Meghan Magee; www.triumf.ca (December 23, 2009)

Last week, Dona Cadman, MP Surrey-North, hosted members of the Canadian Post-Secondary Education (PSE) Conservative Caucus for a visit to the University of British Columbia (UBC), Simon Fraser University's satellite campus in Surrey, and Kwantlen Polytechnic University.

Part of their day at UBC on Monday, December 14, included a stop at TRIUMF, Canada's national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics, for a quick tour and a look into what the laboratory offers Canadian university students in terms of research and training.

The tour was attended by Rod Bruinooge, MP for Winnipeg-South and Chair of the PSE Caucus; vice chair of the PSE Caucus: Dona Cadman, MP for Surrey-North; Patrick Brown, MP for Barrie, Ontario; Harold Albrecht, MP for Kitchener-Connestoga, Ontario; Peter Braid, MP for Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario; Ray Boughen, MP for Palliser, Saskatchewan; Earl Dreeshen, MP for Red Deer, Alberta; and Don Brooks, Associate Vice President Research & International, UBC.

With only half an hour to tour the lab, the visitors were guided on a whirlwind tour to four sites around the facility where they had the opportunity to hear from undergraduate and graduate students currently working on various research projects at TRIUMF.  A sophisticated group, the MPs had good questions and listened carefully; one even "tweeted" live about the tour.

The visitors were very impressed with the student presentations and TRIUMF's commitment to provide post-secondary students with on-the-ground research opportunities that complement their classroom experience.