We’re ENGINEERING PHYSICISTS
Indigenous Futures in Engineering at Queen’s University is committed to increasing the number of qualified Indigenous engineers in Canada. By promoting math and science to elementary and high school students, supporting the efforts of their teachers, enabling access to post-secondary study, and ensuring young people have what it takes to succeed, we are encouraging more Indigenous youth like Jay and Maranda to consider a future in engineering and other STEM-based professions.
Produced by Indigenous Futures in Engineering
Stephen J.R. Smith Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science at Queen’s University
First printing 2024
Text 2023 Melanie Howard
Illustration 2023 Peggy Collins
Typeset in Grit Primer, Diffie, and Minion Pro
Hi there - I’m Maranda! And I’m Jay. We’re Engineers and Physicists!
Both of us studied engineering physics at Queen’s University. My love of physics started with space and rockets.
Hey, Me too! These days, I’m working on something a little more down to earth though.
Physics is a branch of science that studies matter and its motion, as well as how it interacts with energy and forces. Physics studies the smallest particles of matter like atoms and neutrinos, as well as the largest stars and the universe as a whole.
Hi Jay! Hey Maranda!
Oh hi Mew, hi Wesaks, how’s it going?
Pretty good! Just one big question for you though –WHAT IS PHYSICS?
That’s a GREAT question Mew!
Scientists who are experts in physics are called physicists. When physics is combined with the problem-solving applications of engineering, the people who do this are called engineering physicists, like Maranda and me!
The universe I can kind of understand even though I can’t see it all. But how do we know about the smallest things that we can’t see, like atoms and neutrinos?
I’m headed to work on just that – let me show you!
Whoa! What is this place?
It’s called SNOLAB. The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, or SNO, was the first experiment in the lab, which gave it its name. It’s where I work this summer!
This is Dr. Tony, he is a professor. I’m doing research with him about neutrinos – the lightest particles of matter we know of.
Nice to meet you! Yes the giant SNO sensor is how we found new evidence about the smallest particles of matter in the universe, the neutrino. The physicist who led the study is Dr. Arthur McDonald – he won a Nobel Prize for his work in 2015.
We continue the work started by Dr. McDonald here at SNOLAB. But we also have a wide range of other experiments going on as well, all of which helps us to understand the universe a little bit better.
I have to get changed for work right now – do you want to come in for a bit and take a peek?
We can catch up later on video chat too!
NUCLEAR PHYSICS
So what is that?
It’s an observatory. It helps physicists look for and detect the smallest particles in the universe.
That is a super big observatory to try to find little teeny particles!
It sure is!
SNOLAB is also built in one of the deepest mines in the world. We have it here because it is well protected from radiation from the sun and outer space by being so far underground. Stars like our sun give off particles we call neutrinos when there is a nuclear reaction that happens in the star. We had a theory, an idea which could explain why neutrinos were disappearing between the sun and the earth. As scientists, we have to test our theories to better understand the strange properties of neutrinos!
WHOA. So engineering physics is mostly building really big tools to see really teeny things?
Neutrinos are so small, they pass THROUGH things. We have billions of neutrinos from the sun passing through us all the time – through the entire planet Earth! That’s how we are still able to look for them way down here.
LIGHT
FACTS ABOUT LIGHT:
There are many things in physics that we can’t see with our eyes, but quite a few others that we can see, and sense in other ways too.
What kind of things?
Well, light is a form of energy that we can see! Our sense of sight sees objects that light is emitted from and reflected off of. Our eyes process the light and turn it into an image in our brain. Engineering Physicists create technology known as light detectors, like this, to do the same thing.
· Light moves at the fastest known speed in the universe.
· Light bounces off mirrors and shiny surfaces. This is called reflection.
· Light can change direction when it passes through different materials. This is called refraction.
· Light is made of tiny particles called photons. These photons carry energy and help us see the world around us.
Did you know that many Indigenous Peoples have special teachings about the sun? Really? What do they teach?
Indigenous teachings recognize the sun’s light as crucial for warmth, growth, and the cycle of seasons. Physics tells us that sunlight provides both energy for plants to grow and helps us see the world around us.
So, both Indigenous knowledge and physics help us understand how the sun’s light is really important for life on Earth.
That’s right! They both teach us that the sun’s light connects us to the natural world and plays a crucial role in sustaining life. It’s amazing how different perspectives can come together to understand the importance of the sun.
SOUND
We use our sense of hearing to detect another form of energy - sound. Does sound travel in waves? I kind of think it would.
It is slower than the speed of light though, so that is why you see lightning, before you hear thunder – thunder and lightning occur at the same time, but the sound takes longer to get to you.
You are absolutely correct! It does travel in waves!
With a drum, I feel like you can see it and hear it too – the vibrations in the skin is something you can see and hear. Cool!
Yep, those vibrations create the sound waves that our ears pick up. Engineering Physicists like Maranda and me work on technology to pick up sounds from across the universe that are really hard to hear…like the sounds of a neutrino!
ELECTRICITY (WORK and ENERGY)
Physics is also things we call work and energy.
Work? Like a job?
In a way. Think of ALL jobs out there. Work is involved –the movement of something, the creation of something. In physics, it has a very precise definition:
Work is the amount of force or energy needed to move an object over a distance or to change that object in some way.
So physics is about moving things? Like how light and sound moves, eh?
Exactly! But unlike light and sound, some things move at slower rates that we can observe. You and I walking, for example – we are doing work with our bodies. Our bodies are using the energy we get from our food to help move them.
So energy is food?
