QMI is taking part in Science Rendezvous, and we’d love to invite everyone interested in science to come by and enjoy the institute during this free, family-friendly science festival!

📍 Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute, 2355 East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4

🗓️ Saturday, May 9, 2026, 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.

🎟️ Free + all ages

Visitors will get to explore the quantum world through lab tours and demos, including:

• Crystal growth lab 
  The beautiful crystals found in nature represent only a tiny fraction of what’s possible using all the elements on the periodic table. The Hallas Lab designs and grows crystals not found in nature, particularly materials with strong quantum mechanical effects, giving rise to exotic magnetic and electronic properties.
• Scanning tunnelling microscopy 
  See how the Laboratory for Atomic Imaging Research probes the quantum world, exploring materials that may hold the key to next-generation quantum technologies.
• Quantum levitation track demo
  Witness the spectacular science of quantum levitation! In this demo, a superconducting puck is locked in place by magnetic flux lines and defies gravity by floating above a magnetic track.
• Quantum materials lab
  Our lab studies new kinds of materials that could one day help build better technologies. To understand them, we use powerful tools that let us “see” how tiny particles called electrons move inside these materials. We also try to change how these materials behave.
• Ultrafast Spectroscopy lab
  We use lasers to rapidly and remotely measure critical minerals in rocks. Our approach could have a significant impact in transitioning mining towards a more sustainable future in all phases of the mining cycle: exploration/planning, excavation and processing.

We’re also looking for a couple of student volunteers to help welcome visitors and support activities throughout the day. Volunteers will receive lunch!

Interested in volunteering? Please email James Day at jday@phas.ubc.ca.

View the full UBC Science Rendezvous program here: https://science.ubc.ca/events/rendezvous

View the Tour Map