Physics Department Alumni

Kyle Barrie (’18)

Exciting news

I’m getting married next year.

Where are They Now?

I am a PhD candidate in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics graduate group at The University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). As a grad student I mainly conduct research, write papers/grants, and present my work. My research involves expressing and purifying different proteins-of-interest in order to characterize them biochemically or structurally. Overall my life is pretty normal in grad school, good work/life balance.

Path to Career

After graduating from TCNJ I worked for 2 years as an Analytical Chemist for a pharmaceutical company in NJ. Upon gaining some financial security and professional experience, I decided to pursue my PhD. While I was initially upset that I did not pursue my PhD right away (I didn’t get accepted to the universities that I really wanted to go to), this ended up being one of the best decisions I’ve made. I would highly recommend taking a couple years before grad school to work and see how you like it.

TCNJ Physics Memories

Dr. Ochoa’s sense of humor.

Advice to Current Majors

Don’t be afraid if your plans end up changing, you can always pivot. Nothing is final.

Jason Malatesta (’02)

Where are They Now?

Jason Malatesta works for Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal. He heads up Partnerships & Licensing for the Professional Information Business. This involves the inbound licensing of content and data for Dow Jones products and services, as well as the outbound licensing of content to power partners’ commercial products and applications. When he’s not working Jason enjoys traveling and SCUBA. Jason lives near Princeton, NJ with his wife and children.

Path to Career

Jason has been with Dow Jones for 25 years; starting as an intern in Customer Service and advancing to hold leadership roles in the former Dow Jones Professional Services team, Product, and other teams. Jason’s statistics and programming skills he learned during this Physics degree played a big role in obtaining his first job and growing his career. He earned his BS in Physics from TCNJ – and then while working, earned an MBA from Rutgers with a focus on management & marketing.

TCNJ Physics Memories

Jason fondly remembers *ahem* struggling and striving to succeed through many classes, and the support of all his Physics professors who wanted to see him succeed. It was this support throughout his time at TCNJ that allowed him to be successful.

Advice to Current Majors

Say yes to all opportunities to stretch your skills and test your mettle.

Shannon Springstead, (’20)

Exciting news

My company has completed $2.5M worth of work this year!

Where are They Now?

I have been working for my father’s general contracting company for a little over 3 years now, and this year we have focused on systematizing both our office and field operations. Our primary focus is on residential additions and remodels in Bergen County. Some of the things I do every day are: Work closely with architects in our area to talk through blueprints/potential construction projects, meet with Homeowners to discuss logistics and coordinate their selections, and work with our field staff + subcontractors to ensure we have a quality product! My typical days starts at 8AM and I finish up work around 4:30 every day.

Path to Career

I started work in July after graduating in May of 2020. I never expected to work for my father’s company, but have since become very interested in the construction, design, and architectural fields.

TCNJ Physics Memories

I spent most of my time in the physics lounge, which I loved because I was surrounded with so many very intelligent and witty classmates. There was never a dull moment.

Advice to Current Majors

Even when you think you can’t do it, you can!

Emily Kelly (‘22)

Where are They Now?

I am a Manufacturing Engineer at Thorlabs in the Advanced Photonics Business Unit. I work on the optics shop floor where my main responsibilities are documenting/improving processes, designing tooling to improve our products at the fabrication level, and helping to solve problems for the technicians. It is honestly the perfect combination of creativity, problem solving, and bridging communication gaps for me to thrive. It is also a great mix of decision making, leadership, and accountability that are helping me grow in my career as well as my personal life.

Path to Career

After graduating I returned to my part time job at a liquor store and worked there for about 10 months after graduation. It was a difficult transition of not knowing what direction I wanted to go or how I was going to get there. Despite that, this time was a great learning experience. I took the time to learn about myself — what my interests are, what I am good at, what kind of job can I get to utilize these skills and interests, what kind of employee I am, what aspects of my job do I enjoy and what aspects do I never want to do again. It was the first time I realized how hard I have worked, how there are countless opportunities of what I can do with my life, and that I have my entire life ahead of me to do them. This was where I gained confidence and ambition, which I may not have gotten if I started my career immediately after graduating. During my interview my (now) supervisor told me seeing that job on my resume really helped me stand out. He said it was great to see that I had real job experience and that I was using this time after graduation proactively.

TCNJ Physics Memories

Without a doubt, my time with the TCNJ Physics Department is something that I value very highly and would not trade for the world. There were many times when I questioned if physics was right for me or if my time would be better spent doing something else (something easier). The truth is college is hard no matter what you study. I would have faced the same hurdles and internal struggles in any major. Having the support of my friends, classmates, professors, and other faculty was really what kept me going. Having to take classes on Zoom was a struggle for everyone, yet I always had so much fun and ended up laughing during every physics lecture. I am lucky to have had a group of people that I could truly be myself around. This department is filled with the funniest, smartest, and weirdest people at TCNJ, and I could not have gotten through those 4 tough years without them.

Advice to Current Majors

In order to achieve something, you first need to believe that you can. You can do ANYTHING YOU WANT so don’t let yourself be the biggest thing standing in your way. It takes HARD WORK to get to HARD THINGS, otherwise everyone would be doing it!