Mathematics and Physics – Badger Talks – UW–Madison

Zain Abhari

mreinfeldt — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 17:40:16 +0000

I am a Ph.D. candidate in Physics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where I study ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy and nonlinear optics. My work focuses on developing new ways to probe femtosecond and attosecond dynamics using both tabletop setups and large-scale facilities. I have carried out experiments at places like SACLA in Japan and other international facilities across the globe. I am especially excited about creating accessible tools for exploring fast processes in complex materials.

Laura Albert

jnweaver — Tue, 02 May 2017 19:35:38 +0000

Laura Albert, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research interests are in the field of operations research, with a particular focus on discrete optimization with application to homeland security and emergency response problems. She has authored or co-authored 45 publications in archival journals and refereed proceedings. Her research has been awarded several honors, including four best paper awards and an NSF CAREER Award. Dr. Laura Albert is the INFORMS Vice President for Marketing, Communication, and Outreach. She is the author of the blogs “Punk Rock Operations Research” and “Badger Bracketology.” You can find her on twitter at @lauraalbertphd

Uwe Bergmann

mreinfeldt — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 16:56:59 +0000

Uwe Bergmann is a Professor in the Physics Department of UW-Madison. He specializes on the development and application of novel X-ray techniques based on the most powerful x-ray sources. He has studies ancient manuscripts including the Archimedes Palimpsest, fossils, water, and how plants split water to produce the oxygen we breath.

Uwe’s talks can also be offered in German.

Vicki Bier

jnweaver — Mon, 01 May 2017 20:48:55 +0000

Vicki Bier is Professor Emerita in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and the Department of Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she directed the Center for Human Performance and Risk Analysis (formerly the Center for Human Performance in Complex Systems) from 1995 until 2021. She has over 30 years of experience in risk analysis for the nuclear power, chemical, petrochemical, and aerospace industries. Dr. Bier’s research focuses on applications of risk analysis and related methods to problems of security, critical infrastructure protection, climate change, and pandemic response. Dr. Bier was elected a Fellow of the Society for Risk Analysis in 1996, from which she received the Distinguished Achievement Award in 2007. She served as the engineering editor for Risk Analysis from 1997 through 2001, and is currently the Editor in Chief of Decision Analysis.

Victor Brar

jnweaver — Thu, 27 Feb 2020 14:41:05 +0000

Victor Brar worked with carbon nanotubes, at MIT with Mildred Dresselhaus, before getting his PhD at UC Berkeley while working on Scanning Tunneling Microscopes with Mike Crommie. He has developed new methods to image materials with atomic resolution and to move individual atoms within materials. Later, Victor went to Caltech to create photonic devices that scatter light in weird ways, similar to holograms. Eventually moving back to Wisconsin in 2016, he has been building specialized electron microscopes to study materials that show quantum properties. Additionally, making materials that could be useful for futuristic spacecraft.

Michael Corradini

fpuleo — Wed, 18 Jul 2018 18:59:19 +0000

Michael L. Corradini was the Wisconsin Distinguished Professor of Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He taught at UW from 1981-2016, serving from 1995-2001 as the Associate Dean for the College of Engineering and as the Chair of Engineering Physics from 2001-2011. He also held appointments in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Institute of Environmental Studies. He was the chair of the Energy institute faculty executive committee and the director of the college’s Wisconsin institute of Nuclear Systems.

Sameer Deshpande

mreinfeldt — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 20:26:36 +0000

Sameer is an Assistant Professor in Statistics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His research interests include Bayesian hierarchical modeling, Bayesian treed regression, variable selection, and causal inference. Much of his methodological work is motivated by an interest in understanding the long-term health consequences of playing American-style tackle football. In his sparse time, he enjoys cooking, making cocktails, photography, and cheering for Dallas-area sports teams.

Jordan Ellenberg

fpuleo — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 16:40:56 +0000

Jordan Ellenberg is a number theorist whose popular articles about mathematics have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Wired, and Slate.

Testimonials

“…you have an incredible ability to take a complex subject, break it down, make it understandable, yet present it in a dynamic and interesting manner.” – James R. Anderson III, PhD, Community & Economic Development Educator, UW Extension

Jonathan Engle

mreinfeldt — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 16:36:52 +0000

Dr. Engle is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Medical Physics and Radiology at the University of Wisconsin (UW) with affiliations in Chemistry and Engineering Physics. He has 20 years’ experience in radionuclide production, accelerator targetry and radiochemistry, PET imaging, and radiopharmaceuticals development. He trained as a postdoc at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and in 2016, Dr. Engle assumed leadership of the UW Cyclotron Research Group. His research is focused on production of radionuclides that are useful for diagnosing and treating disease.

Cary Forest

jnweaver — Mon, 01 May 2017 20:52:54 +0000

Cary Forest grew up in Wisconsin, was an undergraduate at UW–Madison and received his PhD from Princeton University in 1992. From there he moved to San Diego and began his post graduate career as a scientist on the DIII-D tokamak, the most advanced fusion experiment in the US at the time. In 1997 he returned to the UW as a faculty member and now carries out research in both fusion research and plasma astrophysics.