CUWIP 2025 Page

(From left to right) Dr. Kelly Vazquez, Juliana Norman ('27), Abby Craw ('27), Rosemarie Hunter ('28), Ellie Dryden ('28), Abigail Faber ('28), and Vivian Zaya ('27)

 

Six Wheaton College Physics and Engineering students attended the Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP) held at Fermilab in Chicago, Illinois on January 24-26. 

"Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP) are three-day regional conferences for undergraduate physics majors.” according to the American Physical Society (APS). The objective of CUWiP, as APS put it, “is to help undergraduate women continue in physics by providing them with an opportunity to experience a professional conference, information about graduate school and professions in physics, and access to other women in physics of all ages with whom they can share experiences, advice, and ideas."

One of the main speakers in this year’s conference was Dr. Andrea M. Ghez, University of California Los Angeles. She researched the center of the Milky Way, the galaxy planet Earth is on, which provided the best confirmation for the existence of supermassive black holes. In 2020, Dr. Ghez became the fourth woman to win the Nobel prize for her research. Wheaton College student Juliana Norman (‘28) commented that Dr. Ghez’s talk about black holes was one of the talks that highly intrigued her. Another student, Vivian Zaya (‘28) shared that listening to a female Nobel prize winner enhanced her overall experience at the conference. 

Conference attendees attended sessions focused on careers in physics, applying to graduate school, and research in physics. 

Some of the Wheaton College students who attended the conference got to present their research in front of a panel of judges. Norman shared that she got to present her research on the biomechanical environment around cells in the eyelid, which she investigated over the summer with Vazquez Lab. She enjoyed being challenged by other females who were more advanced than her in the area she studied. She said that it was encouraging for her that Dr. Vazquez supported her research by using her own research which she conducted in her postdoctoral time. 

Abby Craw (‘28) presented a poster about the research she did over the summer at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Her research was on the Electron Ion Collider, where she learned a lot about “how magnets in particle accelerators and colliders work, and especially the anxieties around magnet quenching.” She highlighted that she got “good feedback for her poster organization and her presentation skills.” 

Zaya got to present her research in front of the panel as well. Her research revolved around Type-1 diabetes and how cells react differently to getting fed different media. She noted that initially she was very nervous about presenting in front of a panel of scholarly scientists. Eventually though, she gained confidence and was able to present and answer questions more eloquently. 

The students reflected on how it was to be part of the minority female students in the STEM sector of Wheaton College. Ellie Dryden ('28) shared that she is the only girl in her Physics for the Future class which definitely makes the idea of being a minority a reality. Although, she said that she does not really feel discriminated against, and that she could imagine it could be worse at another place. 

Craw said that as a woman in the Engineering department “it can be hard to feel heard sometimes.” This usually causes her to feel isolated and alone. Optimistically, however, she said that it would be very hard to tackle the difficult topics if there was no solidarity between the other females alongside her. She shared her gratitude for events like CUWiP because it helps the women in her department grow together in unity.

Norman shared that although there are only six female engineers in her sophomore class, they use each other “for encouragement rather than competition.” Zaya added that she is not only a female engineer, for she is a first generation, Assyrian engineer as well. She said that she finds difficulty relating to other people around her and that other people struggle to relate with her. She aspires to see other people similar to her go through an experience like hers, so that they would bond together over that. 

The Wheaton students collectively agreed that they had a prosperous experience through their time at CUWiP 2025. Zaya shared that she really enjoyed being at a fascinating national lab like Fermilab. She added that although she initially thought that she might not benefit much since it was going to be a physics conference, she ended up absorbing a lot of valuable advice regarding her presentations. 

Norman shared that she was inspired by how far the women she got to meet have gone after graduating from college. She felt encouraged by the amount of women who were adamant on persevering through the struggles of being in such a male dominated field. Craw shared that although she went last year, she still really enjoyed going this year. She said that it was invigorating for her to experience such unanimity with other women who had similar experiences to her in other Physics and Engineering departments around the United States. She emphasized Norman's claim of how fascinating it is to watch engineers and physicists push the boundaries of research to reach unprecedented results. 

Dryden reflected on the fact that although she is a first year student, she got to grow deeper relationships with the other girls who have more experience than herself. She said that hearing about Abby Craw's ('27) experience regarding internships and conferences was enjoyable. Moreover, she shared that getting to know Dr. Vazquez in a context outside the classroom was one of her main takeaways from the conference.