UWindsor representatives won plaudits in the student research presentation competitions at the Canadian Association of Physicists annual congress in London, Ontario.

More than 20 people attended from the University, including current students, faculty, and alumni who have moved on and are performing research at other institutions.

Recently graduated Nathan Drouillard (BSc 2021, MSc 2024) placed first in the student oral competition in the Division of Atomic and Molecular Physics-Canada and went on to finish first in the overall congress-wide student oral competition.

“At the CAP Congress, I presented the key findings of my master’s thesis, which involved my novel method of generating laser light for measuring chemicals in water,” says Drouillard.

Drouillard conducted his master’s studies under the supervision of physics prof T.J. Hammond. In September he begins a PhD program.

“My research will be a continuation of my master’s work,” says Drouillard. “In collaboration with Aaron Fisk and the Real-Time Aquatic Ecosystem Observation Network (RAEON), I am aiming to develop a new way of measuring dissolved phosphorus in Lake Erie, which is important for understanding harmful algal blooms.”

Other highlights include:

• Evan Petrimoulx placed second in the student oral competition in the Division of Atomic and Molecular Physics-Canada.
• Hadia Malik placed third in the student poster competition in the Division of Physics in Medicine and Biology.
• Abo-Bakr Emara received an honourable mention in the student poster competition in the Division of Particle Physics.

“They were all extremely competitive and represented UWindsor physics very well,” says department head Steven Rehse. “We were all very proud of them.”