2025 spring graduation spotlight

1. What are your plans after graduation, if you know them?
After graduating, I will be starting a therapeutic medical physics residency at UCLA.

2. Do you have a favorite memory?
I can’t pick just one, but some highlights include the satisfaction of getting difficult experiments to work and seeing the beautiful images they produced, as well as constantly falling while trying to learn to snowboard with my lab group.

3. What did you like best about Madison? What are you going to miss?
I loved the view of the lake from Picnic Point and the Terrace. However, what I’m going to miss most of all are the wonderful friends I made here.

4. Any shoutouts?
I’d like to give a shoutout to the CT group, past and present! I’ve learned a lot from my mentors and all the senior members, who have since graduated. It’s also been fantastic getting to know and hang out with the current, younger members of the group!

1. What are your plans after graduation, if you know them?
I’m currently exploring postdoctoral opportunities as well as positions in the private sector. In the meantime, I plan to spend some quality time with my family.

2. Do you have a favorite memory?
Two highlights come to mind: attending Badger hockey games with my family, and presenting my research at the SPIE Medical Imaging Conference in San Diego — both were unforgettable experiences.

3. What did you like best about Madison? What are you going to miss?
I really appreciated how bike-friendly Madison is. I started biking to and from campus and it quickly became my primary mode of transportation. I’m going to miss the convenience and culture of biking here — it’s rare to find a city that supports it this well.

4. Any shoutouts?
Huge thanks to my parents for their constant support, and to my Great-Aunt Susan for generously letting me stay with her in Madison and encouraging me throughout my time here. I’m also incredibly grateful to our lab’s PI, Dr. Tomy Varghese, and to sonographer Dr. Carol Mitchell for their invaluable help with my thesis work.

1. What are your plans after graduation, if you know them?
Therapy residency at Oregon Health and Science University

2. Do you have a favorite memory?
When a professor’s cat ended the virtual lecture early by stepping on his keyboard during Covid.

3. What did you like best about Madison? What are you going to miss?
All of the random little nature parks where you can forget you’re in a city. I’m gonna miss watching the thunderstorms that come through every summer.

4. Any shoutouts?
I want to give a shoutout to everyone in the Cal Lab for helping to push me to be the best scientist I could be, and my cohort for all the fun times we had.

1. What are your plans after graduation, if you know them?
I’m currently looking for a postdoc position!

2. Do you have a favorite memory?
I really enjoyed walking around Madison with my dog.

3. What did you like best about Madison? What are you going to miss?
I picked up a few hobbies (pottery and ice skating) and made friends through them. Everybody was super nice and supportive so I think I’ll miss that.

4. Any shoutouts?
My lab (Dr. Tomy Varghese, Dr. Carol Mitchell, Rashid Al Mukaddim, Yimeng Dou, Max Kiernan, Zhiwei Zhang), committee (Dr. Kevin Eliceiri, Dr. Diego Hernando, Dr. Kevin Johnson) and collaborators (Dr. Shahriar Salamat) were always helpful. Also my dog (Arong Lee)!

1. What are your plans after graduation, if you know them?
After graduation, I will be moving to Baltimore to start a residency at the University of Maryland.

2. Do you have a favorite memory?
My favorite memory from grad school is accepting an award at the AAPM annual meeting for my paper on IMRT QA result prediction. I was so happy to see that the work I had done in collaboration with several medical physicists here at UW received national attention. I was very excited and nervous to go on stage to accept the award!

3. What did you like best about Madison? What are you going to miss?
Madison may be the best city in the entire country during the summer. Relaxing at the terrace on a summer evening, with a gentle breeze and some cold lemonade, may be the closest I’ve ever been to paradise. I’m definitely going to miss that, and I’ll also miss some of the amazing people I met here in Madison. I will not miss the snow.

4. Any shoutouts?
I’d like to thank the Cal Lab students and staff. We have a truly exceptional support system in the lab that I would have struggled without. I’d particularly like to thank my advisor, Wes, for his help with my project and trusting me to do the best I could. I’d also like to shoutout my FGC friends, whose presence in my life I am thankful for everyday. And finally, my family and all the support they’ve given me.

1. What are your plans after graduation if you know them?
Still not certain but leaning towards a medical physics residency.

2. Do you have a favorite memory?
Walking the Picnic Point trail, Concerts on the Square, shows at Overture Center. How do I choose just one?

3. What did you like best about Madison? What are you going to miss?
I love summers in Madison. There is just so much to do. See above for some of the things I will miss.

4. Any shoutouts?
I’m grateful for, and to, so many people. Some of whom are Susan Nossal at the Physics Department, and some from Medical Physics including Bryan Bednarz, Bruce Thomadsen, Tim Hall. There are just too many to name all.

1. What are your plans after graduation if you know them?
I am moving to Seattle to start my radiation therapy residency at the University of Washington! To get there, I plan on driving across the country and stopping at national parks on the way. This will be a nice change in scenery from being inside writing my thesis.

2. Do you have a favorite memory?
I really enjoyed seeing old friends at AAPM conferences, especially UW-Madison grads that have moved on. Medical physics is a very small field, and I think a huge benefit of graduating from UW-Madison is the large network of alumni who you can connect with your entire career. It makes conferences a lot more fun to catch up with people you know.

3. What did you like best about Madison? What are you going to miss?
Anyone who has spent much time around me knows I’m answering this one with pond hockey. To any new students moving here that are unsure of how to handle the cold Midwest winters, I highly suggest embracing the season with a winter sport/activity. Each new year, I looked forward for the upcoming cold season so I could get out on the ponds again with friends.

4. Any shoutouts?
On the topic of hockey, I have to shout out Aidan Tollefson for enthusiastically trying and failing with me. When it comes to classwork and research, I’ll shout out Aidan Tollefson for enthusiastically trying and failing with me. I also want to thank the Cal Lab students who have journeyed with me through the highs and lows of being a PhD candidate. Thank you to my advisors Wes Culberson and Patrick Hill for guiding me through my thesis work. Through direct feedback and example, there are many valuable lessons I learned from them that I’ll surely use through my career.