PCI grad makes scientific splash 

Former Portage Collegiate Insinuate (PCI) graduate Brydyn Mac Intyre has been making waves in the scientific community.

Mac Intyre, a graduate of PCI in 2014, has since been working toward a Ph.D. in High Energy Astrophysics while living in Winnipeg and attending the University of Manitoba.

Since 2019, Mac Intyre has been studying a uniquely shaped object more than 18,000 light years away in space.

The undergrad student, who was born in Thompson, but moved to Portage at three-years-old, has been looking into the X-ray spectrum of a supernova remnant called the Manatee Nebula.

The Manatee Nebula (Image Credit: Brydyn Mac Intyre and Samar Safi-Harb et al.-2022-)

He explains what exactly he has been researching when it comes to this phenomenon.

"You can look at the same thing in a bunch of different ways. My example here would be if you use a thermal camera to look at a person, you can see where all the hot spots are on them, but if you take just a regular picture of them, you can see all the nice colours and stuff, and if you take an X-ray, you can see all the bones. That's basically what we're doing with the nebula and what I look at is the X-rays. I'm using these X-rays to find where and how particles are being accelerated to very high energies. Those particles would then show up in an even higher energy range of gamma rays," continues Mac Intyre. "So, I'm using X-rays to look at how particles are being accelerated to gamma rays."

Mac Intyre says that the name of the Manatee Nebula comes from an image released in 2013 by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO).

"So, they did an image release where they had the radio wavelength of the image in this nice blue colour, and when you laid it side by side with a manatee on its back, they look very similar."

He notes that he started studying the Manatee Nebula during his undergrad back in 2019, right before the thick of COVID hit.

"So, I've been going over this for three years now, mostly all distanced. It's been a lot of fun. I am looking forward to getting back to the university in person. I've been lucky to have such great teams. My supervisor at the university, Dr. Samar Safi-Harb, runs the extreme astrophysics group, which has plenty of postdocs, graduated students, and Ph.D.'s."

Mac Intyre says he hasn't taken the time to think about what it means to him to be a part of this achievement. However, it does feel like there is much less to do.

"With what we've done already, we already see there are two more big goals that still need to be done on this object specifically. Then with how things are going on this, I can look at other things in space and look at similar things like it. So, it's awesome, but it just feels like there's always something more to do, something new to do. As I finish one thing, I'm like, 'Oh, but then I could do something else.'"

Mac Intyre adds that he hopes to be done with his Ph.D. by 2024.

"At the end of it all, my ideal thing would be to be an instructor at a university. So, a lot of people, when they get their Ph.D., they do research, and that's great. But I have had many great teachers during my 10-year run, and I think that would be a great way to give back and help new students flourish. So, if I could, I would just want to be an instructor and teach at the university."

The PCI graduate concludes that, in many ways, his desire to become a teacher in the future comes from, not only the good educators he has had, but the bad ones as well.