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Celebrating Undergraduate Excellence in Physics

May 8, 2026
undergrad awards group
The Department of Physics celebrates three outstanding undergraduate students who have been recognized for their excellence in academics, research, leadership, community engagement, and extracurricular activities.
 

Physics Outstanding Senior: Aurora Wilde
Aurora has distinguished herself through her "insatiable drive" for high-level research and fundamental understanding of the universe. Working with Prof. Brenda Frye, she has already established an impressive publication record as a first-author researcher, leading sophisticated studies on radio galaxies and quasar imaging using world-class facilities like ALMA and the VLA. Beyond her research accomplishments, Aurora has contributed greatly to the department’s educational mission. She served as an preceptor for introductory studio physics, and played a significant role in the success of the course. She was also chosen as the student representative for the department’s Academic Program Review. Aurora will continue her studies as a PhD student at MIT.

Physics Excellence in Undergraduate Research: Namit Chandak
A Physics and Math double major, Namit has distinguished himself through his academic achievements, including an exceptional research project (working with Prof. Fulvio Melia) that has resulted in two publications in elite journals. Using some of the latest, high-precision cosmological data, Namit proved that the standard model of cosmology violates an important energy condition in general relativity, thereby calling into question whether our current understanding of the expansion history of the Universe is indeed correct. Their work in cosmology will result in a serious re-appraisal of the current standard model. His research also extends to theoretical high-energy physics (working with Prof. Sean Fleming), where he successfully applied soft collinear effective theory to study J/Psi photoproduction. Namit will stay in the UA Physics Department for his PhD studies.

Astronomy Outstanding Senior: Hanga Andras-Letanovszky
A triple major in Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics, Hanga worked with her advisor Prof. Yancy Shirley on the molecular deuteration in the Taurus Molecular Cloud, leading to the discovery that celestial filaments have vastly different dynamical histories despite similar physical conditions. A self-described "black belt" Python programmer, she revolutionized her group's data analysis by applying graph theory to visualize complex molecular correlations and developing custom Monte Carlo methods for error assessment. Hanga also served as the Astronomy Club President for two years and as a Space Grant Peer Mentor. Hanga was also recently awarded the NSF GRFP and will begin her PhD study at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor this Fall.

These students exemplify the excellence, curiosity, and dedication that define the Department of Physics. We congratulate Aurora, Namit, and Hanga on their well-deserved recognition and look forward to their continued success in the next stages of their academic and professional journeys.