Group Barbecue at Thomas' Place (Summer, 2025)
From left: Thomas, Riya, Simon, Samin, Frédéric, Jasmine, Regan, Ethan, Marharyta, David, Alfredo, Naman,
Iskender, Soud, Hussain.
Group Members
Senior Members
Thomas Brunner 
Rutherford Physics Building Office 340 Phone:
(514) 398 8972
Click here for Thomas's Webpage.
Fran Spidle
Takes care of administrative tasks, organizing events and helps with the financial bookkeeping of BvL activities.
Iskender Isikbay
Helping assemble the Large Scale SiPM Test Stand.
Iskender has broad experience in conceptual design and custom manufacturing. He specializes in material handling, heat transfer, cryogenic systems, and non-destructive testing.
Naman Walia
Helping assemble the Large Scale SiPM Test Stand.
Tsvetelin Totev
Tsvetelin has been a member of the Brunner Neutrino Lab since 2017, shortly before starting his Master's degree in 2018. He obtained his MSc for his work on the development, and proof of concept, of a controlled vacuum ultraviolet electroluminescent light source using an external flash lamp to produce xenon scintillation for SiPM characterization. Nowadays he answers for a variety of the lab's software and hardware needs. He is a member of the LoLX and nEXO and XLZD collaborations.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Frédéric Girard
Rutherford Physics Building Office 338
Frédéric joined our group in 2025. He obtained his PhD from the University of Zurich in 2023, where he designed, constructed and operated a demonstrator facility for the DARWIN experiment, Xenoscope, with the group of Prof. Laura Baudis. He then joined the group of Dr. Luca Scotto Lavina at the Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et des Hautes Énergies in Paris, where he constructed XeLab, a liquid xenon setup used to study novel types of electrodes for dual-phase TPCs. He is a member of the LoLX, nEXO and XLZD collaborations, and serves as one of the Level 2 conveners for the cryogenics workgroup of XLZD.
Graduate Students
Eleanor Allen
Working on LoLX and SiPM testing.
Ethan Coulthard
Working on Ba-Tagging.
Ethan was an undergraduate student that joined us in the summer of 2025. He worked on the LoLX experiment, characterizing a source for use in calibrating sensors in LoLX. Since then, he started his MSc with us where he is working on the Barium tagging project. In the summer of 2026 he participated in a MITACS internship at RIKEN where he learned from leading experts on multi-reflection time-of-flight mass-spectrometry. In his free time he likes to hike, rock climb, and participate in outreach.
Irina Nitu
Working on LoLX and SiPM Testing.
Regan Ross
Working on developing a RF carpet for Barium ion extraction.
Regan is a PhD candidate working on a few projects related to the search for neutrinoless double beta decay in Xenon-136. These projects include developing simulations of background events using FLUKA and Geant4, seeking to enhance these codes with variance reduction techniques, and Regan is also interested in the possibility of sourcing Xe-136 from used nuclear fuel.
Riya Rai
Working on Silion Photomultiplier characterisation for development of the nEXO photodetection system.
Sandhya Rottoo
Building a heat exchanger for xenon purification and characterizing 127Xe as an in situ calibration source for LXe detectors.
Sandhya joined our group as an undergrad in 2023. She built a liquid level sensor and worked on Cherenkov physics simulations for the LoLX experiment. After dabbling in other types of physics, she realized that nothing compares to studying particles no one can see and returned for her masters. She is currently developing a xenon heat exchanger and exploring Xe127 as a calibration source for LoLX. When she is not working in windowless rooms, she can be found playing music, reading and writing sci-fi/fantasy stories, and playing soccer.
Simon Lavoie
Working on the large scale test stand for SiPM testing.
Simon originally joined our group in 2023 as a summer undergraduate student, and worked on light transport simulations using the CHROMA software for the LoLX experiment. He continued to work developing a statistical validation suite for the software as an undergraduate research project, before taking a brief detour analyzing ATLAS data in search for multiquark states. Finally, he returned for a Master's degree on a hardware project. Now, Simon works on the commissioning of the Stave Test Stand: a large vacuum-chamber designed for large-scale, automated SiPM testing using a linear rail system. When he is not hard at work, he can be found at music shows, biking, or cooking something special.
Adjunct Members
Extended Group Members at TRIUMF
Alex Todd
Working on Calculating nuclear matrix elements for 0νββ under Jason Holt.
