The
Talent Pool--Recognizing and Nurturing the Potential for Achievement
Physics Majors
Who do Present and Alumni Who have Presented the Physics Department's Career
Exploration Workshops at ISU's Expanding Your Horizons Through Math, Science,
and Technology Conferences (EYH)
We are very proud of all of our students at the ISU Physics Department.
The individuals profiled below are just some of the students and alumni who
have participated in the Physics Department's EYH
Conference Workshops and other career workshops such as Destination Technology
(a Caterpillar Incorporated sponsored career day for Peoria Junior High School
minority students) over the years as way to reach out to the next generation
of students. This past year's EYH
Conference is featured in the Physics Department's 2004 Directions Alumni
magazine. These undergraduates and alumni serve as role models to that
next generation.
Some
Current Women Physics Major Undergraduates who help with EYH Conferences
Valerie N. Hackstadt--senior
physics teacher education major
Valerie (far left and left) is shown displaying the Chaotic Water Wheel apparatus
that she and physics teaching major Vanessa Grabowski (right) helped develop
for their Advanced Lab (PHY 270) project with Dr. George H. Rutherford (center)
that turned into a full fledged research project. According to Dr. Rutherford,
this apparatus allows researchers to study chaos in a simple mechanical system.
The chaotic motion of the wheel is drive by the interplay of water going in
at the top of the apparatus and out through adjustable holes at the bottom of
the apparatus, and imposed friction. The wheel itself was designed and
fabricated by the researchers (Val, Dr. Rutherford, and Vanessa) and Physics
Model Shop Model Maker Jim Dunham. Valerie also serves as a teaching assistant
for the Physics Department as well as Physics Club Vice President.
Trina I. Karim--sophomore
engineering physics major
Trina participated in her first EYH Conference Physics Career Workshop in 2004.
She will begin serving as a Physics Teaching Assistant in Spring 2005.
Kimberly N. McGill--senior
computer physics major
Kim has participated in the last two year's of EYH Conferences and also serves
as a teaching assistant for the Physics Department. She recently presented
her research for the ILP lab titled, "Intensity Modulated Frequencey Scanning
Inversion Scheme," at the 15th Annual Argonne Symposium for Undergraduates
in science, Engineering and Mathematics on November 5-6, 2004.
Alison O'Connell--freshman
engineeringphysics major
Alison jumped right into participating in the department her first month here
in Fall 2004. She was hired as a Planetarium Aide and gives star show
programs. She will also participate in her first EYH Conference in the
Spring on Saturday, April 2, 2005.
Oluseyi Ogunlela--sophomore
engineering physics major
Seyi ("Shayee") hails from Lagos, Nigeria and is a sophomore
physics major in the engineering physics sequence. Although undecided
about which engineering field to go into, she hopes to use her knowledge of
science to change lives. Seyi's hobbies include interior decorating,
creative writing, cooking, and of course, shopping! Seyi participated
in her first Physics Department EYH Workshop (Inquiry Physics) in March 2004.
Zoe Paukstys--senior physics
teacher education major
Senior physics teaching major Zoe Paukstys of LaGrange, Illinois (pictured
left) worked with Dr. Dongqi Li (pictured right) at Argonne National Lab in
Summer 2003 as part of a research project with Dr. Khondkar Karim using a scanning
tunnelling microscope (pictured). In particular, Zoe was etching tips
of tungsten wire in order to image materials to be looked at. They used
the tungsten wire tips to image materials viewed through the scanning tunnelling
microscope and displayed on a computer screen. Zoe is also an ISU
Physics Department Teaching Assistant and past Secretary of the Physics Club.
Zoe will be student teaching at Metamora High School in Spring 2005 with ISU
Physics Alumni and Metamora science teachers David Toniny and Greg Hnilicka.
Sarah Radovich--senior engineering
physics major
Sarah has participated in the EYH Conference for two years as an extra
presenter to my Women in Science
and Math HERstory Quiz Game workshop for the Physics Department.
