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Dr. Rehse Attends International LIBS Conference.
Dr. Rehse attended the LIBS XIII / LA LIBS II bi-annual intenational confernce in IGuazu, Argentinat from September 2 to September 6, 2024. Over five days the delegates discussed all the latest developments in the LIBS field. Shown is Dr. Rehse with other delegates at an opening welcome and presenting his invited talk entitled, "LIBS for the Rapid Detection and Diagnosis of Pathogenic Bacteria in Human Clinical Specimens: Blood, Urine, and Cerebrospinal Fluid."
Graduates!
The Rehse Group loses five extremely experienced researchers at the end of 2024 due to graduation.
Shown from left to right are: Isabella Arthur, BSc - Biomedical Sciences; Caroline Alionte, BSc - Medical Physics; Hadia Malik, BSc - Medical Physics; August Baughan, BSc - Medical Physics after they received their University of Windsor Faculty of Science LEAD Medallions.
Not shown is Jasmine Saad, who has accepted early entrance to a School of Dentistry and will be starting her studies in the Fall of 2024.
Congratulations to ALL the graduates and to Jasmine for acceptance to dental school.
Students of the Rehse Lab Attend Physicists Congress in London, Ontario.
Professor Rehse and almost the entire research group attended the 2024 Canadian Association of Physicists annual congress in London, Ontario, May 27 to 31. The group presented three posters, all of which are available for viewing in the presentations section.
Here is the group standing before their posters.
Below on the left, Caroline, Rachel and Izzy present a poster on detecting bacteria in cerebrospinal fluid and on the right, Jasmine shows off her poster on detecting bacteria in blood.
Hadia Malik placed 3rd in the poster competition in the Division of Physics in Medicine and Biology for her poster on using LIBS to detect and identify bacteria in simulated urinary tract infections.
Professor Rehse Attends European- Mediteranean LIBS Conference
Professor Rehse attended the EMSLIBS 2023 Conference in Porto, Portugal from September 4 to September 7, 2023. EMSLIBS is the bi-annual meeting for researchers in Africa and Europe conducting work in the field of LIBS and this year was held in the breathtaking ocean-side city of Porto, famed as the source of the world-renowned port wine.
He presented a talk entitled, "LASER-INDUCED BREAKDOWN SPECTROSCOPY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF PATHOGENS IN BLOOD AND URINE," and you can view this presentation here.
Professor Rehse and Pre-Optometry Students Discuss Optics
Inspired by a chance meeting at a UWindsor Science "Meet the Professor Night" Professor Rehse and 10 UWindsor students from the Pre-Optometry Society, gathered on July 11, 12, and 13th to hold short course entitled, Optics for Optometrists. The intent of this summer-school was to help better prepare students for a career in optometry by providing a deeper understanding on such fundamental topics as: how lenses work, how the eye functions as an optical system, pathologies of the eye, how poor vision is corrected by an optometrist, and what limitations to that correction exist. This content was delivered by Professor Steve Rehse of the Department of Physics (shown below at left). On the third day of the three day event, Dr. Alice Saad-Laba (shown below at right), a Windsor optometrist who owns her own practice, presented material on the current state of the art in the field of optometry and presented clinical applications and examples from her practice. She concluded by providing professional development advice for the attendees such as: how to succeed in optometry school, how to choose a career after professional school, and how to maintain an appropriate work-life balance both as a student and as a practicing optometrist.
Professor Rehse, UWindsor Faculty, and Students Attend CAP Congress, June 2023
Professor Rehse presented an invited oral contribution entitled, "Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for the Identification of Pathogens in Blood and Urine" in a Division of Physics in Medicine and Biology (DPMB) session. A copy of this presentation may be found at the “Conferences & Presentations” page, or by clicking on the images below.
Professor Rehse Attends International Plasma Conference
Professor Rehse attended the IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science (ICOPS) in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. ICOPS is an annual event organized and sponsored by the Plasma Science and Application Committee (PSAC) of the IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society (NPSS). This is the 50th offering of this conference. He presented a talk entitled, "LASER-INDUCED BREAKDOWN SPECTROSCOPY FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF PATHOGENS IN BLOOD AND URINE," and you can view this presentation here.
December, 2022
Congratulations to our newest Master's recipient: Ms. Emma Blanchette, B.Sc., M.Sc.
Emma defended her thesis, "Detection and Diagnosis of Bacterial Pathogens in Blood and Urine Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy," on Tuesday, December 13th, 2022. Emma's committee consisted of Dr. Rehse (advisor), Professor Andrew Hubberstey (Biomedical Science), and Professor TJ Hammond (Physics). Way to go, Emma!
The Rehse Group Attends SciX Conference in Covington, KY, USA.