Amelia Greathouse
Working on implementing Phase Imaging for the Measurement Penning Trap (MPET) at TRIUMF with the TITAN group.
Amelia Remnant
Amelia's research focuses on implementing higher order corrections from chiral effective field theory into our IMSRG code pipeline, which we use to make ab initio calculations of the nuclear matrix elements of neutrinoless double beta decay for all of the major experimental isotope candidates.
Amelia first joined our group as a MITACS undergraduate intern in the summer of 2023 from the University of Bath, UK. Her project was to develop the nEXO barium tagging system by characterising electrode potentials and building dark boxes for laser ablation ion sources. She returned to the group as an MSc student in 2025 as a theorist under the co-supervision of Dr Jason Holt at TRIUMF, working on ab initio calculation of the neutrinoless double beta decay nuclear matrix elements. In her free time, she enjoys film photography, sewing her own clothes, and organising candle lit dinner parties with her friends.
Undergraduate, Summer, and CEGEP Students
Cameron Flaman
Undergraduate Student
Modifying and Improving the Cloud Chamber.
Cameron is an undergraduate summer researcher in the Brunner lab working on the construction and publication of a peltier-cooled cloud chamber for physics outreach. The cloud chamber aims to use commercially-available and accessible components without compromising on build-quality and the chambers' effectiveness as a demonstrative tool. Outside of the lab, he enjoys learning about ancient history, listening to obscure music, as well as being a patron and participant in Montreal’s indie rock scene.
Tania Atoui
Development of an electrical high-density vacuum feedthrough.
Development of an electrical high-density vacuum feedthrough.
Designing heatsink and interface boards for silicon photomultiplier testing.
Testing and validation of a pulse multiplexer printed circuit board for SiPM testing.
Honours EE Lab Rotation (ECSE 396) - Electrical feedthrough design and pulse multiplexer testing.
Will Gray
Working on characterizing a hafnium sample using a high purity germanium detector.
Testing multiplexer boards used for SiPM testing.
Will joined our group in January 2026. He worked on characterizing a Hf-181 source using an HPGe for his PHYS396 project. He is now testing a pulse-IV multiplexer for large SiPM array characterization and building a muon veto system for the ETS. Outside of physics, he likes to cook, sew, play magic and walk.
Neutrino Group Alumni
Beryl Bell
Working on the UCN project at TRIUMF Co-supervised by Beatrice Franke, TRIUMF MSc Summer 2020.
Chloe Gingras
Working on tests of integrated SiPM photon sensors.
David Livermore
Ab initio calculations of atomic properties Co-supervised by Jason Holt, TRIUMF MSc. August 2019.
Hussain Rasiwala
Working on a linear Paul trap for ion cooling and bunching.
Hussain is currently completing his PhD, where his thesis focuses on ion extraction and identification from gaseous xenon for Ba-tagging in the nEXO experiment. This includes the operation and testing of instrumentation such as an RF ion funnel, linear Paul trap, and multi-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer. He completed his master's thesis at McGill, also with Thomas Brunner, on commissioning of the linear Paul trap. His expertise spans instrumentation, vacuum systems and ion optics. He is a member of the nEXO and XLZD collaborations.
Kevin Murray
Working on a 137 Xe tag for EXO-200 and the optimization for a Mr TOF for Ba-tagging for nEXO.
Melissa Medina Peregrina
Development of an in-Xe-gas Laser Ablation Source for the Ba-tagging technique MSc. 2021.
Melissa's Website
Sarah Nowicki
Working on the optical rail system.
Soud Kharusi
Multi-messenger search for SN events with nEXO Co-supervised by Daryl Haggard, McGill.
Soud's Website.
Yuta Ito
Ba-tagging technique for nEXO now at Japanese Atomic Energy Agency.
Yang Lan
Working on Ba-tagging developments.
Zachary Hockenbery
Investigates the effect of magentic fields on Ge detectors for EC-BR studies with TITAN .
Undergraduate Student Alumni
-
Alaina Bui : Summer — 2017 Working on improving
McGill's spark chamber.
- Alfredo Sosa Moreno: Summer 2025 — Continuing the development of the IGLAS for the Ba Tagging Technique.
-
Amelia Remnant : Summer 2023 — Working on barium tagging, calibrating and optimising the electrode potentials for ion
transport, as well as the installation of the LAS for the QMF.
