Dave Tucker
Chief Nuclear Officer, McMaster University
Bruce Gaulin
Brockhouse Chair, Physics of Materials, McMaster University
McMaster University is shaping the future of materials research using neutron beams and training the next generation of experts in the field.
McMaster University is proudly known as Canada’s Nuclear University. “With a suite of nuclear facilities and capabilities – including Canada’s most powerful research reactor – and aligned research institutes and centres that are unique in the world, we’re a key strategic asset in enabling Canada’s nuclear future,” says Dave Tucker, Chief Nuclear Officer and Associate Vice-President of Nuclear at McMaster University.
A history of innovation
McMaster is a world-class centre for nuclear research and innovation, including in the important area of materials research and neutron beam science. “Neutron beam science is a vehicle for understanding the properties of materials at a microscopic level,” explains Bruce Gaulin, Distinguished University Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Brockhouse Chair in the Physics of Materials at McMaster University. “We use neutron beams that have been extracted from sources such as nuclear reactors and perform experiments in which we study how the beams are deflected by the materials and how much energy is transferred from the material to the beam or vice versa.”
Neutron beam science is used in fields such as physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering, and has applications ranging from electronics and energy storage to pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing.
[McMaster University is] a key strategic asset in enabling Canada’s nuclear future
“McMaster has been on the international stage in neutron beam science for more than 65 years,” says Gaulin. The university is home to two neutron scattering beamlines – the same technology that former McMaster professor and Nobel Prize winner Bertram Brockhouse used to revolutionize the field of materials science in the 1960s.
Today, McMaster’s Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research is one of North America’s leading academic centres for materials discovery and now, the university is preparing to usher in a new era of materials research and innovation.
Supporting Canada’s nuclear future
McMaster will soon be home to the Canadian Neutron Beam Laboratory (CNBL), funded through the Canada Foundation for Innovation. “The CNBL will be the national centre for Canada’s domestic neutron beam science,” says Tucker. “By leveraging the key national treasure that is the McMaster Nuclear Reactor, it will provide a huge increase in neutron availability to enable Canada’s neutron beam science community to discover the materials of the future and better understand the materials driving our economy.”
When completed, the lab will house five unique neutron beamlines, ensuring scientists in Canada and around the world can continue to access the infrastructure they need to address challenges such as climate change, a clean economy, safety, security, and health. “The CNBL will also be an important vehicle for training the next generation of neutron professionals,” says Gaulin, noting that around 200 students will visit and use the neutron beam facilities each year.
This initiative is part of a broader effort by McMaster – in collaboration with Neutrons Canada, representing a pan-Canadian network of partner institutions – to develop more facilities, support researchers in neutron beam science, and expand education and training opportunities for future leaders in the field.
Learn more at nuclear.mcmaster.ca/neutron-beams
