Alumni Guestbook

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Name	Class	Further Studies	News
Darren Steele	2010	BS Chemsitry, In Chemistry PhD program at Texas A&M	I am currently in College Station, TX at Texas A&M University pursuing a PhD in chemistry. I am working in Dr. Tadhg Begley's group conducting research in mechanistic enzymology with emphasis on vitamin and natural product biosynthesis.
Lisa (Heldreth) Winters	2009	In Sac State Single Subject Credential Program	Now working on single subject teaching credentials in the credentialing program at CSU Sacramento. Plan to teach high school physics.
Mark Kerfoot	2008	UC Merced UC Davis, B.A. Int'l Relations	Currently working towards my PhD in Physics at UC Merced.
Rob Custodio	2008		I am currently working as a Health Physicist for the State of California Department of Public Health Radiologic Health Branch. After graduation, I completed a temporary appointment as a Research Assistant for the Cosmology group in UCD's Physics Department helping with computer simulations of deep optical and IR surveys of massive galaxy clusters. I also had the honor of instructing Physics 11C lab for a semester as well as helping to develop the Introductory Astronomy lab before joining the State.
Philip Jackson	2008		Pursing Ph.D in Electrical Engineering at UC Santa Cruz with Dr. Ali Shakouri. Researching renewable energy, thermoelectric characterization of new materials, and beginning research on concentrated solar power project (CSP).
Victoria Brandt	2007		I am currently working for the California Department of Public Health, in the Radiologic Assessment Unit of the Radiologic Health Branch. This unit is responsible for making radiological assessments in the environment, around nuclear power plants and in decommissioned radiologic sites around the state.
Josh Kline	2007	UC Davis, MS in Applied Science	Conducting independent research and looking for permanent employment.
David Stafford	2006	UC Davis, MS in Applied Science Sac State, Single Subject Credential	Currently teaching physics at Rosemont High School in Sacramento.
Curtis Castrapel	2006	CSU Fullerton, MS in Software Engineering	I'm now working as an IT Security Administrator at Blizzard Entertainment and obtaining my MS degree in Software Engineering at CSU Fullerton.
Benjamin Topham	2006	Princeton	Working towards Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at Princeton.
Amy Jones	2005	Texas A&M	Currently in a PhD program at Texas A&M University.
Eliza Morris	2005	Harvard	Working towards Ph.D. in Applied Physics at Harvard after finishing a Fulbright Fellowship in Denmark.
Christopher Ray	2005		I spent my first 18 months in the Air Force as a Tactical Data Links Test Engineer. I then went on to sit back seat in F-15s for two years testing upgrades. Now I am about to graduate from the Electronic Warfare School and fly B-52s.
Henry Garcia	2005	Berkeley MS in Physics	After a terrific four years at Sac State, I earned a Masters in Physics in the Zettl Group. I currently work as an animator at Pixar Studios.
Jason E. Ybarra	2004	San Francisco State, MS in Physics, 2006	After working as a lecturer at Sac State for two years, Jason has started the PhD program in Astronomy at University of Florida.
Adam Garland	2004	San Francisco State	Working towards MS in Astrophysics at San Francisco State.
John Schreiner	2002	Sac State	Completing an MSc in Computer Science. I am currently employed as an Information Technology Analyst.
Danny Stratton	2001	MS in Management Information Systems	I am currently a lead computer programmer for the State of California. I sometimes miss physics but have managed to fit it in periodically by reading physics books and viewing the stars (and planets) through my 8" reflector. Maybe some day I will return to the field for my Ph.D. in computational physics - who knows!!
Andy Kotko	2000	Multiple Subject Credential	I've moved to the other end of the spectrum - I teach kindergarten and 1st grade and absolutely love it. You can bet my class is the only one where kids race each other while spelling "thermodynamics" (and they can give a pretty good explanation for what it means.) I'll always have fond memories of the "physics lounge!"
Peter Frinchaboy	2000	Virginia, Ph.D. in Astronomy, 2006	Assistant Professor of Physics & Astronomy at Texas Christian University (TCU)
Mike Farnham	1998		Optical Technician at Sacramento State.
Mike Strong	1997	MS in Security and Safety Engineering
Chris Jackson	1996	UC Davis, MBA	Attended UC Davis Department of Applied Science, but left before completing degree to take an engineering job at Intel Corp. in 1997. Held positions in design, quality, product and fabrication engineering. Returned to graduate school at UC Davis Graduate School of Business. Went on to hold positions at Intel Corp in wireless, mobile and corporate computing in marketing and in strategy. I left Intel in 2007 to found Rowy networks to fulfill an unmet strategic objective of Intel. Rowy currently partners with Intel in this endeavor.
Sylvia Stork	1994		Currently, I am the Water-Quality data manager for the U.S. Geological Survey, California Water Science Center.
