Active Student Projects Initiated & Co-Supervised by Dr. Dehnel:
Maïté Troutet, Digital Fabrication Student, Selkirk College. MITACS funded with Accel-Link Ltd as industrial partner. Academic Supervisors: Dr. Terri MacDonald and Dr. Morgan Dehnel. Research Topic – Modeling and simulation of Penning ion-source plasma behavior using VSIM™, including development of 2D Argon plasma models, analysis of rotating plasma density oscillations, and parameter optimization to reduce beam noise and improve ion-source performance for semiconductor manufacturing applications.
Mason Morissette, Selkirk College Digital Fabrication Graduate. Digital Fabrication Intern at SIRC. MITACS funded with D-Pace as industrial partner. Academic Supervisors: Dr. Terri MacDonald and Dr. Morgan Dehnel. Research Topic – Electrical assembly and commissioning of a Penning ion-source test stand, including integration of power supplies, control systems, and instrumentation, development of schematics and wiring systems, and documentation of finalized electrical designs to support high-current ion source operation for semiconductor and accelerator applications.
Sydney Spence, Digital Fabrication Student, Selkirk College. MITACS funded with Pfeiffer Vacuum as industrial partner. Academic Supervisors: Dr. Terri MacDonald, Dr. Morgan Dehnel, and Cory Drew. Research Topic – Mechanical design, assembly, and commissioning of a Penning ion-source test stand, including vacuum system integration, piping and cooling system design, leak testing, and development of detailed engineering documentation to support high-current, long-life ion source operation for advanced manufacturing and research applications.
Jonathan Doyle, Ph.D. Student, Physics & Engineering Physics, University of Saskatchewan. MITACS funded with KAST as industrial partner. Academic Supervisors: Dr. Terri MacDonald, Dr. Morgan Dehnel, Dr. Lenaic Couedel, and Dr. Chijin Xiao. Research Topic – Development of an Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES) diagnostic for plasma studies, including design and calibration of optical systems, modeling of plasma parameters from emission spectra, experimental validation using Penning ion sources, and application of machine learning to develop surrogate models for real-time optimization and auto-tuning of ion-source performance in advanced manufacturing applications.
Megan Matthews, Selkirk College Diploma in Digital Arts, BSc/BBA in Accounting. SIRC Intern – Graphic Design for NIBS 2026 Website & member of Local Organizing Committee (LOC) December 2025 – April 2026.
Robert Gagnon, Master’s Student, UVic (Department of Mechanical Engineering). SIRC Umbrella Mitacs funded with D-Pace as industrial partner. Academic Supervisors: Dr. Sravya Tekumalla (UVic), Dr. Morgan Dehnel (SIRC) and Commercial Supervisor, Dr, Anand George (D-Pace). Research Topic – Development and optimization of a novel Penning ion source for high charge state nitrogen and aluminum ions for silicon carbide doping in power electronics, including generation of particle-µA beams and the use of LPBF additive manufacturing to produce durable, sputter-resistant tantalum or other metallic cathodes for extended ion-source operation (September 2025 – September 2027).
Connor MacKenzie, Master’s Student, University of Saskatchewan (Department of Physics and Engineering Physics). MITACS/TRIUMF funded. Academic Supervisor: Dr. Michael Bradley; Co-Supervisor: Dr. Morgan Dehnel (SIRC). Research Topic – Development of next-generation cathodes for PET medical isotope production using Penning ion sources, focusing on increasing H⁻/D⁻ beam currents while reducing arc power through cesium-salt–enhanced cathode inserts, with the goal of creating a scalable, market-ready technology for medical cyclotron applications (September 2025 – September 2027).
Philip Jackle, Ph.D. Student, SFU, NSERC/D-Pace Funded. SFU Supervisor Dr. K. Kavanagh, D-Pace Supervisor – Dr. S. Melanson. Research Topic – The creation and study of negative helium beams created by the transmission of energetic positive helium ions through thin foils.
Jasmin Deguire, Ph.D. Student UVIC. MITACS/D-Pace funded. UVIC Supervisor Dr. T. Junginger, D-Pace Supervisor Dr. S. Melanson. Detailed R&D Supervision Dr. G. Fubiani and Dr. N. Savard. Research Topic -.Modeling several processes within ion sources: the filament boundary with electron emission, RF antenna power coupling to the plasma, and Coulomb collisions required for thermalization of the bulk plasma electrons. In addition, these models will then be used to compare the simulated plasma parameters to those determined experimentally with our diagnostics.
