Buffalo, NY – Canisius University Physics Professor Michael Wood, PhD, recently presented at the BDX & Beyond Workshop held September 4-5 at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) in Newport News, VA. Jefferson Lab is home to one of the world’s premier electron accelerators, where Wood conducts his research.
He is a collaborator on the Beam Dump eXperiment (BDX), an initiative that would use the laboratory’s beam dump—a device that absorbs high-energy electron beams that do not interact during measurements—as a source to produce a Dark Matter beam. The experiment has the potential to open new pathways for understanding one of the most mysterious components of the universe.
“The goal of BDX is to recycle the electron beam that doesn’t react in the primary experiment and create a second experiment behind it,” explained Wood. “This gives us a unique opportunity to search for Dark Matter, while also exploring whether other particles such as muons, neutrons and neutrinos could be studied in the same setup.”
At the workshop, Wood presented on ways undergraduate students at Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) like Canisius can engage with large-scale national research projects. His talk emphasized the role that liberal arts institutions can play in advancing particle physics while providing students with direct access to cutting-edge science.
“This kind of research experience is transformative for students,” Wood said. “It connects them to the global scientific community and allows them to see firsthand how their work can contribute to solving some of the most fundamental questions in physics.”
The BDX & Beyond Workshop brought together researchers from across the country to explore new experimental opportunities at Jefferson Lab.
More details can be found at the workshop website.
Founded in 1870 in Buffalo, NY, Canisius is one of 27 Jesuit colleges and universities in the U.S. Consistently ranked among the top institutions in the Northeast, Canisius offers undergraduate, graduate and pre-professional programs distinguished by close student-faculty collaboration, mentoring and an emphasis on ethical, purpose-driven leadership.
