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Recent Alumni

Dan Haeger

Graduates of our physics program participate in a vast array of exciting careers.

Our alumni include the senior vice president of a major corporation, high school physics teachers, scientists, accelerator operators, university professors and applied industrial physicists all around the world.

Many of our graduates have continued their study at leading research institutions nationwide, including Stanford, Brown, Yale, Princeton, Harvard,University of Chicago, University of Minnesota, University of Illinois, etc. Below is a list of placements for a few recent classes. 

 

David Beard, J.D. candidate at George Washington Law School, in DC 

Jaylen Beasley, hired as a Logistics Engineer by BMM Logistics, in downtown Chicago ( https://www.bmmlogistics.com ) 

Morgan Bishop, Masters candidate in Energy Systems, in the UIUC Mechanical Engineering Department

Hank Bolon, Radar Engineer, for Raytheon, in Arizona

James Burnell, joined the Management Training program for Konecrane. 

John Derrig, Process Engineer, for W. R. Grace & Company  ( https://grace.com/en-us/capabilities/materials-science )

Evan Dill, PhD candidate, Physics, Auburn University

Ronan Dorsey, Acoustic Microscopy Engineer, for Non-Destructive Testing of Microelectronics, at Sonoscan, Inc. (http://www.sonoscan.com )

Bridget Hathaway, Application Support Engineer, for Keyence Corporation (Machine Vision, etc.)

Brannan Hutchinson, Masters degree candidate, BioPhysics, where he will be working with Dr. Silviya P Zustia, on development of carbon nanotube-hydrogel nanocomposites as scaffolds for regenerating and repair damaged nerves. 

Keon Kim, 3:2 dual degree (Physics + Mechanical Engineering), at Wash U

Vasil Kulushliev, 2:2 Econ+Physics+Chem Assoc. Mgmt. Consultant for ZS Healthcare Consultants 

Tim Smyk, 3:2 dual degree (Physics + Mechanical Engineering), at SIUE

Jenny Swanson, Masters degree candidate, Mechanical Engineering, at the University of Minnesota

Chris Valadez, Commisioned 2nd Lieutenant, US Army 

Rachel Westerkamp, Masters candidate, Electrical Engineering, at the University of Colorado - Boulder

Melody Zhao, PhD candidate, Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE), focusing on VLSI, at Carnegie Mellon University

Fiona Breyer: Entered the work force, Analyst, Springhill Consulting Group, Chicago.

Emily Brown: Law School, University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign.

Hansheng (Jason) Chen: Ph.D. program in theoretical astrophysics, University of California, Davis.

Andy Ding: Ph.D. program, Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo.

Constantine (Dino) Karas: Intern at Fermilab, Masters in Mechanical Engineering program, University of Denver, starting Fall 2018.

Toan Le: Ph.D. program in Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Yaling (Alexis) Liu: Masters program in Computer Science, Seattle campus of Northeastern University.

Lunjun (Simon) Liu:  Admitted to Ph.D. in Astronomy program at the University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign, but going to Caltech for one year, to complete his research project.

Krystyna Lopez: American Physical Society Bridge Fellow, the Bridge to the Doctorate Program, Indiana University.

Matthew McGill: Masters program in Mechanical Engineering ("Control Systems"), University of Minnesota.

Adam Muellers:4:2 dual-degree program, Mechanical Engineering ,   University of Illinois-Chicago 

Kyle Moody: 4:2 dual-degree program, Agricultural & Biological Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign.

Shivum Patel, Medical School, Western Michigan University.

Christopher Rudnicki: Ph.D. program in Mechanical Engineering, UC-Riverside.

Ian Simmons, Entered the work force, Omnidian, a Solar panel company, Seattle

Troy Southard: Masters program in Mechatronic Systems Engineering, Denver University.

Regine Sun: Masters program in Financial Engineering, Columbia University.

Boyang (Shane) Zhou: Masters program in Materials Science & Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

George Alex: Research Intern, Argonne National Laboratory.

Ashton Moss Butler: Commissioned Active Duty officer, the Army Corps of Engineering. 

Jimmy Connolly: Master program in Mechanical Engineering at Wash U St. Louis or University of Colorado Boulder.

Erick Eklin: SULI program at the  Argonne lNational Laboratory.

Dan Krob: Waiting to hear from graduate programs in Computer Engineering.

Max Leonard:  Analyst at Cornerstone Research, Washington, DC.