Yes, and a few other things. Food is a form of chemical energy – the food gives us what our bodies need to be able to work and walk ourselves around. Light and sound are also considered energy!
Energy is the amount of work that can be done by a force. There are many forms of energy such as kinetic (movement), potential, thermal, gravitational, sound, light, electromagnetic, chemical and nuclear energy.
So energy is kind of like power? Like…electricity to get everything moving!
Listen to you! You’re turning into a Electricityphysicist! is also a BIG
area that physicists study!
Electricity is a concept that Indigenous cultures in North America have understood in different ways. Many teachings reflect the movement of atoms and electrons.
Indigenous cultures understand that everything is interconnected. Electricity can be seen as a form of energy that flows through the world, much like the rivers or wind.
Imagine atoms as the building blocks of everything, These atoms have smaller parts called electrons, which carry energy. Electricity can be seen as the movement of energy, from one atom to another.
While different Indigenous cultures may have their own unique explanations and beliefs regarding electricity, the concept can be understood as the movement of energy within the natural world.
ASTRONOMY
Hey Wesaks and Mew, do you know what astronomy is?
Yeah, I think so - astronomy is the study of stars, planets, and everything in space. That’s right! Did you know that Indigenous Peoples on Turtle Island have their own special connection to the night sky?
That’s cool - are there any special stories about the stars?
Absolutely!
There are stories about constellations like the Great Bear and the Seven Dancers. These stories are passed down from generation to generation, and they teach important lessons about nature, life, and how everything is connected.
So, for us, astronomy was a way to understand and respect the stars and planets - the whole universe?
Exactly! It is a way to connect with the whole universe and appreciate it. Our understanding of the night sky is a unique part of our cultures.
That’s really cool. I never knew that astronomy could be so important.
It’s really interesting to see how different cultures have their own perspectives on the stars and how they find meaning in the vastness of space. Astronomy truly connects us all!
Hey folks, I’m done work for the day. I have a rocket team meeting next, do you want to join me?
What’s a rocket team?
See you there Maranda, I’ll fill them in!
So you’ve definitely heard of rockets, right? Rocketry first started in China, when fireworks were invented. Rockets are propelled into the air by the rapid burning of fuels. Over the past 100 years, humans developed rockets capable of going so high and so fast, they can escape the pull of gravity and launch into space!
Maranda loves rockets – it’s really what she wants to do after she finishes school. You can learn about rockets by building smaller, working models of them and launching them. Some kids start with small kits, where the rockets go 300 feet in the air. You can learn how to build bigger rockets and even design your own, which is what Maranda does with the rocket team.
Hi! A few people from the rocket team have already arrived, let’s head in!
So are you going to launch your rocket to outer space Maranda?
I wish, but no. We are working on a sounding rocket this year, it goes really high, but comes back down to Earth with a parachute. We hope to get this one to 4,000 feet in our competition with First Nations Launch.
Cool right? It’s a rocketry competition for Indigenous student teams! We are all college and university students, and we design our rockets to meet a challenge. The team is busy sanding down some of the components for our rocket right now!
No way! So one day me and Wesaks could be on a rocket team?
You sure could! Hey, why don’t we go launch this little kit rocket right now?
The Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute is a community of students and scientists across Canada. They study the smallest particles that make up everything and the largest objects across the Universe. By supporting a range of initiatives, the McDonald Institute makes Canada a fantastic place to study and work in astroparticle physics.
The McDonald Institute explores some of the biggest mysteries in science today: What is dark matter that holds galaxies together? Where did all the anti-matter in the universe go? The experiments answering these questions run for decades, so the next generation of scientists needs to be ready! The McDonald Institute visits schools to get kids excited about this fascinating topic so they can be the future’s scientists!
The McDonald Institute recognizes the importance of diverse perspectives and different ways of knowing and thinking about science. To achieve this, they run programs that bring different communities together, including art and science art exhibits, and two-eyed seeing events. By getting new people and new ideas involved in science, the McDonald Institute hopes the next discovery is just around the corner.
Q-AISES Rocket Team
The Queen’s AISES Rocket Team was started by Maranda in 2019, with a goal of competing in the NASA-hosted competition called First Nations Launch, which takes place each year in Wisconsin. All teams competing feature Indigenous students from across Turtle Island, and the judging of the competition is by Indigenous Engineers who work for aerospace companies, including NASA itself! You can see Maranda speaking with some of the judges in the picture, which was taken in 2022.
In 2023, the team (pictured above) WON the competition and were crowned International Grand Champions. They were invited to tour the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and got a “backstage tour” of all of the cool things that NASA does!
Meet
MARANDA CHERRY
Maranda Cherry is a citizen of the Métis Nation of British Columbia, with family history and relations from Red River, Manitoba, and the Elizabeth Métis Settlement in Alberta. She graduated from Engineering Physics in 2022 and went on to graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While at Queen’s, Maranda was the inaugural lead for the Q-AISES Rocket Team, which competes at First Nations Launch, an annual competition hosted by NASA. She started an Indigenous rocketry team at MIT as well, and looks forward to a career in the aerospace industry. When Maranda isn’t in school, she likes to read books, work on her beading skills and play soccer.
and JAY SWANSON
Jay Swanson is a non-status First Nations person with family history from Muskoday Cree Nation, where his grandmother was from. Jay graduated from Engineering Physics in 2017, and completed a Master’s degree in Physics at the Royal Military College in 2020. He currently lives in Nova Scotia where he works as an Electro-Optical and Infrared Systems Modelling and Simulation Engineer for the Royal Canadian Navy. In his spare time, Jay likes to garden, create art, and hang out with his pets!
