Meet our Students

Kaylee Biggart: Researcher, Advocate, and Artist for Change

Kaylee Biggart is a third-year PhD student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Waterloo and she is not your typical graduate student! Balancing innovative research in experimental condensed matter physics, leadership as the Chair of the Graduate Student Association’s Board of Directors (GSA), and a deep commitment to reclaiming her Indigenous heritage, Kaylee has crafted a life that reflects her unique blend of passions and identities.

Daniel Wang’s International Journey in Materials & Nanosciences

Meet Daniel Wang, a driven international student from Nanjing, China who is currently completing his third year of the Materials and Nanosciences (MNS) program at the University of Waterloo.

Michelle Kao: Exploring the Versatility of Astronomy

Meet Michelle Kao, a 3rd-year Physics & Astronomy student who is nothing short of extraordinary. In her pursuit of diversity in co-op experiences, she explores the relation between research, industry, and academia in the field of astronomy.

Courtney Kates: An Outreach-Fueled Journey Towards Physics Teaching

Courtney Kates is a 3rd year student in the Honours Physics program and one of our Department’s champions in the realm of science outreach and recruitment efforts. But her love of science didn’t start here, it began from her childhood.

Maggie Bérubé: A Shining Star in our Physics & Astronomy Program

Meet Maggie Bérubé, a remarkable 3rd year student that is currently pursuing a degree in Physics & Astronomy at the University of Waterloo. In the vast number of students within our programs, Maggie has not only demonstrated academic excellence but has also showcased outstanding research prowess and student leadership that makes her stand out amongst her peers.

Faculty of Science graduate Sadie Graves on paying it forward at the University of Waterloo

Faculty of Science graduate Sadie Graves on paying it forward at the University of Waterloo

Graduating BSc student Sadie Graves loves a challenge. Now, with a co-op degree in life physics under her belt, she feels she’s met Waterloo’s challenge head on and is ready to dive deeper into her academic and professional career.

Physics student awarded prestigious McCall MacBain Scholarship

After a seven-month selection process and two rounds of interviews, a student in the Faculty of Science at the University of Waterloo was selected for the prestigious McCall MacBain Scholarship.

Urja Nandivada

Pioneering Physics Education Research at UW

Sometimes we write about innovations in research or awards for research. Other times we write about innovations in teaching or teaching awards. It’s not that often that we get to talk about innovations in research about teaching. That’s because while it’s a very important and interesting topic, UW physics has not yet made much of a splash in that area- until now. We caught up to graduate student Lalitasri Nandivada (Urja) to talk about how she ended up working in that area.

Schulich Leader Brianna Thomas joins our Life Physics program

Brianna Thomas was recognized as a Schulich Leaders Scholars, awarded to encourage the next generation of technology innovators. She was drawn to the Life Physics program and the University of Waterloo's innovative and experiential learning opportunities.

Mathematical Physics student uses Deepfake AI for viral smartphone app

Mathematical Physics student Parshant Utam co-founded Wombo.ai, the artifical intelligence powered lip-synching smartphone app that has been downloaded over 50 million times. His company has attracted nearly $6 million (US) in seed funding.

Jake Malliaros

The First Virtual Convocation Host for Science at UWaterloo

University Convocation was a little different this year due to COVID-19 and the global pandemic. The Class of 2020 shared this important milestone with the Faculty, fellow graduates, friends and family at a live virtual celebration with Jake Malliaros, BSc ’20 (Honours Physics) as the first virtual Convocation host for the Faculty of Science.

Students take on physics problems with first annual Schrodinger’s Hack

Exploring physics in a way that hasn’t been done before… The Schrodinger’s Hack hackathon will provide students with an opportunity to experience collaboration, gain new connections, test problem solving, and have fun doing physics. It will also encourage meaningful connections between industry and research leaders in physics and the students outside of the classroom environment.

Ria Chakraborty

Ria Chakraborty, a 2A Mathematical Physics student, has a wide range of talents and interests ranging from the traditional and digital arts to quantum computing. Ria has been taking full advantage of the opportunities offered in Waterloo in research and in quantum startup culture.

Martin Le

Martin has had quite the accomplished undergraduate career as he reflects on his experience in the Life Physics (Medical Physics Specialization) program at UWaterloo. Read about his contributions to groundbreaking research in real-time imaging of cancer cells during a tumour resection surgery, and his interests in the field of quantum optics.

Joscelyn Van Der Veen

Mike Lazaridis Scholarship in Theoretical Physics & Destination Physics Scholarship Winner

Joscelyn Van Der Veen is a winner of the Destination Physics Scholarship, a donor funded award that enables Waterloo’s top undergraduate physics students to focus on learning and the pursuit of discovery. The scholarship will support Joscelyn’s interests in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics and her aspirations to perform research that will impact society.

Justin Marchioni

Destination Physics Scholarship Winner

Justin Marchioni is a winner of the Destination Physics Scholarship, which recognizes the top undergraduates in Physics and Astronomy. The award will support Justin’s career in Physics and his aspirations to study exoplanets and galaxies in graduate school.

Schulich Award Winner to study Physics at the University of Waterloo

A self-proclaimed “toddler at heart,” Patel’s innate curiosity for uncovering the world’s mysteries influenced her with dreams of one-day becoming an astronaut.

Sainath Motlakunta wins UW Dean of Science Award

The Dean of Science Award honours Master’s students in the Faculty of Science who demonstrate outstanding performance. Sainath Motlakunta, now a PhD student in the Department of Physics & Astronomy and Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC), was awarded the Dean of Science Award for Physics at the Spring 2019 Convocation.

Graduate student in a quest to learn how machine learning works

Anna Golubeva, PhD student in theoretical condensed matter physics at U. of Waterloo, works in the group of Prof. Roger Melko who was recently awarded a prestigious Vanier fellowship

Quantum optics as a means to effective quantum communication

Andrew Cameron investigates spatially structure light for quantum information purposes. Last fall, he was awarded a prestigious Vanier scholarship.

Undergraduate Physics and Astronomy student wins co-op triple crown

Emily Pass, now a fourth-year undergraduate co-op student in the department of Physics and Astronomy won faculty, provincial and national Co-op Student of the Year Awards in March 2018. This co-op triple crown award was given for the work Emily did developing a data analysis program that rapidly detects objects in the Kuiper Belt, a region of space beyond Neptune. Emily acknowledges her long term passion in Astronomy combined with Physics education  she obtained at Waterloo for her success leading to “wonderful opportunities and possibilities” for the future career growth.

Vanier Scholarship Success for our Graduate Students

Out of the about 160 scholarships awarded each year nationwide over all fields, five of our students have been awarded in this funding round.