The Department’s first large public event in over 3 years was Doors Open Toronto, held on May 28 and 29, 2022. Doors Open Toronto is a city-wide event that invites the public to explore the city’s most fascinating buildings and sites.

The last time the Department participated in Doors Open was in 2019. Over 1800 people of all ages came through the doors of McLennan Physical Labs to see physics demos, look at research posters, see the view from the roof and look through telescopes.

The theme this year was “Renewal” and universities are sites of constant renewal and new knowledge is constantly being generated that allows the renewal of science, technology, and society. The Department of Physics had both old and new science on display and students were there to answer questions about physics demos and research. The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics provided guests with access to the 15th floor balcony where they could look at the sun through the telescopes.

We asked Chair of the Outreach Committee David Bailey what his favorite part of the event was

“In this age where so many outstanding physics demonstrations are available online, I loved seeing people of all ages get so excited seeing even relatively simple demonstrations in person. I particularly remember a bunch of 20-something friends almost jumping up and down with excitement when they first noticed the real image of a light bulb magically appearing.”

This event was made possible by the hard work of over 20 student volunteers from the Departments of Physics and Astronomy and Astrophysics.