, ,, , , , , ,    During the week of May 15-19, 2017 Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute hosted the participants of Verna J. Kirkness Engineering and Science Program. Three students from Rorketon, Manitoba — Madison Mazier, Brigitte Swampy, Kaleb Geisen — and Alanna Eastman from Alberta had the opportunity to work with Ph.D. students Marta Zonno and Pascal Nigge from the laboratories of Professor Andrea Damascelli. The Indigenous students spent one day with our summer undergraduate student Alex Fortin who is also of Indigenous origin. The first day of their visit was enriched by a tour of Science World where the students saw an OMNIMAX movie about life in Alaska. This was the first year that SBQMI has participated in the program whose goal is to make the students familiar with a university environment and inspire them to do science and study at a Canadian university in the future.

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It was an absolute pleasure to have Alanna, Madison, Brigitte and Kaleb at SBQMI for a week. Our students and staff were impressed by their great curiosity and interest in science. We also learned about the students’ motivations, dreams, and their lives. Their public presentations at Kaiser Lecture Hall on the last day of their stay revealed how much they were able to achieve in just a week. We are excited about staying in touch with the students and look forward to learning about their future successes.