From October 2 to October 7, 2022, Professor Rehse, MSc student Emma Blanchette, and 4th year undergraduate student Emily Tracey attended the “Great Scientific Exchange” SciX 2022 conference in Covington, Kentucky, along the banks of the Ohio river across from downtown Cincinnati.
SciX, presented by FACSS (the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies), is a leading conference for analytical chemists and spectroscopists. SciX is the home of the annual conference of the North American Society for Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (NASLIBS). All three attendees contributed very well-received presentations and the details of the student contributions and awards can be found below. Copies of all the presentations can be found on the “Conferences & Presentations” page.
Master's Student Emma Blanchette Receives Honourable Mention in Student Poster Competition
Emma presented her poster, “Developments in the Rapid Diagnosis of Bacterial Pathogens Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy,” on Sunday night at the SAS student poster competition and on Tuesday during the NASLIBS poster session. Emma’s poster was selected from among many to receive an “Honorable Mention” distinction. Shown below are Emma presenting her poster and receiving her award.
4th Year Honours Medical Physics Student Emily Tracey Receives SAS Student Travel Award
Emily presented her poster, “Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Emission Enhancement from Bacteria on a Silver Thin Film,” on Sunday night at the SAS student poster competition. After the poster session, Emily was awarded one of only four Society for Applied Spectroscopy “Undergraduate Student Travel Awards” valued at $300USD to support her travel to the conference. Emily was also given the opportunity to present her work in an oral presentation entitled, “Pulsed Laser Deposition of a Silver Film For Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Emission Enhancement of Bacteria,” on Tuesday, October 4th. Shown below are Emily presenting her poster, giving her talk, and receiving her award.
Master's Student Emma Blanchette Places Second in Student Presentation Competition.
Emma placed 2nd in the DAMOP-C student presentation competition at the 2022 Canadian Association of Physicists Congress (McMaster University). Emma competed in the oral presentation category, presenting a paper entitled, "Rapid Detection of Bacterial Pathogens in Water and Clinical Specimens Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy." A copy of Emma's presentation may be found here. At left is Emma receiving her prize at the Congress award ceremony.
4th Year Honours Medical Physics Student Emily Tracey Presents at the Canadian Association of Physicists Congress
3rd Years Honours Students August Baughan and Grace Johnson Present at the Canadian Association of Physicists Congress
Emily competed in the student poster competition at the 2022 Canadian Association of Physicists Congress (McMaster University). Emily presented a paper entitled, "Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Emission Enhancement from Bacteria on a Silver Thin Film." A copy of Emily's poster can be found here.
August and Grace presented in the Tuesday evening poster session with their contribtuion, "Developments in the Rapid Diagnosis of Bacterial Pathogens Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy." A copy of this poster can be found here.
At right are Emily (1st on right), August (1st on left), and Grace (2nd on left) at the conference banquet.
2rd Year Honours Physics Student Grace Johnson Awarded the 2021 Baylis Physics Research Internship.
The Department of Physics is pleased to announce that the 2021 Baylis Physics Research Internship will be awarded to Grace Johnson (2nd year, BSC Honours Physics (Co-op) ).
This Internship annually awards $1000 to a second-year student enrolled in Physics or Medical Physics to support their work on a research project with a faculty member in the Department of Physics. The goal of the Internship is to expose the student to the process of performing academic physics research and to more broadly introduce the student to the activities of the Department of Physics and the people in it.
Grace currently possesses a 97.167 GPA and as a high-school student worked in the Chemistry lab of Dr. Simon Rondeau-Gagne as a co-op student. Grace’s research supervisor is Dr. Steven Rehse and she intends to investigate the use of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy on both Mars rovers: Curiosity (the ChemCam instrument package) and Perseverance (the SuperCam instrument package). According to Grace, “Astrophysics and spectroscopy are two subjects that I am extremely interested in and that I would like to pursue a career in. Being able to gain research experience in this area of physics so early in my career would be extremely beneficial for my future, and I would enjoy it very much. I love learning about different theories and am excited to see how they are tested and used in a real-life laboratory setting.”
This internship has been established by Professor William Baylis and his wife, Mrs. Bobbye Baylis to recognize deserving first year undergraduate students in any Physics program who demonstrate exceptional potential and to invest in that potential by engaging them in advanced research opportunities with a faculty mentor. A full descriptions of Grace's award can be found at the UWindsor Daily News here.
3rd Year Honours Medical Physics Student Emily Tracey Presents at the Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference (CUPC).
Emily presented a paper entitled, "Pulsed Laser Deposition of a Silver Film For Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Emission Enhancement of Bacteria," at the 57th Annual Canadian Undergraduate Physics Conference from November 4-7, 2021. With over 200 delegates from around the country, CUPC brought together students from all over Canada to engage and share knowledge regarding physics and astronomy. Their goal is to provide delegates with the opportunity to network with peers and industry professionals, learn about the exciting research of experts, and to find opportunities in the field of physics. A video of Emily presenting her talk can be found here. A copy of Emily's presentation can be found here.
