Pictured above are the the top three winners of the Division of Medical and Biological Physics competition. From left to right are Daniel Banks, third place (McMaster University) Francis Torres, first place (University of Ottawa) Jonathan Thiessen, second place (University of Winnipeg).

   Jonathan Thiessen  BSc (Hons)’07 has placed second in two competitions for physics students (undergrad, Masters and PhD) at the Canadian Association of Physics congress.

    Both were oral competitions.  The first competition was for medical physics, followed by an overall physics competition. Presentations were rated on originality/novelty, content, style/format and clarity.

    His presentation at CAP -- “Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Behavioural Test Comparisons in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease” – was based on work he performed with Dr. Melanie Martin during the summer of 2006. An extended abstract of this work will be published in the July/August edition of Physics in Canada, with Kathryn A. Collister, Laryssa M. Kurjewicz Marc R. Del Bigio, Benedict C. Albensi and Melanie Martin as co-authors.

   Thiessen was this year’s silver medalist for honours science at the U of W.  He is the recipient of an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award to work with Dr. Martin this summer. 

    Thiessen will be going into an MSc program in physics at the University of Manitoba this fall, working for Dr. Martin.  He has obtained an NSERC-CGS scholarship and an Alzheimer’s Society Graduate Student Fellowship to do this work.