After hearing presentations by students from across the country, physics professor Steven Rehse says he is convinced those from UWindsor rank among the best.

Dr. Rehse was a judge of the competitors at the annual congress of the Canadian Association of Physicists, June 15 to 20 in Sudbury. Grad students Camille Estienne and Russell Putnam represented Windsor in the finals of the student research competition; Estienne finishing second overall and Putnam earning an honourable mention.

Students were judged on the merit of their scientific research and the quality of their presentations. The showing pleased Chitra Rangan, head of the UWindsor physics department.

“Considering that only eight students total are chosen for these finals and that attendees are here from just about every physics department in Canada, the fact that two out of the eight finalists are from UWindsor is an incredible achievement,” she said.

Putnam had won the only award in the division of plasma physics. Etienne and fellow Windsor student Chris Diloreto captured two of the three awards for atomic, molecular, and optical physics. Also participating from Windsor were graduate student Mike Busuttil and undergraduate student Collin Tiessen.

“After hearing many student talks on a variety of subjects, there is no doubt that the quality of UWindsor students is among the very best in all of Canada,” Rehse concluded.