Pursuing a path to the stars

“Waterloo has really become one of the places to be in physics over the last 20 years,” says Dr. Brian McNamara, chair of the Department of Physics & Astronomy. Indeed, how many universities can boast of a Nobel Laureate in Physics, followed the very next year by another faculty member winning the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics? 

“We are now one of the largest undergraduate physics programs in North America, with more than 800 students,” Brian says. “But we don't want to just be big, we want to serve our students well. Student awards are one way we can do that.”  

One of the awards Brian has helped to establish as chair is the Destination Physics Scholarship. This endowed award is presented annually to full-time undergraduate students who demonstrate academic excellence. The scholarship was made possible through generous gifts from a group of alumni and friends of the department. 

Isaac Cheng's work on mission planning tools for Canada’s largest space project to date earned him national recognition as CEWIL Canada’s 2022 Student of the Year. Photo by Joel Mieske.

Isaac Cheng, a fourth-year physics student, is the 2023 recipient of the scholarship. In grade 11, he attended the Ontario University Fair, where he met Waterloo physics students. Although the University wasn’t initially on his radar, “they were so passionate about their program that it won me over instantly,” he says. 

Highlights of Isaac’s undergraduate career include “amazing” co-op experiences, including three terms at the Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Centre. “While studying how the environment affects star formation during my second work term, I realized I wanted to pursue both observational and theoretical astrophysics,” he says. 

Isaac’s co-op work terms included helping to develop mission planning tools for space telescope CASTOR, Canada’s largest space project to date. It was this co-op term that earned him national recognition as CEWIL Canada’s 2022 Student of the Year. 

Isaac’s third co-op term saw him working at Waterloo with Dr. Mike Hudson, studying the dark matter halos of satellite galaxies. “Not only did Dr. Hudson teach me a lot about cosmology, a field of astrophysics I had no prior experience in, but he also made me feel like a real part of the physics community at Waterloo,” Isaac says. 

In his final co-op term, Isaac will be working at the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics. “I can't wait to have a theory-focused co-op (at one of the world's leading theoretical physics institutions, too!)” 

Isaac plans to pursue graduate school. “My ultimate wild dream is getting a tenured position at a university because that means I get to continue doing the research I love while passing on my enthusiasm for physics to others.”  

“I've been thinking about the impact that people — teachers, mentors and even other students — have had on my life, and I've been trying to do more outreach activities. I currently mentor first-year students and I am an outreach volunteer with the Let's Talk Science program for elementary and high school students,” he says. 

“Receiving this award gives me confidence that this is the right path for me, and the money helps my journey along the road to my destination: physics (pun intended). Thank you!”