Sarah shares her handout
of interesting career websites (pdf download) with the student attendees.
Sarah has completed the first three years of physics courses at ISU for her
3/2 engineering physics training and will transfer to the University of Illinois-Urbana
Campus for the remaining two years of her engineering courses.
Terrina Smith--junior physics
major
Terrina hales from Decatur, Illinois and commutes to ISU--that's dedication
to your studies! Terrina helpd out with this year's physics workshop for
Destination Technology featured in the Physics
Department's 2004 Directions Alumni Magazine's Outreach section (pdf download).
Terrina also hopes to participate in the EYH Conference next year.
Michelle Tantillo--senior
physics teacher education major
Michelle Tantillo serves as a Physics Department Teaching Assistant in
addition to participating in the last two EYH Conferences for the Physics Department.
Michelle also spearheaded ISU's student fundraising effort for Relay for Life
for the American Cancer Society which raised over $100,000 campus wide.
Way to go Michelle! Michelle will be student teaching in Spring 2005.
Rebecca E. Wenning--sophomore
physics teacher education major
Rebecca Wenning serves as a Physics Department Teaching Assistant in addition
to participating in the 2004 EYH Conference. She also works with the ILP
research group and presented her research titled, "Optical Characteristics
of a Turbid Medium Between Mirrors," at the 15th Annual Argonne Symposium
for Undergraduates in science, Engineering and Mathematics on November 5-6,
2004.
Rebecca D. Yapp--senior physics
major
Rebecca was the first student to join my Women in Science and Math HERstory
Quiz Game workshop as a presenter in 2002 (and also in 2003 and 2004.
She worked on an independent research project with me profiling the contributions
of two women physicists that produced her well researched and well written research
paper as well as Rebecca's excellent Powerpoint
presentation about Prof. Lise Meitner and Dr. Shirley Jackson (download).
Rebecca is interested in engineering and medical technologies. Rebecca
recently presented her research with Dr. Epa Rosa's Nonlinear Science Lab titled,
"Numerical Simulations of Synchronous Chaotic Plasma Discharges,"
at the 15th Annual Argonne Symposium for Undergraduates in science, Engineering
and Mathematics on November 5-6, 2004.
Some
Recent Physics Alumni who had helped with the EYH conference (with their ISU
Physics B.S. Degree Years Noted)
Jennifer R. Csesznegi (BS
1999 in computer physics)
Jennifer was awarded ISU's Bone Scholar honor for the 1998-99 school year.
The Bone Scholar Award is the highest academic honor that can be bestowed on
a student at ISU. Only 12-14 students receive this honor annually.
Jennifer works as a programmer for State Farm Insurance Companies national headquarters.
Shelley L. Dexter (BS 2002
in computer physics)
Shelley worked as a Physics Teacher Assistant and really enjoyed her Physics
Department EYH workshop experiences over several years. She currently
works for Caterpillar, Incorporated in Peoria, Illinois.
Julie D. Dober (BS 1999 in
physics)
(no picture available yet) Julie
served as a Physics Teaching Assistant while at ISU and participated in both
Physics Family Weekend Open House workshops as well as the EYH conference.
Updating alumni careers is a constant challenge, especially for young alumni
on the move. So we look forward to finding out more about what Julie is
doing currently soon.
Heather A. Dowd (BS 1997 in
physics)
This picture of Heather is from our Physics Department's recent alumni event
on June 5th, 2004. Alumni, faculty, and staff toured Argonne National
Laboratories (hosted by fellow alums Joel Heideman, Dr. Kevin Paul, and Marty
Murphy who work at ANL). After the tour, everyone had dinner at a restaurant
in Aurora, Illinois. Heather is by now ensconced in Monterey, Mexico teaching
science for a two year stint. Right after graduation, Heather spent a
year doing the same in Japan. She also studied abroad in Australia for
a year while an undergraduate. Somehow this world traveler also managed
to be a Physics Teaching Assistant and Physics EYH Workshop Leader. At
the Alumni event, Heather said that she was "living her dreams."
