Turner Silverthorne

“QCSYS presented physics in a very organic way,” remembered QCSYS alumnus TURNER SILVERTHORNE. He felt an immediate sense of belonging and connection through his shared passion for physics and discovery with fellow QCSYS students. Exploring math and physics at QCSYS was a unique experience, similar to an improvised guitar performance. A talented musician, Silverthorne often uses music as an analogy when talking about physics. “Physics is like playing the guitar – anyone can learn it, you just need to practice.”

He is gaining plenty of physics practice studying mathematical physics as an undergraduate student at the University of Waterloo. Silverthorne’s most recent co-op term brought him back to IQC as an Undergraduate Research Assistant (URA) with faculty member MICHAL BAJCSY to investigate novel applications of light-matter interaction. He is working on finalizing the design of a miniaturized ion trap with a built in optical cavity. By balancing photon confinement with ion trap stability, his research aims to find the optimal platform for light-matter interaction within an ion trap.