From January 3-11, 2012, six students and two teachers from the Junior Research School at Meridian Junior College in Singapore visited TRIUMF on a physics field trip. The primary purpose of the visit was to supplement the concepts the students had learned in the classroom with practical examples. One of the teachers that accompanied the students had a very special connection to TRIUMF. Valantine Fadrick Vaz Joseph (or Joe Vaz, as he his more commonly known) worked at TRIUMF from 2003 – 2006 in the TITAN group, under Jens Dilling. Upon returning to the lab, Joe says it “was like a homecoming after five years.”
For eight days, TRIUMF played host to the students, offering a very comprehensive overview of a number of TRIUMF’s areas of expertise that included listening to lectures given by the Accelerator, TITAN, and DRAGON groups, as well as AAPS. The presentations and discussions held with each group offered something unique to the students. Joe recalls that the unique interactions the lab afforded the students “brought concepts routinely found in textbooks to life.” For example, Joe says that the students “had the opportunity to perform a high precision mass measurement of Rubidium 85 (Rb-85) with TITAN” and that they were introduced to key concepts of nuclear medicine through their interaction with the Proton Irradiation Facility (PIF) and the TR-13 Cyclotron, while they became familiarized with the business of science during their time with AAPS. The students also enjoyed tours of the facilities. “The ISAC-I and II accelerators were used as case studies to see the all-important blend of theory and practice,” Joe says.
Joe lauded the inspirational quality of the lab, saying, “The experience was very enriching as the sheer scale of TRIUMF’s scope of research serves as inspiration to the young students who may eventually be considering a career in nuclear and particle physic.” He went on to say, “The six student participants were very inspired by what they had experienced and one student has already indicated his interest to pursue a research career in physics.” The students that visited TRIUMF have been using the positive experience of their visit to encourage their junior classmates to join the Junior Research School and Joe says that he has already had many inquiries from the juniors regarding the curriculum plan for January 2013.
Though the physics aspect of their visit was paramount, the students still had time to experience a number of Vancouver’s most popular natural attractions, like Stanley Park, English Bay, Capilano Bridge, and Grouse Mountain, where many of the students were exposed to snow for the first time in their lives.
The visit was a result of six months of planning between Joe, Jens Dilling, Chris Ruiz, and TRIUMF’s Outreach Coordinator, Marcello Pavan. Marcello explains the motivation behind the visit as “A first attempt for [TRIUMF] to reach out to international high school students. Joe initiated contact and we took it on because we wanted to reach out to foreign students and, most importantly, we wanted to see if we could do this for high school kids. Maybe other schools will want to come here as well and we could accommodate them in this way.” When asked if the Strategic Planning and Communications Office would consider international high school outreach as a regular part of its approach for 2012 or if it is something they would be open to if approached, Marcello says that the latter is more likely: “If somebody approaches us from anywhere, then we will try to accommodate them. There are a lot of things that we can potentially do.”
Of his overall experience with TRIUMF, Joe was impressed, saying that he looks forward to “many more years of collaboration with TRIUMF.”
-- Written by Jordan Pitcher, Communications Assistant