Dr. Scott VanBommel

Dr. Scott VanBommel

BSc '10, MSc '13, PhD '17

Featured speaker for Physics 125 (+1) Celebration

Mars: Planet of the Robots

Unbeknownst to many, the University of Guelph has made significant technological and scientific contributions towards exploring Mars. This presentation will focus on these advancements, discoveries, and the overall legacy, as told through past and active robotic exploration, enabling humanity to inch closer to Mars sample return and possibly, one day, even culminating in human exploration of the Martian surface.

Graduating from the University of Guelph with his PhD in 2017, the application of physics fundamentals to planetary science problems has taken this Guelph Physics graduate off the southern edge of Google maps in search of space rocks, to Mars as part of multiple rover missions, and nearly above the Karman line as a shortlisted astronaut with the Canadian Space Agency.