Graduation

2009

YO

ONE !

This year’s graduates

25 Bachelors in Physics

1 Masters degree1 Masters degree

11 PhDs

Katharine Mulrey

Best teaching assistant

Bachelor of Science

and

Bachelor of Arts

Derek Alleyne

Major: Physics (BS)

Philosophy (BA)

Honors and Awards:

University scholarship

Dean’s list

African-American Student of DistinctionAfrican-American Student of Distinction

Special Thanks: Drs. Gizis and Mulders for

advising, Drs. Gizis and Shah for research

opportunities, and John Shaw and Bakhtyar Ali for

showing me the ropes and helping me out with

research.

Memories: Pulling all-nighters with some 10

other people to finish homework.

Mathew Alphin

Major: Physics/Astronomy

Memories: All of the people that I

met in my major and became goodmet in my major and became good

friends with.

Rachelle Berger

Major: Physics

Minor: French, Mathematics

Honors and Awards:University of Delaware Woman of Promise

Delaware Academy of Sciences Undergraduate Award

Jobs Daughters International, and United Methodist Church

Scholarships Distinction

Special Thanks: I would like to specially thank my parents for

encouraging hard work, and for moving me up and down three

flights of stairs 12 timesflights of stairs 12 times

Dr. Walker for teaching me how speakers work, and for his

listening ear and wise suggestions Marianna for affirming my

curiosity

Dr. Barr for taking my abstract questions seriously

Dr. Szalewicz for favorable letters of support

Dr. Decamp for his patient help through the Physics GRE

Dr. Mulders for his work with SPS, sharing his taste for

Argentina, and for soliciting us to think during lecture and lab.

Dr. Uhruh for reminding me to “Be Tough” and to see principles;

� Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics,

UPenn

Best memories from Shelly

-acting out the wave function!

-Fixing optics and eating Cheerios with Jane

-loosing kickball, football, and volleyball games, and

cheering anyway!

-asking questions to Banjo, Aziz, Arif, and Almas

-quarks: the up and the down, the charmed kind, the

colored kind, and the stuffed kind

-climbing through the window to the SPS office for late

night studyingnight studying

-Cheese-its, Cup Cakes, and Fondu

-mistakes on exams

-Magic and chair races

-Yes we can, Heather, make it through the rapids!

-road trip to Boston!

-What She Said about Agua Con Gas, while walking with

Condors, dancing on the roof, during daily trips to

Fenoglio, and singing on bridges.

-I will miss deciphering equations and talking through

pages of calculations with three wonderfully bright and

passionate women

Heather Briggs

Major: Physics

Minors: Theater, Mathematics

Honors and Awards:SPS Future Teacher Scholarship 2009SPS Future Teacher Scholarship 2009

SPS Leadership Award

Honors Degree

University Scholarship

Dean’s List

Future:Physics Education, Rutgers University If that doesn’t pan out – zip lining instructor

in Argentina ☺

More from Heather:Special Thanks: Dr. Unruh – for your unwavering faith

Dr. Walker – for always looking out for us

Dr. Decamp – for your advice and your jokes

Dr. Mulders – for making us into better physicists

To my family – for standing by me throughout all of my moments of doubt and always

believing in me

To my girls – for keeping me sane and keeping me in physics

To SPS – for making Sharp a home, I love you all!!

Memories: Dr. Safronova dropping the light up ball in PHYS207 during a demonstration

Studying in the physics library for 419 when the Astronomy kids came back from Mt. Cuba

with donuts

Late night study/dance parties in SPS

Disney sing-a-longs

Playing magic in the SPS lounge

Matt’s cake

Road trips to APL/Mt. Cuba/NIST/Penn and our dance parties in the car!

All of Unruh’s quotes from class

All of Norberto’s quotes from class

ARGENTINA!!!

Tim breaking his chair in half in Optics – and not finding out who that was for 2 years

Rylan ConwayMajor: Physics

Minors: Mathematics

Computer Science

Honors and Awards:NASA Undergraduate Tuition Fellowship

University of Delaware Presidential Achievement

Scholarship

Special Thanks: Norbert Mulders

Memories: Staying up all night in the

physics library studying for Classical Mechanics

�More physics

at UC Davis

Daniel Crouch

Major: Physics/Astronomy

Special Thanks: Special Thanks:

My family and close friends

Memories:

The countless hours with good

friends and great people in

Sharp Lab

� Munitions and Missile

Maintenance Officer, USAF

Charles Harrity

Major: Physics/Astronomy

Special Thanks:

My parents, sister and to all of myMy parents, sister and to all of my

family and friends.

Memories:Travelling to Boulder, Colorado to

play in the 2008 Men’s College

Ultimate Championship.

Late nights in Sharp Lab

studying with my friends and

classmates.

Stephen Johnson

Major: Physics/Astronomy

Minor: Mathematics

Honors and Awards:Carl J. and Eleanor K. Rees Scholarship Carl J. and Eleanor K. Rees Scholarship

for Mathematics.

