Whitworth University Physics Department

Alumni Achievements

Chung-On Leung, '10

Major: Physics

Career Path: Software engineer with The Boeing Company, working on the airborne early warning and control aircraft.

Why Whitworth? "The community is amazing. Ultimately, the campus is an academic setting, but it is important to also know how to socialize, develop teamwork and network. Whitworth provided the academic know-how as well as the camaraderie. Rarely will other schools have professors who take time to have lunch or coffee with students."

Whitworth Activities: Member of the Whitworth varsity swim team and participated in the Ultimate Frisbee Club and the Math & Computer Science Club.

Quote: "The diversity and flexibility of the engineering physics program allowed me to take a lot of cross-functional courses while I was completing my degree on time. Hands down, my greatest strength going into interviews and applications is my broad range of technical and business knowledge, which many companies and institutions greatly value."

Influential Whitworth experience: "Having coffee and lunch with professors was immensely valuable. Professors can see unique gifts and talents in students and they are more than helpful in getting you connected to the right people."

Career Goals: "I plan to continue pursuing a career in engineering as well as to pursue my Ph.D. That will allow me to teach at a collegiate or high school level, which is something I can do to give back to the community."

Here's what some other recent Whitworth graduates are doing with their physics degrees:

Sean McGuire, '10, is a graduate student in the mechanical & aerospace engineering department at Princeton University, where he's taking coursework and conducting research in an applied physics research group.

Jeff Wheeler, '11, is enrolled in graduate school at the Colorado School of Mines, in Golden, where he is currently developing a sensor to detect carbon build-up inside a fuel cell.

Ben Spaun, '08, landed a full scholarship for a six-year doctoral research program at Harvard. The scholarship covers two years of schooling and four of research, and includes a living stipend.

Corey Dolph, '09, is a U.S. Navy officer in nuclear propulsion.

Lucas Brouwer, '11, is studying nuclear engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.

Carissa Humrickhouse, '09, received a full scholarship to pursue a master's degree in nuclear engineering at Texas A&M University.

Nick Foster, '06, is a transportation planner for Kittelson & Associates, Inc., in Boise, Idaho.

Alisha Anderson, '08, is a mechanical engineer for The Boeing Company.

Justin Jones, '10, is enrolled in the University of Colorado–Boulder's graduate program in biomechanics.

Preston Hoffman, '08, is a nuclear operator for Exelon.

Kellen Oetgen, '10, is pursuing a master's degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Washington.

Brian Harms, '09, is enrolled at the University of Washington School of Medicine.