Welcome to day 3 of LIYSF! The day started off with a lecture from Professor Richard O’Kennedy, past LIYSF president and Vice President for Research, Development, and Innovation at the Qatar Foundation. His lecture was all about personalized healthcare through genome sequencing. He taught us about how his research group collects personal health data to best support patients in a more personalized approach to medicine. I found the bio button he showed us particularly interesting. It is nickel-sized wearable button that collects health data throughout the day. It can even contact emergency medical services if it senses the patient having a heart attack! O’Kennedy’s research has life changing implications and it was exciting to learn about the future of medicine. My favourite line of his was that he wants people to live longer with a high quality of life, not just live longer.
The next part of our day was dedicated to the Science Bazaar where students were able to showcase their research projects. Both Rhien and I had the opportunity to have posters at the bazaar and talk about our work. I presented my research conducted in affiliation with Canada’s particle accelerator centre, TRIUMF, on stellar nucleosynthesis probed through high-precision mass spectroscopy. My work was specifically in the implementation of sensors during a cryogenic upgrade of the measurement Penning trap as well as running simulations of a new mass measurement technique that can lead to decreases in statistical uncertainties. High-precision mass measurements, like those performed at the TITAN (TRIUMF’s Ion Trap for Atomic and nuclear science) facility have impacts on our understanding of nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics. I enjoyed sharing my research with participants across the world, from those who loved physics to those who’ve never learned it.
Rhien presented her research on the menstrual side effects of the COVID vaccine that she conducted in affiliation with UFV’s own Professor Carin Bondar. Her project looked at the science communication behind menstrual health and vaccines. She aimed to enhance dialogue surrounding the side effects of the COVID vaccine with the hopes of lowering the stigma around menstrual health. This was the research she presented to the UFV judges which earned her place at LIYSF 2022!
I really enjoyed walking around and seeing the research students around the world were conducting. It was also quite humbling to see what 16 year olds were capable of and I’m certain our future is in wonderful hands. My favourite project was a self-righting mechanism for boats that significantly decreases the left and right wobble of ships. It works through the principle of conserving angular momentum and they designed the mechanism to scale with the size of a boat (i.e., a bigger boat will need a more massive mechanism so they designed it to get heavier by filling the cavity with water fed through a water pump!).
The best part of the day however was after dinner, when Rhien received notification that her research on the menstrual side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine was selected as a top 10 project! She will be presenting to all LIYSF participants this Monday! I’m so excited for her; she worked so hard on this study and I look forward to seeing her present to all participants. She is proudly representing Canada and UFV.
Our day ended off with a relaxing evening after our busy day. Looking forward to sharing more of our London adventures tomorrow!
~Annabelle