MINI-BIOGRAPHY


Beginnings

I was born in 1983 in Bryan, Tx and spent the first few months of my life living in the married student housing section of Texas A&M where my father was attending college. After that we moved to Austin, Tx where my brother was born. We then moved to California before returning to the northeast and moving closer to my extended family. We lived in Pittsburgh, Pa for a few years before moving to Downingtown, Pa.


Education

I attended junior high and high school in Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated as valedictorian of my class from Downingtown High school in 2001. I matriculated at Princeton University in August of the same year and completed a B.S.E. degree in Mechanical and Aerospace engineering and a certificate in Engineering Physics. Among my achievements at Princeton, I received the “Best Engineering Physics Independent Work Award” and “Donald Janssen Dike Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research” for my senior thesis work under Dr. Szymon Suckewer. I graduated summa cum laude in 2005.

I matriculated as a graduate student in the Physics Department at Duke University in the summer of 2005 and immediately joined the Quantum Electronics Lab under Dr. Daniel Gauthier (see the 'Projects' page for more details!) . During my time at Duke, I was named a James B. Duke Fellow of Physics by the Graduate School, a John T. Chambers Fellow by the Fitzpatrick Institute for Photonics, and a Fritz London Fellow by the Physics Department. In addition, I received a Physics Graduate Teaching Fellowship to co-design and -teach a course in optics aimed at advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students with Dr. Gauthier. I also participated in the yearlong Preparing Future Faculty program, served as the head of the Physics Department graduate mentoring program, and acted as president of the Physics Graduate Student Organization.

I received my A.M. in Physics in 2008, a graduate certificate in Photonics in 2012, and my Ph.D. in 2012 for my work on collective light-matter interactions in a cloud of cold atoms.

Teaching

During my time at Princeton and Duke I have had the opportunity to teach, tutor and TA several classes.

          During the Fall 2009 semester, I was a temporary instructor in the Physics department as part of the Physics Graduate Teaching Fellowship Program . In this role, I got the chance to co-design and -teach a graduate course in optics ( Advanced Optics: PHY 265/ECE 221/BME ) with my research advisor, Prof. Dan Gauthier.

          In order to learn more about the academic faculty career trajectory, I participated in the national Preparing Future Faculty Program with Prof. Kyle Altmann (Elon) as my faculty mentor. Also, I took the graduate studies course Intro to College Teaching (GS302 at Duke) to become more proficient as an educator.

While at Duke, I served as a TA for the following courses:
  1. TA for Phy 230 - Graduate course in Mathematical Methods for Physics (F2006)
  2. TA for Phy 318 - Grauduate course in Electrodynamics (S2007)
  3. TA for Phy 054 - Freshman Electrodynamics (S2007)

In addition, I have tutored students at Duke in the following courses

  • Phy 053 (12 students)
  • Phy 054 (8 students)
  • Phy 061 (2 students)
  • Phy 041 (1 student)
  • Mat 103 (1 student)
  • Mat 107 (1 student)
  • Mat 031/032 (1 student)
  • MCAT physics prep (3 students)
*if you are interested in contacting me with regard to tutoring, just send me an email (my contact information is on the right)!*

Work

I currently work several jobs in various areas. They include:

  1. Graduate Research Assistant for the Quntuam Electronics lab
  2. Duke Univeristy Athletic Tutor/ Local High School/Private tutor in math/physics
  3. Editing Consultant for American Journal Experts (i.e., in my 'free time' I perform English editing of scientific journal articles written by international researchers)


Hobbies

Outside of my studies and research, I entertain a host of hobbies. I grew up in the Boy Scouts (from Tiger on up) and attained the rank of Eagle Scout when I was 15. I have also been playing piano since I was 6 both competitively and for leisure (now, only the latter). Also, I play guitar and do some singing and enjoy writing and performing music. My other passion is the martial arts - I trained in Tang Soo Do at the World Martial Arts Academy in Pa under Sifu Roy Kofroth for 5 years, did a brief stint with the Princeton Tae Kwon Do club for a year, and studied Kung Fu under Sifu Gary Vaganek of Young Forest Kung Fu for 3 years. Unfortunately, I have not yet found the right place to continue my training since I've moved down to NC.


Family

My wife, Rachel, and I were married on July 15, 2006 in Pittsburgh, Pa in the presence of our friends and family. Rachel recently graduated from Duke Medical School and is currently a third-year Pediatrics resident at Duke University Medical Center . Our wonderful, smiley daughter, Madelyn, was born on September 28, 2011 and manages to help us fill our "free" time each every day.