This Fall, graduating Physics senior Bradley Kerkhof will begin pursuing his PhD in University of Maryland’s (UMD) Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. There he will be researching nanophotonic devices to be integrated with circuits for quantum computers still in development. UMD boasts a partnership with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and plays host to research facilities such as the Joint Quantum Institute (JQI), the Joint Center for Quantum Information and Computer Science (QuICS), and the Quantum Startup Foundry which recently birthed the now 1.5 billion dollar startup IonQ. Bradley plans to enter a career in either a national lab or industrial R&D after earning his PhD, before ultimately returning to academia with a desire to teach at the university level.

At Loyola Bradley worked in Dr. Kargol's research group. Together with a recent Loyola Physics alumnus, Cole Green, they contributed to a collaboration lead by Dr. Celardo from University of Florence, Italy. As a member of this group, Bradley modeled photosynthetic antenna complexes in green sulfur bacteria, in an attempt to predict and understand quantum behavior in biological organisms. He wrote an Honors Thesis based on his work. Bradley also has experience in Dr. McHugh’s Quantum Optics Lab at Loyola.

He is the Recipient of the Reverend John H. Mullahy, S.J., and Donald C. Faust, M.D. Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Physical Sciences as well as the Reverend Percy A. Roy, S.J. Memorial Award, presented to the student(s) who achieved the highest academic record during their entire four-year career at Loyola. He graduates with majors in Physics and Mathematics, and a minor in computer science. Our Department is very proud of Bradley's accomplishments and wishes him more successes in the future.