Dr. Garnet B. Erdakos (BS
1997 in physics)
Garnet is our first woman alumna to earn a Ph.D. in physics (and the second
woman alumna to earn a Ph.D.). Her 2004 Ph.D institutions was the Oregon
Institute for Graduate study. Most of our students--and especially so
for women students--go into careers in industry as engineers or consultants.
Garnet was also a Physics Teaching Assistant while an ISU physics major.
Dr. Erdakos has just accepted a post-doctoral research position for the 2004-2005
school year at Cal-Tech.
Rebecca Hahn (BS 2001 in physics
teacher education)
Rebecca is gifted young teacher who also served as a Physics Teaching Assistant
when she was an ISU physics major. She currently teaches for Ridgeview
high scool in Colfax, Illinois. She also continues her professional development
through teacher workshops such as the Ptra Institute that Mr. Wenning runs each
summer. Rebecca's participation in the Summer 2001 Ptra Institute was
featured in the Physics Department's 2002 Directions Alumni magazine (see picture
at right).
Jennifer Heuer (BS 2004 in
physics)
(no picture available yet) Physics
students are multi-talented (playing musical instruments and being in the Big
Red Marching Machine band or performing with ISU's Gamma Phi Circus troup).
However, Jennifer was our first lady Track Team member--her event was
pole valuting! Jennifer also found time to serve as a Planetarium Aide
presenting astronomy programs to the general public. She plans to take
a semester off then start graduate school in Spring 2005.
Joel A. Heidemann (BS 2000
in physics)
Joel helped with previous Physics Career Workshops at the EYH Conference prior
to his 2000 graduation. That was good preparation for Joel, because after
working several years at Fermi National Accelerator Lab in Batavia, he returned
to ISU in Fall 2004 to pursue his physics teacher education degree.
Rachel Fricke King (BS 1995
in physics)
(no picture available yet) Rachel
is a high school teacher for Bridgewater Raritan School in New Jersey.
She earned a master's degree in statistics. Rachel also served as a Physics
Teaching Assistant when she was an ISU physics major
Clair Fernandez Litwiller
(BS 1994 in physics teacher education)
(no picture available yet) Clair
was one of the early physics major students (along with Karen Klamczynski, Melanie
Seelig, and Amy Lautenschlager who served as Physics Department Workshop Leaders
for EYH Conferences. She also served as a Physics Teaching Assistant while
she was an undergraduate physics major.
LaTanya Malone (BS 1997 in
engineering physics)
This portrait of LaTanya was taken for her Physics Student Service Award recognition
and accompanying article in an early Directions Alumni Magazine.
Shannon Mandel (BS 2002 in
physics teacher education)
Shannon is pictured here from the cover art for our Physics Teacher Education
brochure. Shannon was honored with the Physics Teaching Assistant Award
the first year it was awarded. Shannon teaches at Barrington High School
in Illinois.
Sharon J. McManus Jaspers
(BS 1994)
(no picture available yet) Sharon
served as a Physics Teaching Assistant while at ISU. Upon graduation,
she worked at Fermi National Acceleratory Laborary in the Linear Accelerator
Operations Room. She later helped Marty Murphy get hired on there as well.
She later took a job in Hawaii at a similar facility.
Julie A. Montgomery (BS 2000
in physics teacher education)
(no picture available yet) Julie
also served as a Physics Teaching Assistant during her undergraduate years at
ISU. She currently teaches physics and chemistry at Tinley Park High School
near Chicago, Illinois.
Melanie Henderson Seelig (BS
1994 in physics)
(no picture available yet) Melanie
was one of our early Physics Department Workshop Leaders for EYH Conferences
(along with Clair Litwiller, Karen Klamczynski, and Amy Lautenschlager).
Melanie was also honored with the prestigious Bone Scholar Award her senior
year. After graduation, Melanie went to law school. She focuses
on patent law and works with inventors in her practice at Christensen O'connor,
Johnson, & Kindenss in Seattle, Washington.
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