Lab Alumni
Post-Doctoral Researchers
2021-2024
Current Affiliation: Tulane University
wguo36@wisc.edu
“Study the past if you would define the future.”
-Confucius
2021-2022
Current Affiliation: Seagate Technology LLC
bwang397@wisc.edu
“Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”
-Steve Jobs
Graduate Students
2019-2024
Current Affiliation: Intel Corporation
rcashen@wisc.edu
“Everything flows and nothing abides; everything gives way and nothing is fixed.”
–Heraclitus
2019-2024
Current Affiliation: California Institute of Technology
bliu268@wisc.edu
“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”
-Carl Sagan
2019-2024
Current Affiliation: Micron Technology
jmmcalpine@wisc.edu
“If a seagull flies over the sea what flies over the bay?”
-Unknown
2021-2026
Current Affiliation:
PPG Industries
tupkar@wisc.edu
“It always seems impossible until it is done.”
– Nelson Mandela
2021-2026
Current Affiliation: University of Wisconsin- Madison
emmy.umana@wisc.edu
“The greatest gift in life is the ability to think great thoughts and have the strength to take action so those thoughts become reality in this wonderful and abundant world.”
-Jack Black
Undergraduate Students
Jack Verich
2023-2025
“We find comfort among those who agree with us – growth among those who don’t.”
—Frank A. Clark
Binyang Wang
2023-2025
“All beings, within the void, delusively interprets initiation and dissipation.”
―The Perfect Enlightenment Sutra
Aaron Dent
2022-2025
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
― Wayne Gretzky
Nathan Zawicki
2024-2025
Current Affiliation: UW–Madison
“The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.”
―Confucius
Rachel Hoetama
2023-2024
Current Affiliation: UW–Madison
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
—Theodore Roosevelt
Roberto Gúzman
2025-2025
“The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ but ‘That’s funny…’.”
― Isaac Asimov
AJ Schmeiser
2021-2024
Current Affiliation: UW–Madison
“It’s hard to live in color when you just see black and white.”
—Thomas Rhett
Theodore Puls
2023-2024
Current Affiliation: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company
“The future is not what it used to be.”
—Yogi Berra
Alex Bloemendal
2020-2023
Current Affilitation: Cargill
“It is not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?”
-Henry David Thoreau
Isabelle LeCloux
2021-2023
Current Affilitation: UW–Madison
“We are responsible for our own ignorance or, with time and openhearted enlightenment, our own wisdom.”
-Isabel Wilkerson
Eli Rodeheaver
2022-2023
Current Affilitation: UW–Madison
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
― Thomas A. Edison
Gene Lee
2020-2022
Current Affiliation: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Chemical Engineering
“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”
– Bruce Lee
Megan Donoghue
2020-2022
Current Affiliation: QuantumScape
“I believe that education is all about being excited about something. Seeing passion and enthusiasm helps push an educational message.”
-Steve Irwin
Suzy Wu
2020-2022
Current Affiliation: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Chemical Engineering
“It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Actually, who are you not to be?”
—Marianne Williamson
Muhammad Sajid
2020-2021
Current Affiliation: Pyran Inc.
“It is strange that only the extraordinary make the discoveries, which later appear so easy and simple.”
– Georg C. Lichtenberg
REU Students
María de los Ángeles Meléndez Gómez
University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez
Summer 2026
“Just keep swimming.”
― Dory
Alex Zhang
University of California Santa Barbara
Summer 2026
“Variety’s the very spice of life that gives it all its flavor.”
― William Cowper
Alyssa Uvodich
University of Texas at Austin
Summer 2025
“An education is not so much about making a living as making a person.”
― Tara Westover
Afrah Taheeya Ahmed
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Summer 2024
“Dreams and reality are opposites. Action synthesizes them.”
― Assata Shakur
Adrian Gonzalez Marcano
University of Puerto Rico – Mayagüez
Summer 2022
“It is better to get wisdom than gold. It is better to choose understanding than silver.”
― King Solomon
Megan Herrington
The University of Tulsa
Summer 2022
“Science has taught me that everything is more complicated than we first assume, and that being able to derive happiness from discovery is a recipe for a beautiful life.”
― Hope Jahren, Lab Girl
RET Scientists
Derek Weisberg
Patrick Marsh Middle School
Summer 2025
“I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.”
― Blaise Pascal
Freddy Melara
Carl Hayden High School
Summer 2026
“Living is worthwhile if one can contribute in some small way to this endless chain of progress.”
― P.A.M. Dirac