MEET SOME OF OUR OUTSTANDING GRADUATE STUDENTS

In celebration of Graduate Student Appreciation Week, we are pleased to express appreciation for the many contributions to the university and the community that our graduate students make as they strive towards their academic goals. We are pleased to recognize some of our students as Outstanding Graduate Students. These students were selected by graduate faculty to be recognized. We invite you to read about each of these outstanding students.

Anusha Bhoi (MS, Engineering)

Anusha Bhoi is a graduate student in Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She is pursuing the MS Degree in Engineering with an option in Electrical Engineering. She received her BS in Electrical Engineering from Pune University in India. After graduation, Anusha worked in industry designing special purpose integrated circuit chips, control and instrumentation circuits for applications in steam boilers.   Anusha has also worked as a teaching associate in the ECE department at California State University, Fresno.

Anusha's graduate research is focused on information security. For her MS project, Anusha is developing architectures for efficient application specific integrated circuit implementation of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). Anusha is planning on graduating at the end of summer 2005.   She is looking forward to a career in the semiconductor industry.

Dhananjay "Danny" Dhokarh (MS, Physics)

Danny came to Fresno State in the fall of 2003. He had been working in industry for a while in order to be able to afford his studies in physics. Danny made a strong impression from day one as an unusually gifted student with a single-minded passion for theoretical physics.

The qualities that are immediately apparent about Danny are his obvious mathematical abilities and his fierce independence and originality. He grasps concepts almost instantly, and has frequent, penetrating questions about fundamental physical and mathematical issues. This has made the courses he takes much more lively and exciting for everybody. It is also quite evident that Danny has the determination, perseverance and self-motivation that are the key factors separating successful Ph.D. students from the rest. He has attended two international conferences - the UCLA Dark Matter conference and DPF 2004, the annual American Physical Society's Division of Particles and Fields conference. The DPF 2004 proceedings will include a paper with Dr. Singleton, Dr. Dzhunushaliev and Danny as coauthors.

On a personal level, Danny is a friendly and easy-going individual with an excellent disposition. He is not, however, the quiet type - while always extremely polite, he is not shy about letting others (including his instructors) know what his perspective on a physics problem or any other issue is. His academic record is impeccable: he will graduate from our MS program this spring with a 4.0 GPA. And his future looks just as bright. After applying to the most competitive Ph.D. programs in the nation, Danny was accepted at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he will begin the pursuit of his dream to become a string theorist in the coming fall.

Catherine Garoupa (Master of Social Work)

Catherine Garoupa is 23 years old. She was raised in Madera, California by Patsy and Leonard Garoupa (both alumni of Fresno State). She received her Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies, with honors and distinction, from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

As a master's student in Social Work, Catherine completed a thesis entitled "Ethics and Confrontational Tactics: Considerations for Social Workers and Community Organizers." Currently, she serves on President Welty's Commission for Human Rights and Equity, works as the graduate student assistant for the Central Valley Cultural Heritage Institute, interns at the Fresno County Board of Supervisors with Supervisor Susan B. Anderson, and serves as vice-president of the Fresno Branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

She is dedicated to promoting equality, honoring diversity, fortifying community, and working toward peace and social justice.

Stephanie Grant (Master of Social Work)

Stephanie Grant will graduate from Fresno State in May with her Master's Degree in Social Work and her Pupil Personnel Services Credential.   She graduated with her Bachelor's Degree in Deaf Education from Fresno State in 2002.   She is a certified sign language interpreter who serves through the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Service Center (DHHSC) as well as the Fresno State Office of Disabled Student Services.   Stephanie has taught American Sign Language (ASL) for the past five years at Reedley College.   Her proudest accomplishments are her three children (ages 18, 15 and 13) and her marriage of 22 years.  

After graduation she would like to pursue a career in Social Work where she can have a positive impact on the services for deaf and hard of hearing clients.  

Ivana Pavic (MS, Physics)

Ivana was born in Belgrade Yugoslavia where she attended a specialized high school with a Natural Science emphasis. In 1998, Ivana started as an undergraduate in the CSU Fresno physics program, and she graduated in 2002 with a Magna Cum Laude. During her undergraduate studies Ivana won many scholarships and awards: the Harry C. Burbridge Scholarship, the Outstanding Physics Student Award for 2001, and she was also nominated for the prestigious Dean’s Medal. In 2002, Ivana joined our MS physics program and has continued her outstanding academic work. Ivana is an excellent graduate student with a GPA of 3.89.

Her research interests lie in the area of theoretical physics. She has done research with Dr. Gerardo Munoz on vector constants of the motion and orbits in the classical and relativistic Coulomb/Kepler problems. During the Fall 2003 semester, Ivana gave an interesting talk on her research to the Physics Department. In 2002, she attended the Pacific Coast Gravity Meeting at UC Davis. She is always up-to-date in her research fields. She decided that, with or without a grant support, she'd attend the annual UCLA Symposium on Sources and Detection of Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe in February 2004. The department appreciated her strong will and awarded her $200 to fulfill her research desires.

Ivana has received high praise as a TA from both her students and the faculty. In addition to her outstanding academic and TA work, Ivana is the mother of two ambitious children (10 and 12) who can often be seen at the Friday Physics colloquium taking notes. Not only is Ivana an excellent student, but she is also raising the next generation of Fresno State physics students.

