About Me

Hi! I’m Utku — welcome to my GitHub page. I’m a PhD student working on atomic physics and quantum computing at Yavuz Lab at UW–Madison. My journey in physics began at Koç University in Istanbul. During a study abroad program at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, there I took some digital electronics classes and enjoyed it a lot. When I returned to Koç University, I decided to pursue a double major in electrical and electronics engineering, where I especially enjoyed the hands-on hardware aspects. In my statistical mechanics class, I first learned about laser cooling — and thought it was quite literally cool. Seeing fundamental physics experiments with tabletop cold atom setups ultimately solidified my decision: I wanted to work in atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics. This led me to join the QuEST group at Koç University.

Before graduating, I was awarded a Fulbright Master’s Scholarship by the Turkish Fulbright Commission, which brought me to UW–Madison’s Master’s Program in Physics–Quantum Computing (MSPQC). There, I focused my coursework and projects on neutral atom quantum computing and optics. I especially enjoyed the graduate quantum mechanics and atomic physics classes, and my fascination with AMO physics only deepened. As a result, I decided to continue at UW–Madison for my PhD.

I'm passionate about uncovering nature’s secrets — especially in quantum mechanics, quantum computing, optics, atoms, and ions. I also have a deep love for analog and digital electrical engineering, chips, circuits, and computer hardware.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about consciousness, artificial intelligence, and what it means to be human. Outside the lab, I enjoy biking, cooking, going to the gym, sailing, and diving into discussions about films, art, philosophy, and AI.

Contact: usaglam@wisc.edu