiments investigating the properties of polymers induced by surfaces and confinement within a thin film.
Kari is the third winner of this national medal from our department since the award was established by the Division of Condensed Matter and Materials Physics and the Canadian Association of Physicists in 1999.
CAP Announcement, CAP Press Release, Daily News
April 22, 2013
Laura Parker has been selected for the 2013 Petro-Canada Young Innovator Award. This award is based first on research accomplishments, followed by a selection from among nominations from each Faculty of a proposal for an initiative in undergraduate education. Laura’s proposal is for an upper year project course in astrophysics entitled “Astrophysical Data Analysis Project Course” . The funding of $25,000 that accompanies the award will allow Laura to develop a model for a 4th year project-based course that will help the department with plans to respond to the Forward with Integrity initiative by creating a sustainable program that links all undergraduates with research.
March 13, 2013
Recent McMaster PhD recipient, Yasuhiro Hasegawa, has been awarded the prestigious J.S. Plaskett Medal, one of the country’s top honours for young astronomers and astrophysicists.
The Plaskett Medal is awarded annually by the Canadian Astronomical Society and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada to a PhD graduate from a Canadian university who is judged to have the most outstanding doctoral thesis in astronomy or astrophysics.
February 27, 2013
Professor Catherine Kallin has been awarded a 2013 Killam Research Fellowship by the Canada
Council for the Arts. The official announcement can be viewed at
http://canadacouncil.ca/news/releases/2013/ip130064484076490805.html
This prestigious fellowship will allow Catherine to concentrate on research in topological (and other kinds) of superconductivity for 2 years.
Mac professor earns national research fellowship, Hamilton Spectator
2013 NewsRelated News
News Listing
Winter 2013
2013 News, Newsletter
December 28, 2013