Kyle O’Shea: Ph.D. program in Mechanical Engineering, Michigan State University

Joe Richards: Masters program in Electrical Engineering at the  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Hayley Roberts: Ph.D. program in Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder.  

Julia Savich: Masters program in Engineering Design Innovation at Northwestern University.

Jennifer Sieben: PhD program in Astronomy, Indiana University.

Ruomeng Zhang: PhD program in Chemistry at Princeton University.

 Sam Birsa, Masters candidate in Optical Engineering (Univ. of Rochester)

Kyle Connour, PhD candidate in Astronomy (Univ. of Colorado - Boulder)

 Jessi Flach, PhD candidate in Physical Chemistry (Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison)

 John Gholson, directly entering workforce

 Brian Kim, PhD candidate in Physics (Northern Illinois Univ.)

 Qijia Liu, directly entering workforce

 Alejandro Mancera, directly entering workforce

 Margaret McCarter, PhD candidate in Physics (Univ. of Cal.-Berkeley)

 Billy Meyer, 3:2 dual-degree program (Physics + Mechanical Engineering), Wash U

 Kevin Roenitz, PhD candidate in Astro-Chemistry (Emory University)

 Alex Scherer, PhD candidate in Physics (Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison)

 Fred Williams, directly entering workforce

 Tyler Wright, directly entering workforce

Chelsea Davitt, Masters candidate in Mechanical Engineering (Bradley University)

 Kyle French, Laboratory Engineer at Gaynes Labs

 Juan Gomez-Velez, graduate student in Physics, Univ. of South Florida

 Victoria Halevy, Math & Science Teacher, Andrew Jackson Language Academy, in Chicago

 Chris Jent, Environmental Technician (Heritage Environmental Services)

 Alexis Larson, Quality Control Engineer at Lambent Technologies

 Ryan McGonagle, Mechanical Engineering Intern at Stevenson & Associates

 Brian Sorich, 3:2 dual-degree program (Physics + Materials Science & Engineering), UIUC

 Matthew Southall, Masters candidate in Physics

 Maggie Zhou, PhD candidate in Materials Science & Engineering, at Univ. of Rochester

 Jason Armstrong, Masters candidate in Physics (condensed matter / solid-state physics)

 Neil Baldwin, PhD Candidate in Chemistry at UC-Santa Barbara

 Sunny Ding, PhD Candidate in ECE, at University of Illinois (nano-optics + plasmonics)

 Mohamed El-Kabbash, PhD Candidate in Physics (nano-optics + plasmonics), Case Western

 Alex Flyte, Quality Control Engineer at Haemoscope, Inc.

 Young Kim, Masters Candidate in Physics, Univ. of Buffalo

 Dan LaRocca, Technical Services at Epic

 “Bosh" Liu, PhD Candidate in BioPhysics/BioInformatics, at Stanford University

 Deepak Mallubhotla,“gap” year as Software Developer for Auto-Owners Insurance; traveling

 Nate Nesbit, High School Physics Teacher at Central High School in Burlington, IL

 Marc Prasse, dual-degree Physics + M.E. at UIUC Mechanical Engineer at Honeywell

 Azma Rehman, Vision Researcher at Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston

 Andy Sonnenberger, PhD Candidate in Physical Chemistry at Univ. of Minnesota

 Ken Suevel, Masters Candidate in Mechanical Engineering at Wash U

 Janak Thapa, PhD Candidate in Materials Science & Engineering at Northwestern

 Kurt VanNess, PhD Candidate in Applied Mathematics, Univ. of Utah

 Yao Xiao, “gap year” studying Chinese traditional medicine and Buddhism, in China

G. Myles Black , R&D in biotech, at ANDalyze Masters candidate in ECE

 Billy Buchdahl, 2:2 in General Engineering at UIUC “Big Data” Analyst at Clarity

 Patrick Dahl, Marie Curie Research Fellow (Scotland) Masters candidate (NYU)

 Tommy Deschler, Masters in Mech. Engineering works at PositivEnergy

 Marissa DeWeese, Website Developer at O3 Internet Consulting

 Ronnie Fowle-Grider, MD/PhD candidate: Wash U School of Medicine

 Leah Goldberg, Physics TA/Counselor, Educ. Prog. for Gifted Youth (Stanford)

 Casey Hennessey, PhD candidate in Physics, Ohio State

 Steve Larson, PhD candidate in Physics (nanotech), Univ. of Georgia

 Steve Lis, Lab Assistant (Medical)

 Carl Mueller, Project Manager at Image Display, Inc.

