Graduate Alumni
Class of 2012
Scott Aefsky
Advisor: Craig Blocker
Ph.D. thesis title: Search for a High Mass Electron-Muon Resonance I the ATLAS Detector at the LHC
Present Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Brandeis University
Oren Elrad
Advisor: Michael Hagan
Ph.D. thesis title: Coarse-grained Simulations of Viral Assembly
Present Position: Apple Computer
Jian Lv
Advisor: Paul Miller
Ph.D thesis title: Analysis and Simulations of the Dynamics of Neural Activities in Gustatory Cortex During Taste Processing
Present Position: student at Cornell University
Class of 2011
Edward Barry Advisor: Zvonimir Dogic
Ph.D. thesis title: Self-Assembly of Colloidal Membranes and the Influence of Chirality
Present Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Univ Chicago/Argonne National Lab, Heinrich Jaeger lab
Mitch Mailman
Advisor: Bulbul Chakraborty
Ph.D. thesis title: Jammed Packings of Soft Grains in 2D: Mechanical and Statistical Mechanical Properties
Present Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Maryland
Doug Gobeille
Advisor: John Wardle/David Roberts
Ph.D. thesis title: A Systematic Meta Survey of High Redshift Quasars Probing their Environment and Evolution
Current Position: Faculty, University of Southern Florida
Dimitar Pachov
Advisor: Dorothee Kern
Ph.D. thesis title: Conformational Transition Pathways in Signaling and Enzyme Catalysis Explored by Computational Methods
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Brandeis University
Yasheng Yang
Advisor: Michael Hagan
Ph.D. thesis title: Geometric and Dynamic Frustration in Self-organizing systems
Current Position: Data Specialist, Two Sigma Investments, Houston, TX
Class of 2010
Michael BellAdvisor: John Wardle/David Roberts
Ph.D. thesis title: Two-Frequency, Multi-epoch VLA Observations of SS 433
Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher, Max Planck Institute, Germany
David Clark
Advisor: Craig Blocker
Ph.D. thesis title: Measurement of B0 and B+ Lifetimes Using Semileptonic Decays at C.D.F.
Current Position: TBD
Ya Liu
Advisor: Bulbul Chakraborty
Ph.D. thesis title: Statics and Dynamics of Polymers in Confined Spaces
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Lehigh University, PA
Daniel Reeves
Advisor: Jane' Kondev
Ph.D. thesis title: Diffusion Limited Reactions in Poorly Mixed Environments
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, MIT, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences
Seila Selimovic
Advisor: Seth Fraden
Ph.D. thesis title: Microfluidics for Protein Crystallization and Mapping Phase Diagrams of Aqueous Solutions
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology
Class of 2009
Avijit Bakshi
Advisor: Paul DiZio/James Lackner
Ph.D. thesis title: A Bio-mechanical and Statistical Mechanics Analysis of Human Standing Posture
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Psychology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Fei (Phil) Huang
Advisor: Seth Fraden
Ph.D. thesis title: Interactions and Collective Behavior of Attractive Colloidal Rods and Microspheres Grafted with Filamentous Bacteriophage
Current Position: Research Associate, State Street Investors, Cambridge, MA
Hyun-Jae Pi
Advisor: John Lisman
Ph.D. thesis title: Different Phosphorylation States of CaMKII α Differentially Regulate Structural and Functional Plasticity
Current Position: Researcher
Class of 2008
Silke Henkes
Advisor: Bulbul Chakraborty
Ph.D. thesis title: A Statistical Framework for Static Granular Matter
Current Position: Research Associate, Syracuse University
Josh Kalb
Advisor: Bulbul Chakraborty
Ph.D. thesis title: Single Polymer Systems Under Geometric Confinement
Current Position: Develops and tests casino games using probabilistic models and simulations; King Show Games, MN
Ercan Kamber
Advisor: Jane' Kondev
Ph.D. thesis title: Statistical Physics of Crowding and Confinement
Current Position: CTO, HPC Engineering at RAID Inc., MA
Joshua Martin
Advisor: Jane' Kondev
Ph.D. thesis title: Polymer Models of Chromatin
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of North Carolina
Class of 2007
Tobias Sander
Advisor: Albion Lawrence
Ph.D. thesis title: Torsion and Soft SUSY Breaking
Current Position: Financial Consultant, d-fine GmbH, Germany
Jung-uk Shim
Advisor: Seth Fraden
Ph.D. thesis title: Novel Approach to Protein Crystallization; Control of the Phase Behavior of Aqueous Solutions Using Microfluidics
Current Position: Research Fellow, Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK
Class of 2006
Joshua Blouwolff (Bloustine)
Advisor: Seth Fraden
Ph.D. thesis title: Experimental Investigations of Interactions and Collective Behavior in Protein/Polymer Mixtures and Granular Rods
Current Position: Technical Staff, Chemical and Biological Defense Systems Group, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, MA
Allison Ferguson
Advisor: Bulbul Chakraborty
Ph.D. thesis title: Dynamical Heterogeneities and Signatures of Jamming in Dense Granular Flow
Current Position:Research scientist, Bristol Aerospace in Winnipeg, Canada.
Ashok Prasad
Advisor: Jane' Kondev
Ph.D. thesis title: Macromolecules in Flatland
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering Department, Colorado State University, CO
Alireza Soltani
Advisor: XJ Wang
Ph.D. thesis title: Neural Mechanism Underlying Reward-Dependent Choice Behavior: A Cortical Network Model of Probabilistic Decision Making
Current Position: Research Scientist, Virginia Tech
Pengcheng Song
Advisor: XJ Wang
Ph.D. thesis title: Continuous attractor Models of Persistent Neural Activity: Heterogeneity, robustness, and Irregular Firing
Current Position: Financial Engineer, SunGard BancWare, Boston, MA
KongFatt Wong-Lin
Advisor: XJ Wang
Ph.D. thesis title: Temporal Integration of Information in Perceptual Decision Making: A Recurrent Network Model
Current Position: Lecturer (Computational Neuroscience), School of Computing and Intelligent Systems, University of Ulster, UK
Class of 2005
Tingdong Chen
Advisor: John Wardle and David Roberts
Ph.D. thesis title: VLBI and VSOP Study of Two Quasar Jets
Current Position: Developer, 1185 Design Inc
Caroline Geisler
Advisor: XJ Wang
Ph.D. thesis title: The Interplay Between Intrinsic Cell Properties and Synaptic Dynamics in the Generation of Oscillations in Cortical Network Models
Current Position: Research Associate, Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tuebingen, Germany
Class of 2004
Chi (Teddy) Cheung
Advisor: John Wardle and David Roberts
Ph.D. thesis title: Studies of the Kilo-parsec Scale Radio and Optical Emission from X-ray Jets in Active Galactic Nuclei
Current Position: NRC Research Associate, Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC.
Kirstin Purdy Drew
Advisor: Seth Fraden
Ph.D. thesis title: Liquid Crystal Phase Transitions of Monodisperse and Bidisperse Suspensions of Rodlike Colloidal Virus
Current Position: Physics Lecturer, Penn State
Jong-Bong Lee
Advisor: Robert Meyer
Ph.D. thesis title: Textures and Free Energy in Free Standing Thin Film of Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, POSTECH, South Korea
Guangnan Meng
Advisor: Robert Meyer
Ph.D. thesis title: Elasticity of Thin Layers of Nematic Liquid Crystalline Gels: Electo-Optics and Thermo-Mechanics
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physics and HSEAS, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
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