Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos to host alumni and friends reunion event
The Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos is hosting an Alumni and Friends Reunion on May 30-31 at the Hyatt meeting room in State College, Pennsylvania. This event will feature presentations by several postdoctoral scholar alumni, networking opportunities, panel discussions, and a showcase of new developments and initiatives at the IGC.
“We are thrilled to welcome back alums and friends of the Institute for Gravitation and the Cosmos, including six people whose time at Penn State collectively spanned the last three decades,” said Sarah Shandera, director of the IGC and professor of physics. “All of them were here as postdoctoral researchers—a career stage when people have the expertise and time to develop new ideas, and when they also serve as the glue in a research group, connecting busy faculty and mentoring graduate students.”
Speakers include:
- Robin Tuluie (IGC postdoc, 1993-1995), previous head of R&D at Renault F1 (engine design); founder PhysicsX
- Tristan McLoughlin (IGC postdoc, 2005-2007), professor of pure and applied mathematics, Trinity College Dublin
- Darren Grant (IGC postdoc, 2007-2009), Canada Excellence Research Chair, Simon Fraser University (to be confirmed)
- Gordana Tešic (IGC postdoc, 2012-2017), data scientist at Meta, Ottawa
- Jonathan Trump (IGC postdoc, 2013-2016), associate professor of physics, U. Connecticut
- Surabhi Sachdev (IGC postdoc, 2018-2020), assistant professor of physics, Georgia Tech
“We are delighted to showcase their roles as key drivers in our research ecosystem as well as their accomplishments,” Shandera said. “Each of our keynote speakers went on to do really interesting and impactful things in industry or academia, and we are excited to hear their stories! Their talks will anchor the reunion’s program of networking and discussion, including updates on how the Institute is adapting to better serve its members.”
Please sign up to attend by May 10. A virtual option will be available for portions of the program.
More information about event is available on the IGC website, with an updated program coming soon. Questions can be directed to Courtney Shaffer as cls6664@psu.edu.