Physics student selected for Best Student Paper Award at international conference.
UWindsor physics MSc student Emma Blanchette (BSc Honours Physics, 2021) recently won the Best Student Paper Award at the 48th IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science. This conference was held virtually September 12 to 16.
Emma’s talk entitled, “The use of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for bacterial detection, quantification, and identification,” was chosen from amongst all student submissions to compete in a special live virtual student competition session with 11 other students from all over the world. Her paper and presentation were selected to be one of two winners out of this group of finalists, earning her the award, which comes with a certificate and a $500 USD cash prize. She was also recognized publically at a special award presentation ceremony on Wednesday, September 15th.
Emma describes her work this way: “I am investigating a laser-based technique to detect and diagnose bacterial infections, potentially in minutes. Because this technique is so fast, it has a lot of potential for improving patient outcomes, reducing death rates, and stopping the antibiotic resistance crisis. Our advancements in this field could make laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy a very important medical diagnostic tool in the future.”
Blanchette, who also recently took second place in the Best Student Poster Presentation competition at the Canadian Association of Physicists annual congress, works in the lab of Steve Rehse, and is a former recipient of the 2020 Lucjan Krause Scholarship in the Department of Physics.
A video of Emma presenting her talk is provided here. A link to a PDF copy of the presentation slides is provided here.
STUDENTS PRESENTED AT THE 2021 CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICISTS ANNUAL CONGRESS
Abbey Richer presented a talk entitled, “Laser-based mask characterization for prophylaxis of Covid-19,” co-authored by Steven Rehse, TJ Hammond, Jeremy Marvin, Kenneth Drouillard.
Emma Blanchette presented a poster entitled, “Quantification of Sensitivity and Specificity in a Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Diagnostic Assay for Pathogenic Bacteria Detection and Classification,” co-authored by Sydney C. Sleiman, Haiqa Arain, Alayna Tieu, Chloe Clement, Griffin Howson, Emily Tracey, Jeremy Marvin, Steven J. Rehse
Haiqa Arain presented a talk entitled, “The Use of Silver Microparticles for Spectrum Emission Enhancement During Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy of Bacterial Specimens,” co-authored by Emma J. Blanchette, Sydney C. Sleiman, Alayna Tieu, Chloe Clement, Griffin Howson, Emily Tracey, Jeremy Marvin, Steven J. Rehse.
Prize Winning Talks!
Rehse group student Emma Blanchette took second place in the Physics in Medicine and Biology Division Student Poster competition.
Emma Blanchette has been named the 2020 Recipient of the Dr. Lucjan Krause Undergraduate Scholarship in Physics.
The Department of Physics is pleased to announce that Ms. Emma Blanchette has been selected to be the 4th recipient of the Lucjan Krause Scholarship. Emma will be receiving an award of $1000 to recognize her excellence in physics.
Emma received this award for her consistent record of academic achievement, her dedication to excellence in research, and her commitment to service not only within the Department, but also to the Faculty of Science and the University, all of which bring recognition and honour to our Department.
Emma has been working in Professor Rehse's lab for three years, starting in the Fall of 2017, as a UWindsor Outstanding Scholars participant, a summer research intern, and an NSERC USRA recipient. Congratulations, Emma!
CONGRATULATIONS to Jeremy Marvin for Defending His M.Sc. Thesis
Graduate student Jeremy Marvin successfully defended his Masters of Science Thesis, "Signal Optimization and Enhancement of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for Discrimination of Bacterial Organisms," on Thursday, December 10th, 2020. Jeremy's thesis details his efforts to reduce the extraneous background signal observed in the LIBS spectra of specimens not containing bacteria, to investigate data pre-processing techniques that could enhance discrimination, and to effectively invent a new subfield called "Microparticle Enhanced LIBS." Jeremy greatly appreciates the efforts of his thesis committee consisting of Dr. Drew Marquardt (Chemistry/Biochemistry), Dr. Elena Maeva (Physics), and Dr. Rehse.
A PDF copy of Jeremy's thesis defense has been posted on our website and can be viewed by clicking here or on the picture.
Jeremy Marvin Presents Virtual Presentation at IOMLIBS 2020.
Graduate student Jeremy Marvin presented a talk, "Signal Optimization and Chemometric Analysis of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Bacterial Spectra to Quantify Detection Limits and Improve Classification Accuracy," at the 1st International Online Meeting on LIBS, (Virtual) July 7th, 2020. Marvin and Rehse attended the multi-day event without ever leaving home, exchanging updates on world-wide LIBS research and re-connecting with colleagues.
The presentation has been posted on our website and can be viewed by clicking here or on the picture.
