News

Mount Holyoke College Makerspace
The Makerspace prepares future leaders by combining technology and the liberal arts to teach and engage students studying every academic discipline.
Image of Mina Khan ’15.
The talents of Mina Khan ’15 shine across disciplines. Her ability to think outside the box got her a job at Google—even before graduation.
Sue Shi ‘19 was named the winner of the 2019 National Quantum Matters Science Communication Competition at the Museum of Science, Boston.
Mount Holyoke senior Sue Shi has won the 2019 National Quantum Matters Science Communication Competition.
Gierasch
A profile in The Scientist about Lila Gierasch ’70 focuses on her lifetime of research and teaching accomplishments.
Society of Physics Students 2014-2015
The Society of Physics Students at Mount Holyoke College has won outstanding chapter for the 2014–2015 academic year.
Image of Alexi Arango in front of the Potwine Passive House.
Physics professor Alexi Arango uses his own zero-carbon home to help students demystify energy usage and learn more about sustainable building.
Kerstin Nordstrom teaching in Kendade
Kerstin Nordstrom of Mount Holyoke College was one of just 24 scientists selected to be a Cottrell Scholar.
Shehzeen Hussain. Photo by John Martins
A woman in the heavily male fields of physics and engineering, Shehzeen Hussain ’14 wants to solve community energy problems using both.
Physics professor Spencer Smith demonstrates for students the interference patterns in works by Albert Gregory.
Students across disciplines engage with art through a program that brings classroom work to the MHC Art Museum, where curriculum and the visual arts meet.
This is a photograph of students Erin Mullin '17 and Yihan Gao '19 tempering chocolate in the lab.
Valentine-themed Makerspace workshop marries physics and chocolate-making for a bit of educational fun.
Margaret Stevens '14
The students honored by Goldwater also noted that their experiences working closely with professors on research were especially rewarding.
The best professors do more than teach. They leave impressions on our lives that change the way we think, work and view the world around us.
Tracy Keya and Janet Slocum in Mount Holyoke makerspace
From clothes that light up to vacuum-formed chocolate molds, the Mount Holyoke College Makerspace offers tools and training to create and collaborate.
Using Mount Holyoke’s transmission electron microscope, Jennifer Tasneem ’17 worked closely with Blanca Carbajal González ’08 on her senior thesis on the synthesis of iron oxide nanocubes.
With a major upgrade to Mount Holyoke’s transmission electron microscope, now even first-year students can take a class in nanoscience.
Spencer Smith Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics
“I grew up around art so I view physics through an aesthetic lens. The beauty of the equations. You can explain so much with such a small set of ideas.”
MIT Energy Hackathon
Congratulations to Ye Zhang '20 and Jem Guhit '19! Their MIT Energy Hackathon team was awarded the first place prize.
XinruiZhu
“I found myself at Mount Holyoke. I learned self-reliance in a foreign country. I realized I have control over my life. I need to be responsible for it.”
Prof. Kerstin Nordstrom
Kerstin Nordstrom, Assistant Professor of Physics, named 2018 Cottrell Scholar for top early career teacher-scholars in chemistry, physics and astronomy.
iDesign Studio class
Mount Holyoke’s IDesign Studio demystifies technology, sparks artistic creativity, fuels entrepreneurial spirit and encourages risk-taking across academia.
Image of Samba Gadjigo
Professors in physics, French, history, and economics were honored with faculty awards for their outstanding research and teaching.
This is a photo of Kerstin Nordstrom (left) with an image of the CAREER Award logo from the National Science Foundation.
Physics professor Kerstin Nordstrom has been awarded the prestigious CAREER research award from the National Science Foundation.
Kerstin Nordstrom, Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Physics, smiling in her lab
As a researcher, Kerstin Nordstrom studies the physics of clogging. As a teacher, she focuses on packing the science pipeline with women.
Mount Holyoke’s Shakti Program changed the course of her life, says Samyukta Jadeja ’21.
Samyukta Jadeja ’21 shares her Shakti Program experience, what Mount Holyoke means to her and how she plans to bring change back to India.
Identity and The Arts: Five College Art Conference
Organized by MHC Art Society members: Renee Portes '18, Yuchen (Angel) Xiang '20, Kateri Svec '19, Yeji Seo '20, Anne Bevin '20, Maryl Phair '20.
The College’s Makerspace is a central location for the campus maker culture.
The Daily Hampshire Gazette featured the College’s Makerspace and Kathy Aidala, chair of physics and engineering, in a recent editorial.
Berenice Abbott (American, 1898-1991), The Science Pictures: Water Pattern, 1982.
Spencer Smith, physics, curates a new show of Berenice Abbott photos that integrates physics with art and brings both subjects to new audiences.
Image of Kathy Aidala
Kathy wins the Meribeth E. Cameron award for her focus on charge transport in nanocrystal quantum dots
LEAP 2016
From solar cells and architecture to an athletic app and teaching, students spoke about their internships and research at the 2016 LEAP presentations.
Mount Holyoke College physics professor Alexi Arango seeks new ways to produce solar cells.
A large open room with huge picture windows that open on a lake contains two step ladders and other construction materials.
The new Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab is now open for your projects, inspirations, creativity and persistence.
Eight dancers rehearse "One", arms stretched overhead.
The Mount Holyoke Faculty Dance Concert explores themes of loss and redemption with the performance of “One,” about the legacy of Henrietta Lacks.
This is a photo of Katie Cashin in a military uniform, looking skywards against a dark background.
Kaitlin Cashin, class of 2019, is featured in the new ad for the U.S. Space Force.
Image of Kathy Aidala
The American Physical Society has awarded Mount Holyoke professor Katherine Aidala the highest recognition of her outstanding research and mentoring.
Katherine Aidala
Mount Holyoke professor Katherine Aidala was nominated to be an APS fellow for her research and her dedication to mentorship and science communication.