More than a hundred top scientists, researchers, engineers and innovators from around 20 countries will convene in Nelson, BC, for the 10th International Symposium on Negative Ions, Beams and Sources (NIBS 26). The Selkirk Ion-source Research Centre (SIRC) at Selkirk College is hosting the symposium with D-Pace, a Nelson-based accelerator technology company, and TRIUMF, Canada's national particle accelerator centre at the University of British Columbia.
From September 20 to 25, 2026, experts from academia and industry will showcase the latest developments in negative-ion research, supporting advances in fields ranging from technology and health care to clean energy and machine learning.
“Bringing global innovators together can really accelerate the development of emerging technologies,” says Dr. Morgan Dehnel, symposium chairperson and chair of the SIRC at Selkirk College. “Hosting the symposium here in the Kootenays is an opportunity to showcase the cutting-edge work happening at Selkirk College’s SIRC and the Selkirk Technology Access Centre and engage with research at the forefront of the sector.”
Developing and Commercializing New Technologies
At the SIRC, students, faculty and researchers advance particle accelerator and ion-source research to develop and commercialize new technologies. Through a network of academic and industry partners—with support from Mitacs and PacifiCan—skilled trades apprentices and graduate students work together on projects such as enhancing the production of power electronics semiconductors for use in electric vehicles, solar power and regular power distribution infrastructure and improving the production of medical isotopes used in cancer treatment.
Dr. Dehnel’s SIRC Mitacs interns—Jonathan Doyle (PhD – U.Sask./STAC/SIRC/KAST), Ben Warfield (PhD – UVic/SIRC/TRIUMF), Robert Gagnon (Masters – UVic/SIRC/D-Pace), Connor MacKenzie (Masters – USask./SIRC/TRIUMF), Maïtè Troutet (Undergrad – McGill/SIRC/Accel-Link), Sydney Spence (Undergrad – UBCO/SIRC/Pfieffer Vacuum – Busch) and Mason Morissette (Technologist – Selkirk College/SIRC/D-Pace)—will present SIRC research at the symposium, highlighting the use of negative-ion beams in machine learning, astro-physics, ion implantation for semiconductors, medical diagnostic imaging and therapy, vacuum science and other applications. Representatives from Selkirk College’s Selkirk Technology Access Centre, Mitacs, TRIUMF, D-Pace and the Kootenay Association for Science and Technology (KAST) will join speakers and exhibitors from across North America, Europe and Asia to share research findings and emerging technologies and innovations.
“We’re thrilled to be welcoming researchers from around the world to the West Kootenay, and to be hosting a global symposium of this calibre,” says Selkirk College President Dr. Maggie Matear. “This is a testament to the fact that rural regions and community colleges like ours can be leaders in world-class research and innovation.”
Photo caption (L-R): Jason Taylor, department head and researcher, Selkirk Technology Access Centre; Ben Warfield, Mitacs PhD intern (UVic/SIRC/TRIUMF); Morgan Dehnel, chair, Selkirk Ion-source Research Centre