Physics Alumni Making Waves Around the World
Our alumni network continues to be a source of great pride for the K-State Physics community, spanning diverse careers across academia, industry, and national laboratory research. In this section, we celebrate the latest professional achievements, fellowship awards, and personal milestones of a few of our graduates around the world.
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| Corbin Allison, (B.S. '25) |
Corbin Allison (B.S. ’25) co-authored a groundbreaking paper on attosecond photoionization dynamics published in Nature! His undergraduate research was funded by the DOE and NSF REU programs. Corbin is now pursuing his Ph.D. at CU Boulder.
Adil Hussain (Ph.D. ’25) spoke at the Universities Research Association (URA) Council of Presidents Annual Forum in Washington, D.C. He highlighted how his Fermilab research prepared him for his current postdoctoral position at South Dakota Mines.
Jeremy Kamman (B.S. ’24) was awarded a prestigious Lafayette Fellowship for a fully funded master’s degree in Fundamental Physics at Aix-Marseille University. Currently a second-year Fulbright Fellow in North Macedonia, Jeremy will join an elite group focused on cultivating French-American scientific leadership.
Claudia Morello (Ph.D. ’24) visited the department to share valuable insights with current students on transitioning from graduate school to the professional world. Claudia currently works as an RF Wake and Plume Modelling Scientist for the Systems Engineering Group.
Prakash Gautam (Ph.D. ’22), Assistant Research Professor and Director of the DRI Optics Lab, was awarded a highly competitive $571,485 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to fund his laboratory's advanced aerosol dynamics and light scattering research.
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| Narayan Khadka (Ph.D. '22) at Rubin Observatory |
Narayan Khadka (Ph.D. ’22) served as an Observing Specialist at the Rubin Observatory in Chile, representing Nepal on a 10-country international team advancing global sky-mapping astronomy. In more personal news, he and his wife also welcomed their first son!
Tien Minh Phan (Ph.D. ’21) received the prestigious NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00), a highly selective grant designed to facilitate a promising postdoctoral scientist's transition into an independent, tenure-track faculty position.
Praful Gagrani (M.S. ’18) is continuing his research abroad, currently serving as a Project Researcher in the Laboratory for Quantitative Biology at the University of Tokyo.
Saima Farooq (Ph.D. ’16) was awarded the Jennifer Tyne Fellowship for 2025–2026. Established to recognize excellence among faculty lecturers and support professional development, the fellowship provides a course release to undertake activities that ultimately enhance pedagogical skills.
Erik Stalcup (B.S. ’10) contributed as an engineer at NASA’s Glenn Research Center to the historic Artemis II lunar flyby mission—the first crewed moon flyby since 1972. He has now transitioned to engineering projects for the upcoming Artemis III, IV, and V missions.
Larry Escalada (M.S. ’95) won a University of Northern Iowa IP Disclosure competition award for his work updating the PRISMS PLUS high school physics curriculum to align with Iowa’s academic science standards.
As our global alumni community grows, we love hearing where your K-State Physics degree has taken you. Whether you have recently started a new position, published research, received an award, or simply want to share a life milestone, your stories inspire our current students and keep our network strong. Please reach out to the department or drop us a line at alumni@phys.ksu.edu to share your latest updates so we can feature them in our next newsletter. We look forward to staying connected and hearing from you soon!