About Bertram N. Brockhouse

Bertram N. Brockhouse, a McMaster University Professor from 1962 until his retirement in 1984, was the first of only two scientists working in Canada to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.  He shared the 1994 Nobel Prize in Physics with Clifford G. Shull of MIT, for the development of neutron spectroscopy as a probe of condensed matter.  As described in the October 1994 press release from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences: “In simple terms, Clifford G. Shull has helped answer the question of where atoms “are” and Bertram N. Brockhouse the question of what atoms “do””.  Bert was recognized with many other distinctions in his lifetime, including the Order of Canada, Fellowship in both the Royal Society (London) and the Royal Society of Canada, the Oliver Buckley Prize from the American Physical Society, and the CAP Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Physics from the Canadian Association of Physicists.

Bert Brockhouse was a founding member of the Institute for Materials Research at McMaster, the forerunner to the BIMR.  The Institute for Materials Research was renamed the Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research in his honour in 1995.

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Education & Outreach

A key component of the BIMR’s mission is to disseminate recent important results from the national and international materials research community, as well as to stimulate lively discussion related to contemporary materials problems. Our Seminar, Workshop, and Conference program also provides a vehicle for stimulating new collaborations and opportunities for multi and interdisciplinary studies. This is important for our faculty members and external user base, but also for the large cohort of highly qualified personnel, who usually make up a large fraction of the audience for these events.

Facilities

The structure of the Institute is designed to provide exceptional service not only to materials experts but also to researchers from other fields that require materials-based information. To achieve its mission, the Institute undertakes two complementary activities. First it attracts the top specialists to access its facilities. This drives the instrumentation and staff toward innovative activities that advance the state-of-the-art for each technique. Second, the superb capabilities of the staff and equipment is made available to the entirety of the materials community. In doing this, new techniques are brought to bear on the most challenging materials more quickly.