Academic scholarship.

Dean’s list.

William KardineMajor: Physics/Astronomy

Electrical Engineering

Minor: Mathematics

Honors and awards

Dean’s Lists

General Honors Award

UD Scholar Award

Special Thanks:Mom, Dad, Sister, Dogs

Memories:All-Nighters, Summers, Breaks,

Problem Sets, Weekends. Late nights in Sharp

Lab studying with friends and classmates.

� Raytheon Space and Airborne

Systems, El Segundo, CA

Kevin McGinnis

Major: Physics

Minor: Mathematics

Honors and awards:Dean’s ListsDean’s Lists

General Honors Award

UD Scholar Award

Special Thanks:Drs. Karl Unruh and

Matthew DeCamp

Memories:Undergraduate Research during

the summers of ’07 and ‘08

Steven McKeown

Major: Physics

Electrical Engineering

Honors and awards:Honors and awards:NSF-CSEMS Scholarship (06-08)

General Honors Award

Peter J Water Scholarship (ECE, 08)

Faculty Award (ECE, 09)

���� UIUC in Electrical Engineering

(Photonics)

Brian Mitchell

Major: Physics

Special Thanks:Parents and family, and my Parents and family, and my

classmates and professors for

helping me actually pass my classes

Memories:Argentina, Late night 419 Pow Wows,

Dr. Walker’s David Hasselhoff

impression for summer volleyball

Robert Mitchell

Major: Physics

Minor: Mathematics

Computer science

Honors and awards:Dean’s List

Science and Engineering Scholar

Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Meritorious Winner for Mathematical

Contest in Modeling

Robert W. Hancock Award for Best Robert W. Hancock Award for Best

Undergraduate Research in Physics

Special Thanks:My family, especially my parents, SPS

seniors, and the line dancing crew

Memories:Late nights in the SPS lounge where groups

of us would literally work ourselves silly

and then the most interesting

conversations would occur.

� More physics at

Ohio State

Matthew Moor

Major: Physics

Mathematics

Minor: Chemistry

Philosophy

Honors and awards:Honors and awards:Dean’s Lists

Special Thanks:Dr. Mulders for accommodating my interest

in earning a B.A. in Physics in addition to

my B.S. in Mathematical Sciences

Dr. Walker and Dr. Unruh for their expertise

and ability to convey the topics of Modern

Physics and Quantum Mechanics.

Paul Parsons

Major: Physics

Microwave Engineer

Spectrum magnetics

Anthony Prisco

Major: Physics

Special Thanks:My family, my fiancé, my future in-

laws, my friends, and anyone in the

department who believed in me.

� Physics teacher at Laurel High School

William Rockensies

Major: Physics

Special Thanks:My family

Memories:When a bat flew into my apartment and my

roommate and I put on hazard suits and

caught it. Our hazard suits were ski goggles,

thick hats, winter jackets, jeans and boots. It

was the middle of the summer.

Zachary Ulissi

Major: Physics

Chemical Engineering

Minor: Mathematics, Comp. Sci.,

Materials Sci.Materials Sci.

Honors and awards:

NSF Graduate Fellowship

DOE CSGF Fellowship

� Imperial

� Cambridge

� Caltech

Elisabeth van WieMajor: Physics

Minor: Mathematics

Special Thanks:Dr. G!!!!, Dr. Walker, Dr. DeCamp,

Dr. Mike Bonder (DMB), Aisha Goecke

Memories: Late nights in the SPS lounge (sometimes singing

Disney songs), coming back from Mount Cuba every single

Thursday with Wawa and working on 419 homework til the wee

hours of the night, physics volleyball team(Dr. Walk-a, Ismat the

Unstoppable, Daddy DeCamp), Paul putting on a show with or

without his new lab coat, Derek and Eric being my lab partners…

but never again, Tim breaking the chair in Optics, the first ever

SPS bbq at Steve's house with Dr. Mulders and Dr. Owocki,

Heather B. giving me a HUGE (Hershey) Kiss on Valentines Day,

the physics crew going to the Rocky Horror Picture show to

support Rob ☺, and last but not least, the light up cow in the SPS

lounge window!

Jane Waesche

Major: Physics

Minor: Mathematics

Italian

Honors and awards:2008 NASA Summer Research Internship

2007 NSF Undergraduate Research Experience

NASA Delaware Space Grant Tuition Award

2005-2009 UD Scholar, Phi Beta Kappa

Gamma Kappa Alpha (Italian Honor Society)

Special Thanks:Mom and Dad

Memories: Studying REALLY hard for the

physics GRE with Paul and Rylan in the SPS office,

dancing till 7 AM with Shelly, Heather and Sam in

Argentina, and driving a car down a bike path

(oops) in Germany with Dr. Walker.

