Graduate Student Profile: Ioannis Michaloliakos
Written by Thalya Paleologu.
As I walked into Ioannis Michaloliakos’ office I saw the epitome of a modern theoretical physicist’s workspace. Where one might expect to see a desk hidden under masses of math-ridden papers, there stood a clean workspace with monitors displaying hundreds of lines of code. Ioannis is a theoretical physicist who works on analyzing large collections of gravitational wave (GW) data from the LIGO observatory. He hopes to use probability theory and statistical tools to find GW signals hidden by stochastic noise from the Cosmic Microwave Background. This kind of research would be impossible without modern computers and programming languages. In short, Ioannis is as much a programmer as he is a physicist.
He is also a someone who strives to help his community. When asked why he chose a career in physics, he not only pointed to his love of problem-solving and learning about the universe—as one might expect — but also noted his desire to contribute to the greater good:
“Until my senior year in high school, I had never seriously thought about my future, but at that point I had to make a decision,” he said. “I remember trying to decide what I find meaningful and socially valuable, and I realized that the answer for me was scientific contributions”.
The code displayed in front of me was a perfect example of his generosity: It was a snippet of a program he’d written in his spare time to help professors face the challenges brought on by fully remote classes during the pandemic. Utilizing the Canvas application programming interface, Ioannis created routines that automatically schedule hundreds of quizzes and exams, saving instructors hours of valuable time. As a result of his efforts, Ioannis was awarded the UF Graduate Student Teaching Award from the college and the Wayne R. Bomstad II Memorial Award from the department. Knowing that his program might help instructors at other institutions, Ioannis made his code publicly available and free for anyone to use.
Moving forward, Ioannis sees himself as a full-time researcher; describing his time with the LIGO group as being “truly a gift”. He hopes to continue working with LIGO, but no matter what path he chooses, one thing is certain: He is a problem solver willing and able to apply his skills to the betterment of his community, the embodiment of what it means to be a modern physicist.
