Additional NSF & CGSF Recipients Welcomed to Columbia Plasma Physics Program
Brandon Lee, recipient of the Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF), and Sophia Guizzo, recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP) have decided to pursue doctoral education at Columbia University’s Plasma Physics Program within the Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics.
Sophia and Brandon will be joining a rapidly growing cohort of national fellows at Columbia, which has matriculated more NSF and DOE fellows than any other plasma program in the past three years. Columbia’s plasma program now has three DOE CSGF fellows (50% of the awards to plasma since 2021) and three NSF GRFP fellows (out of 17 total plasma physics awards since 2022). This is more than any other school during that time frame.
“We are thrilled to see the nation’s most talented students choose our program above our peers,” said Associate Professor Carlos Paz-Soldan. “We are pleased to be able to offer a top education in both experimental and theoretical plasma physics, in a dynamic professional and social environment”.
Brandan Lee - Brandon Lee is an incoming PhD student, transferring from the Princeton Program in Plasma Physics. Brandon completed his B.S. in physics and chemical engineering at the University of Missouri. He was a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald, Germany as a Fulbright Grant Recipient before beginning his graduate studies at Princeton. Prof. Paul said, “I have known Brandon since 2020, when he was an intern with me at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. It has been a pleasure to introduce Brandon to stellarator theory and watch him develop as a researcher. He is already incredibly accomplished as a young scientist, having published articles on stellarator coil optimization and neoclassical theory. We look forward to welcoming Brandon to our program.”
Sophia Guizzo - Sophia Guizzo decided to pursue a doctoral degree in the Columbia Plasma Physics doctoral program after completing a successful undergraduate program in the same department. Sophia first studied the effect of localized electric fields on chemical reactions, before moving onto plasma physics where she began by working on the initial design of an experiment to measure cryogenic pellet ablation with applications to fusion energy technology. More recently, Sophia leveraged computational tools to assess the effect of plasma shaping on stability in tokamak fusion reactors. Outside of research, Sophia served as a project manager of Columbia Engineers Without Borders for two years. In this role, she led a trip to Uganda to repair a solar microgrid system that powers local schools and businesses. She is also a teaching assistant for the introductory physics sequence for scientists and engineers.