Last week, Dylon Martin, a young First Nations high school student from Thompson, Manitoba, hopped on a plane headed for Vancouver. His destination: TRIUMF, Canada's national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics, where he will spend six weeks of his summer vacation working with various divisions within the laboratory.
For many 17-year olds, summer vacation is a time to get away from school and books. For some it's the last summer to enjoy sleeping in, lying on the beach, and spending countless hours in front of the TV, before a summer job becomes a priority as the expenses of attending university loom - but not so for Dylon.
An excellent student (already working at an accelerated pace on his high school physics requirements) and always curious to learn more, Dylon contacted TRIUMF last year looking for someone to sponsor his attendance at the 2008 summer term of the Manitoba Science Academy. An intense and challenging research program designed for exceptional students, the Manitoba Science Academy recruits students from across North America who have an interest and aptitude in science. Only eighteen students were accepted into the Academy program last summer and Dylon was one of seven First Nations students accepted from Manitoba. Dylon spent six weeks working with the University of Ontario Institute of Technology on a very complex chemistry study that set out to develop a system to test the efficiency of electrochemical cells used to generate fluorine for uranium processing. He was involved in collecting data, running procedures, analyzing the results and forming conclusions and recommendations based on the findings.
As a pilot for TRIUMF's nascent aboriginal youth research initiative, Tim Meyer (Head of TRIUMF Strategic Planning and Communications) invited the enterprising Dylon to apply for summer work at TRIUMF this year. Dylon's application was successful and in his role as director of the program, Marcello Pavan (TRIUMF's Outreach Coordinator) spent the last few months formulating a whirl-wind program for Dylon that would have him delving into every aspect of TRIUMF, from communications, to nuclear physics, to material science. Nigel Lockyer, director of TRIUMF, welcomed Dylon, "We're delighted to have such a great student here with us and already making a difference. Dylon may blush, but he'll be a role model to many!"
Each week, Dylon will work with a different TRIUMF group and then share his reflection on the experience via stories on the TRIUMF website. Tim Meyer commented, "I'm envious of Dylon; he'll get a real on-the-ground view of how a national laboratory operates and how the excitement of cutting-edge science threads through everything we do." Last week, Dylon explored the workings of TRIUMF's communications group and will spend this week working with the MuSR (muon spin relaxation spectroscopy) group - a project that fellow high school student Jeremy Johnson is working on. When asked about his expectations for the program, Dylon said, "I'm looking forward to the chance to delve into the perplexing world of subatomic physics and hope to gain as good of an understanding of it as one can in only six weeks!" Watch the website for updates from Dylon and where he'll be off to next week!
Follow Dylon's TRIUMF experience at www.triumf.ca under "Research Highlights"
Dylon Martin hard at work on his first entry after spending a week with the Communications group.
-- Meghan Magee, Communications Assistant