� Medical Physics Program at UPenn

Samantha WhiteMajor: Physics

Honors and awards:2009-2010 Mary Jo Lake Memorial Fellowship (UA) 2009-

2010 Dean’s Fellowship (UA)

2009-2010 Graduate Tuition Scholarship (UA)

2009 Degree with Distinction

2009 DAMOP Special Undergraduate Session Speaker2009 DAMOP Special Undergraduate Session Speaker

2009 Robert W. Hancock Undergraduate Research Award

2008 NASA Summer Research Scholar

2008 NSF Summer Research Experience

2008 Undergraduate Research Summer Fellowship Award

2008 Global Scholarship Award

2007 Science and Engineering Scholar

UD Scholar Award (2005-2009)

Robert C. Byrd Scholarship (2005-2009)

�University of Arizona

College of Optical Sciences

More from SamSpecial Thanks:I would like to thank my parents and family for always believing in me, and

my amazing friends for all of their support over the past 4 years. I would also

like to thank Dr. Walker and Dr. Decamp for giving me an excellent research

background, and Dr. Mulders for taking me to Argentina!

Best Memories:Argentina!; laughing with Jane about the excessively hot water in our hotel Argentina!; laughing with Jane about the excessively hot water in our hotel

room in Argentina; getting lost with Shelly on the first day in Argentina;

studying for quantum mechanics and “modeling” a wavefunction with

Heather with our fingers…and then having to explain why we were laughing

to Shelly and Jane; collecting data with Rob M. and Adam in Dr. Walker’s lab;

when Tim’s chair broke in optics class; following Ron down the vertical side of

the mountain that was made of sand in Argentina; Ron falling out of the raft

during whitewater rafting in Argentina; climbing out of the window to leave

the 208 lab; end of semester dinners with Shelly, Jane, and Heather; always

having Shelly as my lab partner!

Also Graduated:

Frank Bellamy

Kara-Zoe McGonegal

Valerie Skorupa

Andrew Sweriduk

Statistics 16 students got a BS in physics

4 students got a BS/Astro

5 students got a BA in physics (two of which have a second

degree)

7 students earned two degrees, with the second degree

being Electrical Engineering (2), Mechanical Engineering,

Chemical Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science or

Philosophy (1 each).

17 out of 25 have either completed one or more minor

degrees (often in mathematics, but also in French, Italian,

Philosophy and Theater) or have completed a second

degree.

10 students continue in graduate programs

2 will be high school teachers

5 have jobs, and 4 are looking for a job (on May 31)

and of 4 students we are completely in the dark

Master of Science

Derya Vural

Research Adviser:

Prof. Henry Glyde

Special Thanks for Support:

Dr. Henry Glyde, Dr. James MacDonald, Dr. Henry Glyde, Dr. James MacDonald,

Maura Perkins, Shabbar Raza

Best Memories:

After very bad semester, I passed the

candidate exam in my first time.

Derya will continue in the PhD program

Doctor of Philosophy

Srinivasan Balakrishnan

Research Adviser:

Prof. George Hadjipanayis

Special Thanks for Support:

My Father Late Mr. Balakrishnan, Mom, my My Father Late Mr. Balakrishnan, Mom, my

advisor, my wife, my brother and all my

friends for their encouragement and

support.

Best Memories:

When I got my first journal paper published

and when I passed my qualifiers.

Shahida Dar

Research Adviser:

Prof. Qaisar Shafi

Special Thanks for Support:

Professor Qaisar Shafi and Dr. Ilia Gogoladze Professor Qaisar Shafi and Dr. Ilia Gogoladze

for research, my husband and son for moral

support.

Best Memories:

When I got my first journal paper published

and when I passed my qualifiers.

Now teaching physics at Mohawk Valley

Community College in Utica, NY.

Thomas Ekiert

Research Adviser:

Prof. Karl Unruh

Special Thanks for Support: Karl, the DPA,

and the American Taxpayer. and the American Taxpayer.

Now Research Scientist

at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

Peng Liu

Research Adviser:

Prof. George Hadjipanayis

Special Thanks for Support:Special Thanks for Support:

To my advisor for his support in

tuff times.

Best Memories:

Pass my thesis defense.

Now Principal Engineer, Western Digital

Corporation

Zhicheng Yan

Research Adviser:

Prof. George Hadjipanayis

Special Thanks for Support:

Our physics department and NSF Our physics department and NSF

Best Memories:

Having birthday party with cake in

George’s lab.

Recent graduates not present:

Dr. Ralitsa Dragomirova

Dr. Meijun Lu, Research Scientist DuPont

Dr. Rupsi Pal, Postdoc NRLDr. Rupsi Pal, Postdoc NRL

Dr. Jenny Tchoukova, Postdoc Michigan State

Dr. Weigang Wang, Postdoc Johns Hopkins

Dr. Ziaokai Zhang, Research Scientist,

Spectrum Magnetics

Congratulations !

You are invited to a

Farewell Lunch