Mentoring Program

Mentoring Program for Incoming Graduate Students:

In collaboration with CETL 8000, we are pleased to offer a mentoring program to incoming graduate students, so that they can adjust to life here at Georgia Tech. As an admitted student, we will reach out to you before summer term to determine what characteristics you would like in a mentor. We will then match you to a mentor in summer term based on your preferences. During Fall, there will be three in-person group mentoring sessions as part of CETL8000. You can contact your mentor at any time outside of these scheduled sessions. When you are matched with your mentor, you will receive a copy of the GAP Mentoring Guidelines, which establishes expectations for the Mentor-Mentee relationship. At any time and for any reason, you can request a new mentor by contacting the Mentoring Chair. The Mentoring Chair for the 23/24 academic year is Sarah Gonzalez.

Here is a sample of experienced mentors who decided to volunteer for this program. Feel free to reach out to them via email if you have any questions.

I'm super interested in improving the climate and making students feel welcome at GT, so please reach out for anything. I was born in India, moved around to Malaysia and Indonesia for a few years, and grew up in California before moving to New Jersey in high school. I'm a fourth-year in John Wise's group where we work on computational cosmology. I'm undecided on whether to continue in academia or go into industry after this program, so I'd love to talk to you about both options. I'm a foster dog mom, a forever procrastinator, and very invested in music and art, so if you want to talk shop about any of this I'm always down.

Snigdaa Sethuram

snigdaa.ram@gatech.edu

Hi, I'm Julia. I'm a fifth year PhD student doing experimental atomic physics with Dr. Mike Chapman. I look forward to meeting and connecting with incoming physicists, and I hope programs like this can help strengthen the physics community here at Georgia Tech. Outside of physics, I love to listen to music, spend time with friends, and take care of my plants.

Julia Cohen

jcohen90@gatech.edu

Hey y’all, I’m Sarah. I’m a Florida native and went to undergrad at a tiiiiiiiiny little liberal arts school where I did mostly astrophysics research. I’ve been working in Dr. Sabetta Matsumoto’s soft matter group for the past three-ish years, where I study the mechanics of different types of knitted materials. That means that I have seven balls of yarn on my office desk right now and I run lots and lots of simulations. My hobbies include sitting on the couch in a stupor, eating bread, and walking my over-enthusiastic dog.

Sarah Gonzalez

sgonzalez49@gatech.edu

Hi, I’m Alisha, a third-year student! I went to Smith College, a women’s college in Northampton, MA, for undergrad, where I majored in Physics and Mathematics, with a focus on atomic physics. After graduating, I worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory for two years as a post-bachelor in the space division. I am now at Georgia Tech working with Dr. Phillip First and Dr. Zhigang Jiang in experimental condensed matter. Please reach out if you have any questions! I am happy to answer any questions as I know the first year can be stressful.

Alisha Vira

avira@gatech.edu

Hello, I'm Zachary (they/them). I'm originally from upstate New York. I attended Rochester Institute of Technology for undergrad where I majored in physics and minored in both mathematics and philosophy. My undergraduate research interests focused on quantum information technology and environmental philosophy. Here at Tech, I am a second-year grad student working with Dr. Sa de Melo studying condensed matter. Outside of academic interests, I enjoy attending punk/metal/indie shows and buying books that I don't actually have time to read.

Zachary Gazzillo

zgazzillo3@gatech.edu

Hey y’all! I’m Noel, and I’m a third year PhD student from Birmingham, Alabama. I completed my undergrad at LSU majoring in physics and math, but I spent all four years doing physical oceanography research (with a tiny bit of computational high-energy physics near the end). Here at Georgia Tech, I currently work with Professor Walt de Heer and Professor Claire Berger in experimental condensed matter — mostly on graphene. While I don’t study environmental science anymore, I still love to be outside (mostly through biking). I’m looking forward to helping y’all get acclimated!

Noel Dudeck

ndudeck3@gatech.edu

Hi hello! I’m Krishma Singal, a 6^thyear PhD student from Georgia! I did my undergraduate here so have had a lot of time to explore Atlanta/Tech. In undergrad I did biophysics experiments with Dr. Flavio Fenton studying brine shrimp pattern formations. Now, I do experimental work with Dr. Sabetta Matsumoto studying the mechanical properties of knitted materials. I also have side projects involving rhino horns and elephant skin! Besides physics, I love dabbling in arts & crafts, graphic design (which I’m turning into my minor), video games, cooking, eating, and spending time with my cat.

Krishma Singal

ksingal3@gatech.edu

Hi, I'm Will. I did my undergrad in physics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, then spent a few years in the military before coming to graduate school. Here at Tech, I'm an experimentalist working on epitaxial graphene with Professors Claire Berger and Walt de Heer. Outside of work, I enjoy hiking, playing soccer and reading. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone and helping you get off to a great start here.

Will Griffin

wgriffin34@gatech.edu