Alumni

Kelsey Meinerz (B.S. 2014)

Kelsey began her Ph.D. program in Physics in the Fall of 2014 at Washington University (Wash U) in St. Louis. She will receive her Master’s in Physics at the end of her second year, and will defend her thesis three to four years later to receive her Ph.D.

In addition to her course load this semester, she is excited about her position as a Teaching Assistant for an Optics lab. She also plans to conduct research with Dr. Mark Conradi this summer. Dr. Conradi’s research uses NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance), and Kelsey may join his newest research efforts in imaging the lungs using hyper-polarized gasses and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging). Dr. Conradi has already used this technique to image adult lungs, and now he is working with a group on the medical campus of Wash U to bring his technique to the neonatal unit to see how premature babies' lungs develop. While that research project is a year away, her research this summer will be a smaller-scale related project to prepare her for more NMR work.

Kelsey says she is grateful for her undergraduate experience at Marquette because the Physics department gave her many opportunities that she wouldn't have had at other schools, such as becoming a Teaching Assistant. She feels confident that she can be a successful graduate student TA knowing that she has two and a half years of experience under her belt.

David Anaya (B.S. 2013)

In Fall of 2014, David started his second term with a nonprofit organization called “College Possible” as an AmeriCorps member. College Possible is an after-school program that helps prepare low-income students for college admission and graduation. This year, he is working with a group of 40 seniors as a High School Senior Coach, helping them apply to colleges, apply for financial aid for college, and prepare them for the transition to college life.

Abigail Searfoss (B.S. 2013)

Abigail is attending graduate school in Vanderbilt University’s Quantitative and Chemical Biology program. Abigail was a founding member and President of Marquette’s Women in Physics Club, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Pi Sigma, the Physics Honor Society. She was also one of only 12 graduate students at Vanderbilt who were awarded a prestigious NSF fellowship in April of 2014! These fellowships are granted to students early in their graduate careers based on their “demonstrated potential for significant achievements in science and engineering.”

Alex Selner (B.S. 2013)

Alex entered the workforce shortly after he graduated in December of 2013. He is working in 3M’s Renewable Energies Division, testing materials for their wind energy project. He is studying peel and pull-off strength of their wind adhesives, adhesions promoters, and epoxies, drawing on the knowledge he gained from his experience in the introductory physics courses at Marquette.

Peter Bolgert (B.S. 2012)

As an undergraduate at Marquette, Peter was named to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America® Division I Men’s and Track/Cross Country Team. Peter also earned several awards in physics, including the Zeta Scholar in 2009, the Karioris Memorial Award in 2010, and Stephen Weinreich Memorial in 2011. He was also honored with the Outstanding Undergraduate Math Award in 2012. He began his Ph.D. program studying plasma physics at Princeton University in the Fall of 2012.

Tim Gee (B.S. 2012)

Tim works in South Korea at an R&D branch of Seagate Technology, or more specifically 'Seagate Korea Design Center.' He is in the RSS (Recording Subsystem) Department, which specializes in Head (reader/writer) and Media (disk) development of hard disk drives. Currently, he is working on running tests for optimizing the Write Current running through the head, which is used to flip bits (binary 1s and 0s) on the media using magnetic fields.

For this reason, his work involves conceptual application of physics every day, but for Tim, the most helpful thing about majoring in physics was developing the ability to grasp the understanding of new material. Tim says, "There is no way to prepare yourself for the kind of work you do here through any amount of university education. Everything is so state-of-the-art and confidential that even Google is of little help. We are always challenged to learn and apply new technologies, types of magnetic recording, programs, programming languages, the operation of new machinery, etc."

Tim is thoroughly enjoying his time in South Korea, and plans to stay for a very long time. He highly recommends any physicist to consider the hard disk drive industry, as it is constantly growing to keep up with media quality growth rates, and is currently one of the safest markets due to limited number of competitors.

Erin Kaprelian (B.S. 2012)

Erin spent the summer after graduation working with Dr. Ben Brown on positron research as they prepared for a collaboration with ETH Zurich. They performed numerous tests, measurements, and troubleshooting, and then sent parts of the beam over to Switzerland. She started law school at Marquette in the Fall of 2012, in addition to her responsibilities as a teaching assistant for introductory physics courses. She plans to practice intellectual property law upon graduation in May of 2015.

Jeff Maltas (B.S. 2012)

Jeff is attending Miami University – Ohio for his Master’s degree in Physics. He was named the Outstanding Graduate Student Researcher for the 2013-2014 year. He was also the recipient of the Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher award! His work at Miami University focuses on how pressure alters a cell's metabolism, or the way it produces energy. In the fall, Jeff will start his Ph.D. program at the University of Michigan, and is thrilled to show them what Marquette Physics graduates are capable of!

Chris Langlo (B.S. 2010)

Chris is currently an MSTP (Medical Science Training Program) student at the Medical College of Wisconsin, pursuing both his M.D. and his Ph.D. He took his first set of board exams in June of 2012, and started grad school in the fall. He is working with a group that does optical imaging of the human retina, primarily the photoreceptor layer. They are working on developing new imaging technology, as well as studying the changes in photoreceptors in disorders like albinism, color blindness, and macular degeneration.Upon completion of his graduate work, he will return to medical school to finish his last two years in the clinics.

Cyrus Vandrevala (B.S. 2010)

Cyrus is currently a physics graduate student and teaching assistant at Purdue University, where he passed his qualifying exam on arrival. He is studying quantum computation and quantum information. He was also honored with several awards as a teaching assistant at Purdue, including the Akeley-Mandler Award for Teaching Excellence (April 2013), Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher – Physics Department (2012) and the CETA Teaching Award (April 2012).

Brian Kaster (B.S. 2007)

Brian obtained his Masters in Physics from Miami University - Ohio, doing work in ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) under Dr. Mick Pechan. He is currently working in the Microphysics lab at the University of Illinois at Chicago doing thin film deposition and characterization.

• Ryan Mahon (B.S. 2012)
  Ryan is a Lieutenant Junior Grade US Navy pilot, stationed in Kingsville, TX. He flies T-45s and select F/A-18 Hornets.
• Jonathan Priem (B.S. 2011)
  Jonathan is a 2^nd Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corp.
• Lawrence Hudy (B.S. 2010)
  Lawrence is teaching Solar System Astronomy at Texas Tech University.
• Andrew Smith (B.S. 2010)
  Andrew Smith is studying physics at the University of California – Irvine, where he passed qualifying exam on arrival!