Physics class visits UW Labs
On Monday April 7th, our grade 12 Physics class took its annual tour of some of University of Waterloo’s Labs. Students have the opportunity to complete their Physics Independent Study Units (ISUs) in some of UW’s Physics Labs with the guidance of Physics Professors and their Grad Students and this tour allows the students to finalize their ISU topic choices.
We were welcomed by Heather Neufeld (UW’s Science Outreach Coordinator) and Rohan Jayasundera (UW’s Dean of Science and Award-Winning Physics Lecturer). We then proceeded to the Dr. Robert Hill’s Low Temperature Physics Lab where we observed a superconducting magnetically levitated (frictionless) train.
This was followed by a tour of Dr. Donna Strickland’s Ultra Fast Pulsed Laser Lab. One of Dr. Strickland’s lasers on the first floor feeds Dr. Melanie Campbell’s Biophysics lab on the third floor where cutting-edge research is being done to detect the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease by analyzing the Amyloid-beta in the human eye.
We then met Dr. Kostadinka Bizheva in two of her Biophysics labs where biomedical optics and tissue optics are being developed to detect skin lesions to depths of up to 1 cm and determine, non-invasively, if they are benign or not.
Finally, we visited Dr. Martin Laforest at the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC) where we enjoyed a private lecture from him as well as an activity and tour of IQC. We observed IQC’s superconducting electromagnet that can have high current flowing in it, without assistance, for decades.
To top it all off, students enjoyed the company of two of Rockway’s most engaging Physics Teachers, Mr. Klassen and Mr. Pfisterer. How much more exciting can education get?
Mr. Pfisterer, Physics Teacher
