Kyle Drury

Background

About Kyle Drury

I am a fourth-year Honours Physics student at McMaster University with a strong research background in theoretical and experimental physics, particularly in ultracold neutrons, particle physics, and TeV-scale string theory. In the future, I seek to delve deeper into topics such as dark matter, gravitation, and tachyonic fields. In 2023, I conducted research under Dr. Douglas Gingrich as part of an NSERC USRA at the University of Alberta, contributing to the ATLAS experiment at CERN. My work involved Monte Carlo simulations using the STRINGS event generator to study TeV-scale string resonances in parton-photon collisions, potentially offering signatures of extra dimensions. I validated STRINGS against published literature and generated kinematic datasets using both STRINGS and Pythia for resonance mass scales up to 7 TeV at LHC energies. For my undergraduate thesis, I worked with the TRIUMF Ultracold Advanced Neutron (TUCAN) collaboration. I performed detailed Monte Carlo simulations using PENTrack to model the performance of the UCN source during commissioning, analyzing how beam current, superfluid helium levels, and thermal loading affect neutron storage lifetime and yield. Following the completion of this thesis, I continued work with TRIUMF as a Research Assistant, supporting commissioning efforts and simulation-driven optimization of UCN production. As part of the McMaster Interdisciplinary Satellite Team, I served as the Attitude Determination and Control Systems (ADCS) Lead and later as the Mission Manager for the PRESET CubeSat project, funded by the Canadian Space Agency. I contributed to the development of control algorithms, system testing, and mission planning for a scientific payload designed to measure high-energy electron flux in LEO. My technical skillset includes Python, C++, scientific computing, Monte Carlo methods, orbital dynamics, and hardware-software integration. I am passionate about applying computational and experimental physics techniques to solve open problems in fundamental science and space research, with long-term goals of pursuing a Ph.D. in theoretical physics.