Catholic Vancouver April 30, 2024
Mysteries of faith blend with secrets of the universe for Catholic scholar
By James Duchscherer
The ongoing debate among scientists, theologians, and secular society about whether faith and science are compatible would have puzzled Catholic scientists like Nicolaus Copernicus, Blaise Pascal, and Georges Henri Lemaitre, Father of the Big Bang.
A more recent addition to that list could be Brandon De Lazzari, who graduated from St. Thomas More Collegiate in North Vancouver in 2023.
De Lazzari, is the recipient of a $100,000 Schulich Leader Scholarship, a fund created to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurial-minded technology innovators. He’s now making use of it at the University of Waterloo’s Honours Co-op Physics program, where he’s exploring the mysteries of dark matter in the hope of paving the way for advancements and discoveries in low-energy particle physics.
Although he’s working in a scientific environment, De Lazzari doesn’t hesitate to bring up his Catholic upbringing and its importance to his studies.” “My Catholic faith has always been a cornerstone of my identity and has helped to instill a greater sense of purpose and commitment to my studies,” he said. “This idea is captured by the wise words of St. Josemaria Escriva: ‘An hour of study, for a modern apostle, is an hour of prayer.’”
That integration of work life and prayer life “can transform the otherwise often arduous process of studying into a sanctifying offering that gives further strength for the pursuit of knowledge,” he said.
He also credits his faith for serving as “an excellent grounding point during a major transition time of my life where I not only moved away from home, but also took on the most academically rigorous commitment in my life.”
During this time of change, he said, the simple routine of daily Mass, the Rosary, and personal prayer “acted as a constant reminder of what is most important in my life, and to strive to always find God in my academic pursuits.”
Finding God also pertains to his non-academic life, and he has joined various Catholic groups on and off campus to be part of “a community of like-minded individuals where deep connections and friendships are being formed.”
Looking ahead, De Lazzari is preparing for his upcoming summer placement at the TRIUMF particle accelerator at UBC where he’ll be working with the nEXO (next Enriched Xenon Observatory) experimental group on vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) detector technology.
During a recent summer stint at TRIUMF, De Lazzari collaborated with the Super-Cryogenic-Dark-Matter-Search (SuperCDMS) group. Together with his lab mates, he took part in testing an ultra-sensitive dark matter detector. The hands-on experience allowed him to “delve deep” into dark matter theory and detector physics.
In addition to his research at TRIUMF, De Lazzari has been a student mentor for St. Thomas More’s Students on the Beamline team. The educational program allows students to design and conduct experiments in collaboration with the Canadian Light Source particle accelerator. It was his involvement with the initiative at St. Thomas More that sparked his interest in experimental research.
“This opportunity to give back to the school and see the passion and creativity of the students is wonderfully inspiring and a reminder of the importance of sharing knowledge and advice with future scientists,” he said.