David Reynolds (MS, Physics)

David Reynolds did his undergraduate work at Cal Poly SLO and then served four years as an officer in the Marine Corps. Dave entered the master of science program in the Physics Department at Fresno State in Fall 2002, and has been a model student in both research and TA duties. Dave has maintained a 3.67 GPA while taking more than a full load of graduate classes.

His main research work has been on Cataclysmic Variable stars under the guidance of Dr. Frederick Ringwald. This research involved taking data at Mount Laguna Observatory and Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona. The results of this research will be published in the prestigious Astrophysical Journal Supplements. More details of Dave’s many research projects, both theoretical and observational, can be found at his website: physics.csufresno.edu/dave. Dave is also very active and aggressive in pursuing funds to be able to attend meetings and to present his research work. He received $1,500 from the Division of Graduate Studies at California State University, Fresno plus a $700 Faculty Sponsored Student Research Award from the College of Science and Mathematics program to attend the American Astronomical Society (AAS) 2004 annual meeting in Atlanta, GA and to purchase research supplies.

With all his academic, research, and TA work, Dave nevertheless found time to marry a fellow physics graduate student, Joy Reynolds. Dave also loves to spend many starry nights pursuing his hobby of amateur astronomy. After graduation, Dave will continue his Ph.D. work in observational astronomy at UC Riverside where he has been accepted with a full stipend. The Physics Department feels fortunate to have such an excellent student in our program.

Mario Rosso (MS, Industrial Technology)

Mario is a self-motivated, hard working, creative researcher. His master’s thesis contributed greatly to the understanding of expert systems in corporate decision-making.  With experience gained as a product research specialist at Pelco, Inc. and as a management systems analyst at Hughes Space and Communications Company, Mario demonstrated many common senses in dealing with scientific and decision-making problems.

Mario is a man of quality, a pursuer of excellence, and a self-motivator. His love of knowledge, his uncompromised quest for truth and the immensity of his research should be examples for all.

Po Shuan Wang (MS, Engineering)

Po Shuan Wang is a graduate student in Electrical Engineering who is enrolled in the MS in Engineering Program. He received his BS in Physics from Fu Jen Catholic University, Taiwan in 1999. Soon after, he joined the Air Force of the Republic of China where he served for two years. He joined the Fresno State in 2002 where fulfilled the Electrical Engineering pre-requests in 2004.   He is writing his thesis on the design of systems to extract energy form vibrations in the environment. This work has the potential of developing self-powered electric systems with applications in bio-engineering among several others. He expects to graduate this summer.

Po Shuan enjoys hiking, mountain biking, and photographing. Since childhood he was attracted to new technologies and developed interest in a related career. He always believed that there is a better way for humans to make use of energy. Developing clean power is his dream and he is working on it. He expects to see the time when people become more environmentally friendly and protective of earth.

Heather Werth (Master of Physical Therapy)

Heather has been a student member of the California Physical Therapy Association Members Committee since 2002 and has served as our liaison representing Fresno State Physical Therapy students at Chapter and District meetings.   She was the leading force for the Pittsburg-Marquette Challenge, which is a student-driven fundraiser to raise money for the Physical Therapy Foundation, which supports physical therapy scholarship and research.   Heather published an article, "Professionalism from a Student's Perspective," in the California Physical Therapy Association Newsletter in October 2004.

Heather has also volunteered for the Buddy Systems, which is an organization that provides equestrian therapy for children with developmental or motor delays.   Her research interest is in the area of osteoporosis and its prevention and treatment as related to therapeutic physical activity.   She is currently taking a certification course to become a Fallproof   Balance and Mobility Instructor which involves more than 100 hours of on-line studies and a rigorous 3-day competency testing and training program on campus.   

Heather's professional goals are to pursue doctoral studies; perform clinical research; work in a neurological rehabilitation facility; and pursue advanced clinical training.   There is no doubt Heather will aspire us all in her future endeavors.  

Three MS Biology Students Awarded National Fellowships

Three students from Fresno State's Master of Science in Biology program have won federal graduate fellowships for research proposals submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

• Michelle Davison's project studies proteins that regulate enzyme production needed for pesticide degradation.   An understanding of the molecular processes will aid in the development of bioremediation strategies for pollutants.
  
  
• Denise Lopez is studying the degradation of toxic dyes and pesticides by a soil-dwelling bacterium called Mycobacterium smegmatis .   She is using genetic tools to identify genes involved in the degradation of these products.   Identification of the genes will aid in understanding how mycobacteria are able to biodegrade these toxic compounds.  
  
  
• Ryan Lopez is studying the patterns of soil mixture in the mixed conifer forest of Sequoia National Park.   Ryan will test hypotheses concerning patterns of soil moisture in forest gaps and understory.  

The fellowships were awarded by the EPA under the Greater Research Opportunities program, open to master's and doctoral students in environmental studies.   Only 22 students were awarded fellowships nationwide.   The two-year program includes a stipend of $20,000 per year and full payment of tuition and fees.   Two of the three proposals stem from original research funded by California State University's Agricultural Research Initiative.