Physics Undergraduate Conference 2016 an exceptional experience
Student presenter Abhilash Matthews (left) describes his research to judge Prof. Colin Denniston (right)
The Physics Undergraduate Conference was held on Thursday, March 24, 2016.
By 10:30 a.m. the poster papers and computer displays were ready for public viewing in the building atrium.
The official program began at 12:30 p.m. with two public oral student presentations, moderated by Professor John de Bruyn.
Nathalie Thibert spoke on "Outflowing Winds in Quasars: A Study of CIV Broad Absorption Lines".
Next, Ian Mulholland spoke on "Optimizing Kuiper Belt Occultation Searches in the Ecliptic Plane".
Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo
After a short break, Université de Montréal astronomer Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo gave a talk titled "Black Holes: Sculptors of Galaxies and Clusters". Host was Chair Bob Sica.
The full house then adjourned for pizza lunch and tour of the poster papers, all in the Physics and Astronomy building atrium. The posters, along with oral presentations were judged.
Following the poster session and lunch, the CAP (Canadian Association of Physicists) lecture was given to another packed room by Simon Fraser University physicist Stephanie Simmons. The talk was titled, "The International Race for a Quantum Computer".
Stephanie Simmons
Following Stephanie's talk, the student awards were announced.
Abhilash Matthews was winner of the award for best poster oral presentation, while Nathalie Thibert received the award for best poster presentation. Professor Tamie Poepping presented the awards.
Michael Cuffaro (left), Stephanie Simmons (right)
To finish the day, a panel discussion was held on the the topic "How our World Changes with Quantum Computing". Panelists were Simon Fraser University physicist Stephanie Simmons and Western University philosopher Michael Cuffaro. Moderators were Dylan Del Papa and Jonathon Riddell.
Abhilash Matthews (left) - best poster oral presentation.
The organizers, under the direction of Prof. Tamie Poepping, could be proud of hosting a well organized and very well attended event. The student research was impressive, and the invited speakers could not have been better mentors.
Nathalie Thibert (left) - best poster
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