- Antoine Belley: Summer 2018 — Working on VUV light source for nEXO.
- Arman Mansouri: Fall 2019 & Winter 2020 — PHYS 459 Honours Thesis. Studies of an electroluimescent light source.
- Ben Collins: Winter 2026 — Investigating how large language models can augment traditional bibliometric methods for evaluating researchers and their work.
-
Chandler Bossaer : Winter 2019 — PHYS396 Research Project. Characterizing a laser-ablation ion source.
- Christopher Gagnon: Summer 2016 — Working on the improvement of the undergraduate lab PHS257/258.
- Christopher Morison: Summer 2016 — Working on the development of an electroluminescent light source for SiPM testing for nEXO.
- Cleo Gaillard: Summer 2019 — Optimizing the nEXO muon veto for SN neutrino detection. Winter 2020 — PHYS 489 Special Research Project. SPE Charge Calibation for SiPMs for LoLX. Summer 2020 — Charge Calibration of SiPMs for LoLX. Fall 2020 — Lab Helper.
- Connor Peltz: Winter 2018 — PHYS 489 Special Research Project. Investigating n-capture on Xe-137.
- Connor Sharp: Winter 2018 — PHYS 479 Honours Research Project. Investigating n-capture on Xe-137.
- Daniel Mayer: Winter 2019 — PHYS479 Honours Research Project. Characterization of a UV light flasher.
- David Paz: Winter 2026 — Photon Simulation of the nEXO Outer Detector Diffuser-based Optical Monitoring System (DORY).
- Dixin Chen: Summer 2018 — Ba-tagging developments.
-
Eliot Raschetti : Summer 2024 — Working on setting up the linear rail system and building a cooling system for SiPM
Testing.
- Emilio de la Cruz: Summer 2024 — Working on upgrading the Laser optics of the LAS and performing SIMION simulations to verify observed ion transport properties with simulated expectations.
- Emma Klemets: Summer 2019 — Optimizing the nEXO muon veto for SN neutrino detection. Fall 2020 & Winter 2021 — PHYS 459 Honours Thesis. Simulation and optimization of a VUV light source.
- Ethan Coulthard: Summer 2025 — Operation of a liquid xenon cryostat and comparison of data to simulations.
-
Evert Nasedkin : Fall 2016 — Working on the development of an electroluminescent light source for SiPM testing for nEXO.
- Fadi Younes : Summer 2023 — Built a table-top cooler for SiPM testing down to -30°C.
- Felix Belair : Summer 2021 & Winter 2022 — Measurement of particulate concentration, temperature, and pressure in the lab.
- Grace Champagne : Fall 2023 & Winter 2024 — Developing a control system to monitor pressures of supply gases and the lab exhaust pressure in the lab. Summer 2024 — Encoder code development and testing for SiPM tile characterization.
-
Haojie Ni : Summer 2018 — Development of a VUV light source for nEXO.
-
Hussain Rasiwala : Summer 2018 — Optimization of laser-ablation ion source for Ba-tagging.
- Irina Nitu: Fall 2023 — PHYS396 Research Project. Simulating the nEXO Outer Detector calibration system. Winter 2024 — PHYS 489 Special Research Project. Calibration Configuration of nEXO's Outer Detector. Summer 2024 — Calibration Configuration of nEXO's Outer Detector and Diffuser Ball Simulations in Chroma. Fall 2024 — Worked on core-collapse supernovae simulations for studies of nEXO Outer Detector sensitivity to supernova neutrinos.
-
James Fraser : Summer 2019 — Improvements of the laser-ablation ion source.
- Janet Wang: Summer 2019 — PHYS396 Research project. Visualization of slow control data.
- Jasmine Boyd: Summer 2025 — Continuing the development of the IGLAS for the Ba Tagging Technique. Winter 2026 — PHYS479 Research Project. Working on simulating the IGLAS in SimIon.
-
Jasmine Zhang : Summer 2019 — PMT calibration, Cf-252 radioactive source and optical window transmission measurements for
LoLX.
- Javeria Rizwan: Fall 2023 & Winter 2024 — PHYS459 Research Project with Yossera to develop a multi-element ion source for Ba-tagging (mass spectrometer calibration).
- Jenny Long: Summer 2017 — working on the improvement of the PHYS-257/258 undergrad teaching lab.
