Brandon-raised PhD student part of historic discovery
11/24/2010 at 11:46 AM
This made international news late last week but I thought that the important local connection was worth a mention...
Brandon-raised Tim Friesen, who now lives in Calgary, has been part of a very significant discovery in the Physics and Science world... According to the CBC link below
For the first time, antimatter atoms have been caged and kept in existence long enough to be probed by scientific instruments.
Friesen along with 41 other researchers from around the world including 12 other Canadians made the discovery at the renowned CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland as part of what they call "Project ALPHA." Over the past 2 years my understanding is that he has been involved in all aspects of the experiment from operating the apparatus and taking data to repairing parts when they break down.
Tim grew up in Brandon, attending Riverheights and Vincent Massey schools along with BU before moving on to the U of Calgary as a PhD student. His mother is a teacher in Brandon School Division and his father a former teacher. Just goes to show that if you have a passion for science and you're good at it, Brandon is as good a place as any to get your start!
More from CBC on the discovery including a pic of the Canadian crew:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010/11/17/antimatter-antihydrogen-atoms-trap.html
Calgary story:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/researchers+part+historic+antimatter+capture/3847492/story.html
More on the project from CERN:
http://alpha.web.cern.ch/alpha/
And more from Brandon University:
http://www.brandonu.ca/news/2010/11/18/brandon-university-alumnus-helps-isolate-anti-matter-at-cern/