Ian Lam
Queen's University
PhD Candidate - Particle Astrophysics
Ian Lam is a PhD Candidate at Queen’s University working on the SNO+ Experiment under the supervision of Prof. Alex Wright.
Contact Information
Room 145, Stirling Hall
Queen’s University
Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6
Phone: 613-533-6000 ext. 75543
Email: ian.lam@queensu.ca
Bio
I did Mathematical Physics for my undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo, which was exclusively the theoretical side of physics. For my co-op, I took on research positions with lab work to get a feel of the experimental side of physics. At the end of my program, I realized that I preferred experimental physics more than theoretical. Naturally, the next question I asked myself was: which field should I go to for my graduate studies? During my co-op, I got a taste of medical physics, condensed matter and particle/nuclear physics. All of them interested me in their own way so I sought out openings for them. I ended up accepting the position with SNO+ and my interest in particle/nuclear physics continued to grow from there.
Q&A with Ian
What are your research interests?
I am interested in particle and nuclear physics. Everything in nature consists of various particles, and so understanding the characteristics of these particles and their various processes/interactions equates to understanding nature.
How would you describe your work at the most basic level?
I have been involved with various aspects of the SNO+ experiment, from machining scaled down versions of the hardware used underground for bench-top testing to analyzing massive amounts of data generated by the experiment.
Why did you choose physics?
I am generally interested in how things work and as delved more into physics, I realized that it is a wide field dedicated to understanding how the world works from the atomic scale to the galactic scale. Naturally, I had a great affinity for physics.