- Joey Torsiello: Summer 2021 — Measurement of ion velocities in an ion plume.
- Jonathan Classen-Howes: Summer 2017 — PHYS 479 Research Project. working on commissioning a LTQ Thermo Finnigan mass spectrometer.
-
Jonathan Hege : Summer 2018 — Working on mass spectrometry for Ba-tagging applications.
- Jordan Agathe: Summer 2022 — Characterizing the MUX board.
- Julien Hacot-Slonosky: Summer 2024 — Creating a cooling system using thermoelectric coolers to cool a test stand and test how SiPMs operate at low temperatures.
- Justine Thébault Weiser: Summer 2026 — Modifying and optimizing the Ba-Tagging setup to expand its ion mass range to lighter ions.
- Katherine Lei: Summer 2022 — Performance studies of a laser-induced single Ba-ion source.
- Kavin Aggarwal: Summer 2024 — Working on upgrading the Laser optics of the LAS and performing SIMION simulations to verify observed ion transport properties with simulated expectations.
- Kevin Nguyen: Summer 2022 — Testing the LoLX pulse fitter.
-
Kevin Sohn : Summer 2020 — Simulation of cross talk in LoLX.
- Kristofer Karam: Summer 2023 — Developing an oscilloscope readout for a MIDAS DAQ.
-
Laura Gonzalez Escudero
: Summer 2020 & Fall 2020 — Simulation of RF devices for ion transport. Summer 2021 — Development of in-gas
laser ablation source (IGLAS).Fall 2021 & Summer 2022 — In-gas LAS development.
- Louis Lee: Fall 2018 — PHYS449 Majors Research Project. A laser-ablation ion source for Ba-tagging.
-
Louis Richez : Summer 2017 — Working on the development or a laser-ablation ion source.
- Marc-Antoine Leclerc: Summer 2023 — Working on automating the testing of large SiPM arrays including taking IV curves and packaging the electrometer software within MIDAS.
- Marharyta Sulaieva: Summer 2025 — Working on SiPM testing for the ETS.
-
Maxim Lysenko : Fall 2023 — PHYS479 Research Project. Working on implementing a liquid nitrogen level sensor for the
lab's Xe recovery system.
-
Megan Cvitan : Summer 2019 — Optical setup for SiPM testing.
-
Michael Hétu : Summer 2022 — Design, construction, and commissioning of a small cloud chamber.
- Minya Bai: Summer 2020 — Simulation of photon interactions on material surfaces. Fall 2020 — Chroma photon propagation simulations for the ETS. Summer 2022 — Working on the In-Gas Laser Ablation Source.
- Mo'tasim Mauthoor: Winter 2026 — Investigating how large language models can augment traditional bibliometric methods for evaluating researchers and their work.
-
Nicolas Cahuzac : Summer 2018 — Working on the development of a VUV light source for SiPM testing.
-
Nicolas Roy : Winter 2019 — PHYS449 Research Project. Characterization of a laser-ablation ion source for Ba-tagging.
-
Omar Chammaa : Summer 2016 — Working on the development of an electroluminescent light source for SiPM testing for nEXO.
-
Rane Simpson : Summer 2017 — Working on the development of a laser ablation ion source.
-
Reem Mandil : Summer 2017 — PHYS 396 Research Project. Working on commissioning a LTQ Thermo Finnigan mass
spectrometer.
- Riya Rai: Summer 2023 — Working on the quadrupole bender, specifically in the assembly and characterisation of ion transport through the bender using simulations as well as measurements.
- Ruijia Yang: Fall 2021 & Winter 2022 — PHYS 459 Honours Thesis. Simulation of nEXO muon veto.
-
Samantha La Rosa : Summer 2019 & Winter 2020 — VUV light source developments.
-
Samuel Gagnon-Hartman : Fall 2018 — PHYS396 Research Project. Working on the Ba-Tagging setup.
- Sandhya Rottoo: Summer 2023 — Working on the developing of a liquid Xe level sensor for LoLX. Fall 2023 — PHYS479 Research Project. Implementation of a Cherenkov light generator in Chroma. Fall 2024 & Winter 2025 — Installation and calibration of LXe and LN2 level sensors. Summer 2026 — Building a heat exchanger for xenon purification.
- Sebastian Eppelt: Summer 2018 — Development of a Cf-252 driven VUV light source.