Michael Wickett	1994	UC Davis, Ph.D. in Applied Science, 1999	Since 1999, I've been a computational physicist with the Center for Applied Scientific Computing at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Linda Muzzey	1992		Had a brief stint teaching physics at the Navy's Nuclear Power School. Currently a high school physics teacher.
Mary Ellen Niedzielski	1992	Sac State, BA in Liberal Studies	Technical Trainer at Agilent Technologies, developing curricula for and teaching a proprietary programming language, system administration, and configuration/performance/fault management software for the telecom industry.
Michael Ocasio	1991	M.Sc	Chief Physicist HIMA San Pablo Caguas Center for Cancer & Robotic Radiosurgery 100 Avenida Luis Munoz Marin Caguas, Puerto Rico 00727
Nathan Phillips	1989	Duke, Ph.D., 1997	Although I now study and teach about the biophysics of plants and ecosystems at Boston University, I continue to draw heavily off the excellent training I received in physics from Sacramento State. I would enjoy catching up with fellow students from Sac State Physics in the mid-late 1980s.
Kathy (Pori) Keehan	1987	MS in Environmental Health Sciences	These days I've strayed quite a ways from the world of physics - I'm the executive director of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition. It's a non-profit advocacy group dedicated to making bicycling better in San Diego. But not to worry - I still use the information I learned in the Sacramento State physics department! I have nothing but fond memories of my time at Sac State and I hope everyone there now gets as thorough an education and has as wonderful a time as I did.
Irene Petrasek	1984		After graduating, worked at the Jet Propulsion Lab. Died in 1990 due to injuries sustained from a hit and run. Still missed dearly by those that were close to her. May she rest peacefully in the arms of the beloved.
Grace (Giachetti) Miazza	1983		Currently working at the Joint Personnel Recover Agency as an engineer, part of the Joint Staff J7. Worked on Star Wars in the late '80, primarily the space based laser. Went to Barbara Brennan School of Healing and enjoy working with and exploring the human energy field. My experience at Sac State (working in the machine shop, the extensive lab experience) prepared me in ways no other school I have heard of could have. Excellent program.
James Mc Granahan	1978	Sac State, MA in Education	Been teaching as a Lecturer with the Sac State Physics Dept since 1981. Concurrently I taught with the San Juan School district for 13 years in their independent study program. Member of Sigma Pi Sigma.
John Pleines	1978		After Sac State, spent 20+ years with TRW tending to computer systems- operating systems, drivers and hardware. I cut my eye teeth on the PDP-11 the department acquired in 77/78. The last 7 years at a company building airborne computer systems. I credit the problem solving and analytical skills I picked up in the physics department with my successes. Lots of great memories. Thanks.
Patrick Briggs	1975	University of Kansas, Ph.D. (Space Physics), 1981	Still Associate Professor of Physics at The Citadel in Charleston, SC. Taught College Physics from a textbook by some Urone fella... I was not particularly surprised to find out that Joe Dewitt is in a band.
Joe DeWitt	1975	MBA	Currently with Raytheon Vision Systems, Goleta CA as Program Engineering Supervisor. Participate as, and Lead group of, engineering managers on DOD and Space Focal Plane Programs. Prior career adventures: Electro-Optical IR,/Visible/Laser test equipment, environmental monitoring satellites, novel water treatment technologies, medical and automotive sensors development, space deployed antenna development. Most fascinating career physics problem: lasing with water molecules. Avocation: 50s & 60's rock 'n roll band www.captaincardiac.com.
Kenneth Kitlas	1975	BA, Chemistry	I went on to grad school at the University of Nevada Reno, transferred back to CSUS in electrical engineering MS program. I then moved to Silicon Valley. I have worked for a number of companies on a wide range of engineering jobs. These included military, space, commercial, and medical. I am currently involved in designing medical electronics and devices.
Pauline Chan	1975
Robin Evans	1972	UC Davis, MA, Ph.D.	I work with the Natural Space Environments group at the Jet Propulsion Lab. This is part of the Reliability Engineering office. We get to use existing spacecraft data to produce models of the environments (radiation belts, solar storms, meteor flux, etc.) for mission design. We also produce space weather reports for missions in critical phases such as orbit insertion, planetary landings, and whacking comets.
Michael R. Smith	1970		I'm retired and loving it. Life is a seven day weekend. The youngest instructor I had was Michael Shea. Is he still with the Department? I imagine he is retired as well (Note: Michael Shea retired a couple of years ago but is still active in our Teacher Preparation Program).
Michael Richardson	1969	UC Davis, MA in Physics	I am currently chair of the Physics/Astronomy/Geology department at Sacramento City College.
Thomas Daniel Christensen	1968		Retired 2011, Broadband Telecommunications Engineer, Telalaska, Inc.
Robert Steel	1953		Course of study: Physical Science Career profession: Reg Civil Engineer State of California Current Status: Retired 1991