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Gurleen Bal
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I attended University of California, San Diego (UCSD) for my Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and Physics. During my time at UCSD, I conducted research in a soft-condensed-matter lab. I studied the temporal dynamics of an aqueous solution by scattering light through a thin layer of the solution, and capturing the diffraction pattern using a charged couple device (CCD) detector. After graduating from UCSD, I joined Teach For America and taught high school Math and Physics in Los Angles for three years. Currently I am a graduate student in plasma physics, working with Professor Troy Carter. My current research interests include studying non-linear RF-edge interactions between the RF antenna and plasma boundary.

Joshua Larson
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I’m originally from Mt. Pleasant, IA which is the same childhood home of James Van Allen (the discoverer of the radiation belts). Naturally, the town’s connection to space jump-started my interest in the topic. I attended the University of Iowa where I earned degrees in Electrical Engineering (B.S.E) and Physics (B.S.). Working on instrumentation for CubeSats and Sounding Rockets at the University of Iowa bolstered my interest in space physics, which eventually led to studying plasma physics. While at Iowa, I was a part of the Summer Undergraduate Lab Internship (SULI) program. SULI took me to General Atomics in San Diego, home of the DIII-D tokamak. It was there that my desire to study fusion related physics was solidified. Now at UCLA, I work on radio-frequency wave physics relevant to heating and current drive in fusion devices. Currently, I am working on a General Atomics experiment on the LAPD studying the coupling and propagation of waves from a high harmonic fast wave antenna that is used to drive current in DIII-D.

Thomas Look
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After receiving a BA in Finance from Michigan State University, Thomas decided to execute a career change to Physics. He received an M.S. in Physics from California State University, Northridge where he researched many body localization and topological phases of matter with Professors Donna Sheng and Say-Pen Lim. Over Summer 2017, Thomas worked for Professor Kaushik Sengupta at Princeton's PRISM/PCCM REU Program where he developed a framework for simulating MIMO antenna arrays with tunable anisotropic radiation patterns in multipath environments. At UCLA, he is studying turbulence and transport in mixed-ion plasmas under the guidance of Professor Troy Carter.

Jesus Perez
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Born, raised, and educated in Southern California, Jesus received his bachelor’s in applied physics from California University of San Marcos. His undergraduate research was in condensed matter with a focus on classifying the magnetic properties of rare earth orthoferrite ceramics. An early research experience at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory convinced Jesus to study plasma physics in graduate school. Jesus now studies the wave-particle interactions that govern the dynamic plasma phenomena found in Earth’s magnetosphere.

Jesus Serrano
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As an enthusiastic and curious individual, I grew up in the outskirts of South and Northeast Los Angeles as a handyman of a construction worker and a public school student with a great desire towards science. Now as an undergraduate student majoring in physics my goal is to achieve a high-level understanding of and gain the ability to conduct research in the subject of nuclear technology. I have high hopes for this topic so I plan to gain the most out of my undergraduate experience in order to obtain the tools that I will need to establish a research-oriented future pointing towards nuclear reactor technology. So far my efforts in high school have brought me far enough to perform my undergraduate studies in UCSC and I have built a foundation for my future physics endeavors.

I also want to point out that I am human and I do have hobbies that I enjoy participating in. One big fact you should know about me is that I am a hardcore punk and thrash-metal head so I enjoy jumping into a moshpit as I let the heavy grunge sound waves from the guitar go through my heart. I also enjoy meeting new people and talking about how beautiful mathematics and theoretical physics is. When given the choice between walking or cycling to a destination, I choose cycling. I tend to listen more than speak, or at least I try to, and I never like to talk over someone. However, if there is anything that I find uncomfortable from a person then I won't hesitate to talk to them about my concerns. Overall, I like trying new things and I try to put myself out there as a person you can easily approach and talk to, and if there are times where I don't seem open then I apologize for that.

Kamil Sklodowski
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For my undergrad, I attended CUNY Queens College. I graduated summa cum laude with B.A.-M.A. in Physics and Chemistry. While at Queens College I worked in the physical chemistry group under Dr. Cherice Evans and Dr. Gary Findley, focusing on electron dynamics. In particular, I focused on the measurement of quasi-free electron energy and electron mobility in dense fluids across wide temperature and density ranges. Currently I’m a plasma physics graduate student at UCLA working under Prof. Troy Carter and Dr. Shreekrishna Tripathi. My research focuses on the dynamics of arched magnetized laboratory plasmas that are relevant to those on the Sun (solar prominences, coronal loops, jets, etc.). Outside of work, I’m planning next skiing trip, or getting ready for a bike ride.

Phil Travis
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I was born in Japan and moved to the United States in 2008. I obtained a bachelors degree in physics in 2017 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At the UCLA Basic Plasma Science Facility, I have worked on turbulence and transport in magnetic mirrors and machine learning models for automating probe data analysis. I am currently working on learning plasma dynamics directly from LAPD data via generative deep neural networks. These learned models can be useful for many tasks such as improving data acquisition efficiency and designing discharges. Hopefully this work will lay the foundation for automating fusion plasma science so that we can hasten the deployment of fusion reactors and rockets. Fundamentally, I am working for a good (interplanetary) future for humanity; I founded the Future of Humanity Club to meet other like-minded people (futureofhumanityclub.org). I like taking photos, especially of space and dogs (@physicistphil on instagram), and I really want a golden retriever.

Yhoshua Wug
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Yhoshua, born in Guatemala, transferred from Los Angeles Pierce Community College to UCLA to complete his undergraduate Bachelor's degree in Physics. He continued his education at UCLA and is now a second year graduate student in plasma physics. Under the direction of Prof. Troy Carter, Yhoshua worked on developing a microwave resonator probe used to measure electron density. He has an interest in fusion energy and will soon begin to focus on fast wave-fast ion interactions. Yhoshua participates in various events and programs (some self-initiated) that aim to advance diversity in the department. His hobbies include soccer (vamos LAFC!), eating, and sleeping.