- Simon Lavoie: Summer 2023 — Working on developing CHROMA simulations for LoLX.
- Sophie Gélinas: Summer 2024 — Working on a simulation of the SiPM stave testing setup in Chroma.
- Stephanie Mendez: Summer 2018 — Characterizing a laser-ablation ion source.
- Taichi Saito: Fall 2022 — PHYS 489 Special Research Project. Working on a liquid nitrogen level sensor for LoLX.
- Taylor Hee Yeon Seo: Summer 2017 — PHYS 396 Research Project. Working on the design of alaser ablation ion source.
-
Tessa Condon : Winter 2020 — PHYS 489 Special Research Project. Implementation of a slow control data base for BvL.
Summer 2020 — Implementation of a slow control data base for BvL. Fall 2020 — BvL IT Specialist.
- Thanh Nguyen: Summer 2018 — Working on upgrading the Brunner Neutrino Lab.
- Tianyang (Tim) Yu: Winter 2019 — PHYS396 Research Project. X-Y scanner to document surfaces of SiPMs. Winter 2020 — PHYS 489 Special Research Project. Measurement of leakage current on a multiplexer board for SiPM testing.
-
Usama Rehman : Fall 2019 — Research Intern. Working on the Read-out of a particulate counter.
- Victor Desautels: Winter 2023 — Phys 489 Special Research Project. Working on testing the LoLX pulse fitter.
- Xinyu Jiao: Summer 2019 — Phys 489 Special Research Project. Rebuilding and commissioning a spark chamber.
-
Yilin Wang : Summer 2019 — Gas-dynamic calculations for nEXO. Fall 2019 & Winter 2020 — PHYS 459 Honours Thesis.
Efficiency measurements of the LAS.
-
Yossera Taghi : Summer 2022 — Working on the Ion Bender for Ba-tagging. Fall 2023 & Winter 2024 — Doing a PHYS459 project
with Javeria to develop a multi-element ion source for Ba-tagging (mass spectrometer calibration).
- Yu Wu: Winter 2020 — PHYS 489 Special Research Project. Charge Calibration of SiPMs for LoLX.
-
Zachary Feng : Summer 2017 — Working on the development of a laser-ablation ion source.
Historic pictures
(yes, I am slowly getting older and already have historic pictures - yet not in b/w.)Art McDonald visits the neutrino lab undergrads (June 5, 2017)
From left: Thanh, Soud, Jonathan, Reem, Jenny, Lucas, Zach, Art McDonald, Louis
Group picture at the first annual group BBQ in 2016.
From left: Saverio, Omar, Chris, Evert, Kevin, Soud, Christo, Thomas (BBQ not shown)
Group picture at the annual group BBQ in 2018.
From left: Tsvetelin, Sebastian, Kevin, Zach, Xiao, Thomas B., Soud, Jonathan, Antoine, Thanh, Haojie, Thomas M., Dixin
Group picture featuring SNOLAB sunglasses on the roof of Rutherford in 2019.
From left: Lucas, Tim, Thomas M., Tsvetelin, Chris, Xiao, Soud, James, Melissa, Xinyu, Yilin, Megan, Jasmine, Thomas B.
Group picture at the annual group BBQ in 2021 (a few were skipped for obvious reasons).
From left: Bernadette, Samin, Lisa, Tsvetelin, David, Felix, Lucas, Chris, Soud, Kevin
Group picture at the first (of two) annual group BBQ in 2022.
From left: Soud, Lisa, Chris, Tsvetelin, Laura, Katherine, Minya, Michael, Chloe, Yossera, Lucas, Megan, Kevin, David, Jordan, Hussain, Kevin
Group picture at the second annual group BBQ in 2022.
From left: Thomas, Minya, Katherine, Hussain, Samin, Felix, Elika, Bernadette, Michael, Laura, Tsvetelin, Chloe, Soud, Lisa, David, Kevin
Group picture at the annual group BBQ in 2023.
From left: Simon, Thomas, Sandhya, Lucas, David, Soud, Marc-Antoine, Lisa, Kevin, Riya, Tsvetelin, Samin, Hussain, Elika
Group picture at the annual group BBQ in 2024.
From left: Hussain, Felix, Irina, Julien, Samin, Sophie, Kavin, Lucas, David, Grace, Eliot, Sarah, Emilio, Thomas
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