The Undergrad Experience
Up until she was a high school senior, Katie VerPlanck of Winthrop was going to college to major in music. Then she took a physics course from UMaine alumnus Jim Guillemette.
“He was so excited about physics,” VerPlanck remembers. “His experiments were a lot of fun. It was material that was challenging to me, which is why I'm doing it now.”
VerPlanck is a junior in engineering physics. She came to UMaine from Gordon College in 1999.
“A small college is something I wanted,” says VerPlanck. “I started out in the physics department in pre-engineering, but found I wanted a full engineering program. I transferred to UMaine for mechanical engineering and then tacked on engineering physics.”
VerPlanck's academic focus is mechanical engineering. She recently started her senior project on embedded piezoelectric devices in curved surfaces, to perhaps be used someday to control vibrations in circular structures. In her research, VerPlanck is working with Associate Professor Vince Caccese and Assistant Professor Senthil Vel.
As a sophomore, VerPlanck wrote a paper on the teleportation of quantum pieces. Such early research dovetails into her never-ending interest to “see what's new in physics.”
“What intrigues me about physics is that it's happening now,” VerPlanck says. “Scientists have done big things with quantum physics and only in the last 100 years. This is an area where I can learn about what people are discovering now, rather than something figured out 500 years ago.”
In addition to her interests in science and engineering, VerPlanck pursues learning opportunities outside the classroom. She has been an Onward tutor. As part of an internship program, VerPlanck worked with the Maine Department of Transportation in Augusta that involved flying around the state for airport safety inspections and filing reports. This past summer, she worked as an intern with a civil engineering firm in Falmouth.
Last semester, VerPlanck fulfilled a life-long dream by studying abroad for a semester in Ireland at the University of Limerick. “It's important to live in another culture,” she says. “It gives you a different perspective on life and teaches you a lot about yourself.”
Since being on campus, VerPlanck has been active in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. That's where she met her husband-to-be Matthew Menchen, a chemical engineering major from Portland. Menchen graduates in May, and the couple will marry this summer.