Emma Blanchette Presents Virtual Poster at CAP.
NSERC USRA summer student Emma Blanchette presented her poster, "Signal Optimization and Chemometric Analysis of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy Bacterial Spectra to Quantify Detection Limits and Improve Classification Accuracy" by Emma J. Blanchette, Sydney C. Sleiman, Jeremy C. Marvin, Haiqa Arain, Archie M. Mendoza, Alayna Tieu, Steven J. Rehse. This poster was presented virtually at the Canadian Association of Physicists annual Congress, June 2020. While the face to face poster session was cancelled, Emma presented our group's research to develop a nearly real-time medical test for the diagnosis of pathogenic bacteria by taking the virtual audience through this poster. The presentation has been posted on YouTube and can be viewed by clicking here or on the picture.
Dr. Rehse Attends EMSLIBS in the Czech Republic.
Dr. Rehse attended the 2019 Euro-Mediterranean Symposium on Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy in Brno, Czech Republic, which was held from September 8-13th. He presented an invited talk entitled, “Bacterial Limit of Detection Reduction Utilizing a Novel Sample Preparation Protocol,” which was authored by Steven J. Rehse, Jeremy Marvin, Alexandra E. Paulick, Emma Blanchette, and Sydney Sleiman.
Graduate Student Jeremy Marvin Wins Multiple Poster Awards at CAP!
Jeremy Marvin (M.Sc., Physics) won three awards at the recent 2019 Canadian Association of Physicists Congress at Simon Fraser University. Jeremy's poster, entitled, "Concentration of Cells and Elimination of Extraneous Background Signals in Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy to Identify, Differentiate and Detect Bacteria," was the Division Finalist for the Division of Physics in Medicine and Biology and placed 3rd overall in the Student poster competition, and was also awarded a special prize by the Biophysical Society of Canada. Pictured is Jeremy with his poster during the poster competition and recieving some of his awards. Congratulations, Jeremy.
Congratulations to our newest Master's recipient: Ms. Allie Paulick, B.Sc., M.Sc.
Allie (shown second from right) defended her thesis, "Development of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy as a Rapid Diagnostic Tool for Bacterial Infection" on Thursday, Decembe 13th, 2018. Allie's committee consisted of Professor Andrew Hubberstey (Biological Sciences), Dr. Rehse (advisor), and Professor Dan Xiao (Physics). Way to go, Allie!
Dr. Rehse Presents at LIBS2018 / SciX2018 in Atlanta, GA.
Dr. Rehse attended the 2018 national meeting of NASLIBS and the bi-annual International LIBS meeting, LIBS2018 at the SciX Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, October 20th - October 26th, 2018.
Although Dr. Rehse's presentation at the meeting was well-received, he experienced multiple encounters with Lord Vader.
Several contingents of Imperial representatives appeared intent on investigating and hindering Dr. Rehse's advances in laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy technology. Nonetheless many important scientific exchanges occured at the International meeting.
The Rehse Group Attends CAP Congress 2018
The Rehse group attended the 2018 national congress of the Canadian Association of Physicists which convened in Halifax, Nova Scotia from June 10-15. They are shown above at a banquet on Wednesday night. Shown also are Jeff Dech and Josh Trocchi, both graduate students of Professor McConkey. All the students presented posters and Paulick presented a talk as well.
Paul Dubovan (Medical Physics 2019) and Robert Valente (BSc Physics & Mathematics 2019) presented their poster "Investigation of Emission Enhancement in Dual-Pulse and Resonance-Enhanced Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy."
Christopher Heath (BSc Physics and Computer Science 2019) presented his poster, "SPECTROSCOPIC TECHNIQUES IN DETERMINING THE ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION OF FISH OTOLITHS."
Alexandra Paulick (BSc Physics 2016, MSc Physics 2018) presented her poster "Bacterial Mounting and Concentration Techniques to Translate Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy into a Clinical Setting."
Dr. Rehse Zooms Back to the Future at Pittcon 2018 (Orlando, FL)
Dr. Rehse presented an invited talk, "Biomedical and Biological Applications of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy," at the 2018 Pittcon Conference and Expo in Orlando, Florida, USA on Feb. 28th, 2018. Shown above left is Dr. Rehse sitting in a fully operation Delorean time machine left-over from the Back to the Future series of movies.
Paulick and Rehse attend NASLIBS2017 at the SciX Conference in Reno
Graduate student Alexandra Paulick (M.Sc. in progress) and Dr. Rehse attended the 2017 national meeting of the North American Society for Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy which convened in Reno, Nevada, USA from October 9-13. They are shown above at a reception for members of the Society for Applied Spectroscopy.
Paulick presenting her poster "Bacterial Mounting and Concentration Techniques to Translate Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy into a Clinical Setting," during two poster sessions.