When James Szalkie ’25 sees a slip ’n slide, he sees so much more than a fun summer activity.
He sees the things needed to make the water slide work most effectively: friction, gravity, inertia. The physics major and math and Asian studies double minor has “always been programmed” to see the world through calculations and formulas.
“In one of my classes in middle school, I was banned from the word why,” Szalkie said jokingly. “I drove my teachers crazy—I was always full of questions, wanting to know why things work the way they do.
“I was obsessed with astronomy, chemistry, engineering, and physics as a little kid,” he continued. “When I was in elementary school, I used to meet with this fantastic teacher during lunch who would give me real-world problems to solve and run wild with like, ‘These power lines keep catching trucks on the road. What can we do?’”
Szalkie’s excitement for problem-solving using math and science blossomed even more when he arrived to Wabash from Indianapolis.
He was drawn to the College by the promise of financial aid and small class sizes but said he really fell in love with the place after discovering the community within Goodrich Hall.
“The physics department is made up of top-notch people who have invested so much in me,” Szalkie said. “I know I would have just been a number if I went to a larger institution. Everybody knows everybody here, and there’s a level of care and consideration shown by faculty that is unique. I realized early on this is where I’m supposed to be.”
Physics Professor Gaylon Ross described Szalkie as one of the most enthusiastic students he’s ever taught.
“He doesn’t walk into the class, he bounces,” Ross said. “He was in my Enduring Questions class (his freshman year), and the very first thing I remember about James was his energy. Every conversation you had with him was animated and expressive.
“He always came in with readings and homework done, ready to speak out and get the other guys involved and excited about whatever it was we were studying,” he continued. “I told myself then, ‘I can’t wait to see what this guy is like over the next four years.’”
Szalkie has packed a lot into three-and-a-half years at Wabash.
He’s a physics tutor, Society of Physics Students (SPS) president, member of Phi Gamma Delta, Asian Culture Club, Student Senate’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and Sphinx Club, and plays guitar with his band Wally’s Creek. He was awarded the Harold Fuller Prize in Physics and inducted into Sigma Pi Sigma, the national physics honor society.
Szalkie said one of his greatest accomplishments at Wabash has been getting other students and community members excited about science through various SPS events. He helped coordinate the College’s total solar eclipse viewing party, hosted a screening of “Oppenheimer” where he led a discussion on the science behind the film, and has volunteered at local schools.
“Showing how physics works is something as simple as getting a giant slip ’n slide for TGIF (Sphinx Club’s weekly social event),” Szalkie said. “How do you get the farthest on the slide? You reduce your coefficient of friction, increase your momentum, which is a derivative of this and that thing—presenting real-world applications in a fun way gets people excited about science.”
The ability to analyze and communicate complex sciences to experts and non-experts alike is a skill Szalkie said he learned at Wabash and fine-tuned as a research intern the last two summers.
This past summer, he interned with Michigan State University’s BECOLA group at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) where he performed precision measurement experiments via collinear laser spectroscopy. His main project was to develop a python program to detect contaminants in the beamline using machine learning.
He recently presented that work at the American Physics Society Division of Nuclear Physics conference in Boston.
“If you told me my freshman year that one day, I would be presenting my research to some of the nation’s top nuclear physicists, I don’t think I would have believed you,” Szalkie said. “Wabash helped me gain that confidence. I feel more prepared now for things I never thought would be in my wheelhouse, like public speaking.”
Communication, along with his event planning, organization, and leadership skills, are all assets Ross believes will serve Szalkie well into the future.
“You have to have the love for explaining this stuff over and over again, and seeing people who thought it was too hard realize I can do this,” Ross said. “James gets his joy from seeing other people understand.
“Through his work with SPS and across campus, he’s brought an awareness to the physics department I don’t think we realized we were missing until he came,” he continued. “He has a belief in this place and I think he’ll carry that forward when he meets other people and goes out into the world as a representative of Wabash.”
Szalkie said his internship with Michigan State University solidified his interest in nuclear physics, specifically renewable energy research. He now plans to pursue graduate school and a career in the field after graduation from Wabash in December.