Physics Newsletter Spring 2025

Achievement Spotlight

Nobel Laureate, John Hopfield has been awarded the 2025 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering for his pioneering contributions to modern machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Peter Schiffer has been named a 2025 AAAS Fellow for his distinguished contributions to the advancement of science.

Ali Yazdani has been honored with the 2025 Fritz London Memorial Prize for his groundbreaking discoveries in the interplay between correlated phases and superconductivity in various materials.

Congratulations to Professor Shivaji Sondhi who was elected as a 2025 Fellow of the Royal Society, honoring his pioneering work in theoretical condensed matter physics.

Congratulations Professor Jo Dunkley, who was elected as a 2024 Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of her influential work in cosmology, exploring the origins of the universe.

Waseem Bakr has been awarded the 2025 New Horizons in Physics Prize for his innovative work in developing quantum gas microscopes that provide detailed insights into strongly interacting quantum systems .

Bill Bialek has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in recognition of his significant contributions to the field of biophysics.

Katerina Visnjic and Grace Bosse have been honored with the 2025 Teaching Awards by the Princeton University Engineering Council.

Spring Highlights

Suzanne Staggs and Jo Dunkley released high-definition images of the baby universe, revealing new features in cosmic microwave background radiation and the Milky Way's density.
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Ali Yazdani and his team have visualized quantum fractal patterns, revealing intricate details of quantum states of matter
Read More
Dmitry Abanin and his team developed a hybrid quantum simulator, promising to unlock many quantum mysteries.
Read More

Footage from the Reunion Show "If It Ain’t Broke, Let’s Break It," featuring Senior Lecturer Katerina Visnjic and filmed by Chair Jim Olsen.

Photos from events in spring semester. Photo credits: Rick Soden

Congrats Graduates

Undergraduate Students

Lyla Choi

Lyla will be pursuing her PhD in Physics at Stanford University.

John Kim

John will be pursuing his PhD in Applied Physics at Columbia University.

"If it works, it works."

Mila Bileska

Mila will be pursuing her PhD in Physics at Princeton University.

"Never tell me the odds" - Han Solo

Ronit Singhi

Ronit will be pursuing his PhD in Physics at University of California, San Diego.

Kodai Speich

Kodai will be pursuing his Master's in Music Composition at New York University's Steinhardt School.

Seniors (Not Pictured): Hyaline Chen; Rafael Coca Salazar; Alexander crosier; Alejandra Duran Urriago; Thalia Eitel-Porter; Deniz Erdag; Teddy Feig; Natasha Greenstein; Jorge Hernandez; Max Hines; Nicholas Hope; Sokol Hoxha; Andrew Ji; Lennox Keeble; Rin Kuroda, Nicholas Lawson, Andrew Liu; Meryl Liu; Joah Macosko; Ryan Marin; Jake Shin; Ron Shvartsman; Chau Truong' Esha Umbarkar; Pranav Vadapalli; Basha Waxman; Joshua Yi; Jello Zhou.

Graduate Students

From left to right: Kevin Crowley; Jiayi Hu; Zija Cheng; Andrew Pyo; Mengyang Zhang; Michael Scheer; Adriana Dropulic; Jiachen Li; Wonyong Chung; Jason Rosenberg; Wayne Zhao
Read their Abstracts

New and Promoted Staff

From left to right: Brenda Zanghi - Manager, Administration and Operations; Mike Kelly - Senior Grants Manager; Andrea La Bella - Grants Manager; Julio Lopez - Grants Manager.

Staff Spotlight

Omelan Stryzak

Manager of Undergraduate Labs and Demonstrations

In a hole in the ground, there lived a Demo Wizard. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell: it was a Physics-hole, full of shiny, loud, bright, exploding and Sciencey things and that means exciting educational adventures. (A nod to The Hobbit, for those who missed it.)

Hi, I’m the guy who helps to make Undergraduate lessons stick — bringing The Textbook to life with memorable demonstrations. It’s incredibly rewarding. I get to use amazing tools and do things one probably shouldn’t (like microwaving incandescent bulbs and shattering wine glasses — live, with Students watching).

As an EE/CE, I thought I’d be working on silicon chip architectures. Instead, to earn my keep I’ve designed wine labels, worked for “The Mouse”, built museum exhibits, and even pulled IT cables through buildings — I never expected to land here in Physics.

Speaking of Physics – I absolutely need to thank Profs. Staggs and Page for believing in me and starting my Princeton journey via the ACT telescope. ^_^

At home, life is equally full of exploration. I spend my time with my amazing wife and two boys (6 and 2 as of this writing), tending to our pinball machines, and dissecting any interesting hardware we can get our hands on. Curiosity never stops, and neither do I.

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Photo Credits: Rick Soden Content Creator: MyKella Mitchell