 Jinx Nirjhar, Masters candidate: English Cultural Studies, EFLU (India)

 Ryan Ott, 4:2 + Masters student: Mechanical Engineering and works at Harman Int’l

 Derrick Rohl, Sky Show Operator, Adler Planetarium + Masters candidate in Ed.

 Taiyo Wilson, Masters: Computational Science (Harvard) UIUC PhD program

 Nathaniel Wolanyk, PhD candidate in Physics (Computational Biology), UAB

Veronica Angeles Dunham, PhD Candidate: Organic Chemistry, Ohio State

 Evan Baker, PhD Candidate: Mechanical Eng., Northwestern + start-up company

 Thomas Bersano = PhD candidate, Physics, University of Washington-Seattle

 David Bueche, Physics+ME dual degree Rolls Royce (jet engines)

 Kundan Chaudhary, PhD candidate (nanotech research at Harvard)

 David Fairbanks, Writer/Editor at “The Beat,” + MFA Candidate at Columbia (with

support)

 Nicholas Goble, PhD candidate, Physics (semiconductor nanotech), Case Western

 Ryan Goetz, PhD candidate in Physics (LIGO collaboration), Univ. of Florida

 Matt James, 4:2 dual-degree: Mechanical Engineering High School Teacher

 Chris Krassa, 2:2 student in Natural Resource Conservation, UIUC

 Alex Lambert, 4:2 dual-degree lead Mech. Engineer at Aeroflex

 Michelle Ponschke,  Master's Candidate: Forensic Science, UIC

 Jesse Schaar, 3G-to-4G telecommunications / electronics technician at Samsung

 

Adam Chambers, PhD in Physical Oceanography Scientist for U.S. Dept. of Navy

Curtis Cribben, Masters in Agricultural Engineering works at John Deere (sensors)

Angelo Christophell, Masters candidate: Applied Statistics, Loyola Univ.-Chicago

Jennifer Faust, PhD candidate: Physical Chemistry, UW-Madison

 Suman Gautam, PhD in Energy Engineering/Policy works for DNV GL Energy

 Pearl Huang, works at State Farm Insurance

 Rachel Kagan, Actuary at Allstate Insurance

 Mark Kasperczyk, PhD candidate: Optics (Univ. of Rochester ETH Zurich)

 Christine Kehl, taking time for family (a new mother)

 Clare Mahoney, PhD in Materials Science & Eng., Carnegie Mellon Univ.

 John Meuser, PhD candidate: Mathematics, Texas A&M Univ. Teaching Math

 David Nicholus, M.S., Florida State Univ. Math Professor, Harper College

 Bibek Parajuli, Masters in Materials Science, UIUC now hired by Intel

 Lucy Pinelo = PhD candidate: Physical Chemistry, Univ. of Cincinnati

 Oliver Smidt, Masters in Physics Education Teacher at Wheeling H.S.

 Alison Smith = Retro-Technical / Steampunk Designer / Owner of TRVA Jewelry

 Bobby Zoeller = Masters candidate: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Univ

 

Ogaga Akoroda, dual-degree + Masters at Cornell Univ. (now EE at Texas Instr.)

 Jake Dunham, Masters degree in Stats Math Instructor at Westwood College

 Eric Flyte = teaching certificate, now teaching at YouthBuild

 Brad Janes = Project Coordinator for Wolfram | Alpha

 Johnny Lattyak, Masters of Theology CommonBond Communities job

 Dave Longawa = M.A. candidate in Music History at UW-Madison

 Jason Manuel = AmeriCorps Masters in Mech. E. M.E. at C.T.S.

 Patrick McFadden = Accountant / Tax Manager at Ernst & Young

 Danielle Meyers = research at Wrigley (formulation chemistry)

 Ganon Pierce = Instructor at Princeton Review

 Thomas Schroeder = Environmental Scientist at Vertex

 Kristy Streu = PhD candidate: Computational Chemistry, Boston College

 Jeremy Thomas = pursuing Masters in Mech. Engineering, UW-Milwaukee (?)

 Cheryl Wallace = Writer/Editor for BEAN, in Shanghai, China

 Matt Wilhelm, dual degree in Physics/History + EE works at Navstar

Narendra Jaggi - Professor and Chair of Physics

Department - Physics