Spring 2026 Physics Careers Seminar Series Continues April 2 with Alumna Dr. Kathleen Oolman, Gil Herrera Postdoctoral Fellow, Sandia National Lab
3/28/2026 10:06:19 PM
The Spring 2026 Physics Careers Seminar series continues on Thursday, April 2 with a talk by alumna Dr. Kathleen Oolman from Sandia National Lab, who will talk about "Life and Lessons Learned as a Sandia Postdoc Fellow" at 11:00 a.m. CT in 204 Loomis (Interaction Room). Details of Kathleen's seminar are given below.
Time: 11:00 a.m. CT on Thursday, April 2, 2026
Location: 204 Loomis (Interaction Room). A Zoom link will also be forwarded to the Illinois Physics Grad Student email list. For a copy of the link, please contact Lance Cooper (slcooper@illinois.edu).
Title: Life and Lessons Learned as a Sandia Postdoc Fellow
Speakers: Dr. Kathleen Oolman, Gil Hererra Postdoctoral Fellow, Sandia National Lab
Abstract: To help you navigate your career trajectory, I will share with you my past successful and failed experiences which led me to be a postdoctoral fellow. You will learn about my current role and what daily life is like at a national lab. I will discuss what next steps I am considering with my future career, such roles at Sanida (including options for you), large investments in the state of New Mexico, and others.
Bio: Kathleen is currently a Gil Herrera Postdoctoral Fellow in QIS at Sandia National Laboratories working in integrated photonics for quantum systems. She received her Ph.D. in 2024 at UIUC in the group of Virginia Lorenz working on experimental and computational quantum optics. While in graduate school, she was awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and SWE Outstanding Student Member award. Her undergraduate was completed at the University of Wyoming where she received dual BS degrees in Physics and Mathematics. In her spare time, she enjoys rock climbing, trail running, and plays in an active D&D campaign with her husband and friends.
You can see the rest of the Spring 2026 Physics Careers Seminar series here: https://physics.illinois.edu/calendar/careers-seminar