Duke Physics

Willie Ong

Willie Ong received his B.Sc. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006. Undaunted by the severe chill of MidWest winters, he decided to head South in search of even lower temperatures. Like the very best of stories, he now choreographs the motion of atomic Lithium-6 at approximately -460 Degrees Fahrenheit in Duke's very own atom trapping and cooling facility, the Quantum Optics Lab. He believes that among all things, atom clouds hold the secrets of the universe; on this conviction, he has devoted his time listening to them breathe. Prior to embarking on this exciting journey, he served as the Research Editor for the Physical Sciences and Mathematics Division of the Journal of Young Investigators (www.jyi.org), and on the academic committee of the International Physics Olympiad (IPHO 2006).

In his spare time, Willie conducts laboratory sessions for Physics 54, Duke's celebrated Physics course in Electricity and Magnetism for premeds. Ever the thespian, he enjoys performing tricks to an (somewhat) unsuspecting audience, and acting out make-believe episodes of Grey's anatomy. On rainless weekends, Willie can be found in the Sarah Duke Gardens studying the migratory patterns of ducks, searching for white dwarfs and red giants, meditating Zen in the Harry Blomquist Garden, and savoring the subtleties of Southern seasons in the Wisteria chamber. In time, he aspires to be a real natural scientist.