Ben Warfield – UVic Department of Physics & Astronomy – Ph.D. – Selkirk College funded research. Experiments to take place at the Selkirk Ion-source Research Centre (SIRC). Project initiator is Dr. Oliver Kester, Director TRIUMF Accelerator Division, and the topic is a study of Penning Ion Source technology for ion species with mass less than 30 AMU, and q = A/6 aiming to determine through R&D whether the Penning can achieve sufficient beam currents, beam quality, and source lifetime to be potentially utilized within TRIUMF’s OLIS set-up. Dr. Junginger is the Academic Supervisor, and Dr. Dehnel, as the Selkirk Ion-source Research Chair, is the co-supervisor for experimentation at the SIRC.
Completed Post-Doctoral, Ph.D. & Master’s Projects initiated & co-supervised by Dr. Dehnel:
Connor MacKenzie, B. Sc. Student UBCO, 4th Year Capstone Project in Physics. UBC Supervisor 2024/2025 year – TBD. Detailed R&D Supervision Dr. N. Savard and Dr. G. Fubiani. Research Topic – Explicit Particle-In-Cell (PIC) modeling of filament-powered volume-cusp used for negative hydrogen and negative deuterium production, and an investigation of the 3:1 beam current production difference for these two species of negative hydrogen.
Dr. Nicolas Savard, TRIUMF/D-Pace Post Doctoral Fellow. MITACS/D-Pace funded. TRIUMF Supervisor Dr. R. Baartman, D-Pace Supervisor Dr. S. Melanson, UPS Toulouse Key Research Supervisor Dr. Fubiani. Research Topic – Development of implicit Particle-In-Cell (PIC) codes for plasma modeling, and comparison to explicit codes.
Isabel Dinneny, B. Eng. student UVIC, 4th Year Capstone Project in Mechanical Engineering. UVIC Supervisor Dr. Andrew Rowe. Research Topic – The design of a super-conducting coil for a mass spectrometer magnet for potential space utilization and power consumption efficiencies in applications involving stable medical isotope production. The project ran from May – August 2024.
Cole Dutchyn, B.Sc. Student University of Saskatchewan, MITACS/D-Pace funded co-op project. University of Saskatchewan Dr. Lénaïc Couëdel, D-Pace Supervisor Dr. S. Melanson, Detailed R&D Supervision Dr. N. Savard, Dr. G. Fubiani. Research Topic – application of explicit Particle-In-Cell (PIC) codes to practical plasma physics and beam extraction problems involving multi-cusp ion sources, and the improvement of a langmuir probe. The project ran from May – August 2024.
Dr. Anand George, TRIUMF/D-Pace Post Doctoral Fellow. MITACS/D-Pace funded. TRIUMF Supervisor Dr. C. Hoehr, D-Pace Supervisor Dr. S. Melanson. Research Topic – Development and test of commercial level RF-powered volume-cusp negative hydrogen ion source for cyclotron based medical radioisotope production (leveraging D-Pace’s TRIUMF and University of Jyväskylä licenses). Completed February 2024.
Andrew Paul, UVIC Master’s Student. MITACS/D-Pace funded. UVIC Supervisor Dr. T. Junginger. Detailed R&D supervision whilst at D-Pace ion source test stand lead by Dr. S. Melanson. Research Topic – Production of secondary negative ion beams by transmission of a negative hydrogen ion beam through neutral gas, and acceleration of any secondary negative ion species created. Completed December 2023.
Nicolas Savard, UBC Ph.D. Student. MITACS/D-Pace & UBC Scholarship funded. UBC/TRIUMF Supervisor Dr. R. Kruecken. Research Topic – The design, modeling, development, implementation and testing of a Penning Ion Source for the production of alpha beams for cyclotron based medical radioisotope production. Completed February 2022.
Anand George, U. Auckland Ph.D. Student, Callaghan/Buckley Systems Ltd funded. U. Auckland Supervisor Dr. N. Broderick. Research Topic – A study on the extraction of negative ions from a multicusp ion source. Completed July 2021.
Stephane Melanson, UBC Ph.D. Student, NSERC/D-Pace funded. UBC Supervisor Dr. R.R. Johnson. Research Topic – The production of Negative Carbon Ions from Volume-Cusp Ion Sources. Completed August 2019.