Vista • Mount Holyoke College • Fall/Winter 2011 • Vol. 16 No. 2


Still the Best 
Back in 1837, parents who chose Mount Holyoke wanted their daughters to have access to college-level course work. We’re proud to have set the standard and paved the way for other bold women’s colleges.


We’re equally proud that today, when women are fully welcomed at all the best institutions, thousands of talented, ambitious students continue to choose MHC. What they—and their parents— know is that our vibrant liberal arts education is the best preparation for twenty-first-century careers and rapidly changing global challenges.


For 175 years, women have come to Mount Holyoke in pursuit of opportunity and excellence. That’s our legacy; it’s what we do. Here’s an example of how . . .


In a corner lab on the lower level of Shattuck Hall, a group of student researchers spent the summer exploring ways to fuel the future. Formally known as the Next Generation Solar Cell Fabrication and Characterization Laboratory, this brand-new, one-of-a-kind facility was designed by Alexi Arango, assistant professor of physics, to create third-generation solar cells. These cells, which use unconventional semiconducting materials, have the potential to yield solar energy systems that are dramati- cally more efficient and considerably cheaper to produce.


When Sri Laalitya Uppalapati ’14 arrived at Mount Holyoke from India last fall, she enrolled in a first-year seminar on renewable energy taught by Arango. The class convinced her of the need to rethink technology and how energy is used. “That’s what Professor Arango’s lab is trying to do—and I wanted to be part of it,” she said.


This summer, Uppalapati joined Arango’s team as a participant in the Howard Hughes Medical Research Institute (HHMI), a competitive program that provides aspiring scientists with lab experience and mentoring early in their academic careers. “I have always wanted to be a physicist,” she said. “I chose Mount Holyoke because it offered an environment where being a woman scientist is the norm. Even the College’s founder, Mary Lyon, was a chemist.”


Likewise, the other students on Arango’s research team are physics majors, but not exclusively. Sophia Weeks ’13 is a physics and philosophy double major from Portland, Oregon. She began working in the lab after taking an introductory course on electromagnetism and circuits with Arango. “When I heard about his research, I thought, ‘Ah, solar cells—that’s going to change the world,’ ” said Weeks. She adds, “The idea of light becoming voltage also appeals to me in a philosophical way. I expect my philosophy studies to help me theorize once I get into quantum and relativity theories.”


Arango’s team, which also included Kanchi Gashaw ’13 and Maggie Stevens ’14, assisted with every aspect of the lab’s construction. In addition to calibrating sophisticated equipment, they created and modified solar cell designs using three-dimensional CAD software. Along the way, the team read research studies on electron behavior in quantum dots, molecular dyes, and other unconventional semiconductors. “I’m all about clean energy, and the physics of quantum dot technology really interests me,” said Weeks. “I feel like I lucked out getting a spot as a researcher in Professor Arango’s lab.”


Both in the classroom and the lab, Arango is—accord ing to Uppalapati—“a perfect liberal arts teacher.” She explained, “His specialty is physics but he connects it to other disciplines. He puts what we are learning in a larger context and challenges us to consider environmental, economic, and political realities across the globe.” Emily Tansey ’13, a physics major and environmental science minor from Malverne, New York, agrees that Arango is a remarkable teacher and mentor. Tansey worked in Arango’s lab throughout the spring semester and spent the summer researching proton exchange fuel cells—a green storage method—at the Colorado School of Mines. “Professor Arango is definitely an expert about solar energy technology,” she said. “We’re getting an immersion in everything from the engineering of a solar cell to the economic feasibility of photovoltaics.” Phoebe Tengdin ’13, another member of Arango’s team, also spent her summer in Colorado. Tengdin conducted research in space physics at Colorado University Boulder through the National Science Foundation’s REU (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) program. Her particular project analyzed electron density measure- ments from satellite data to better understand the magnetic field around the earth. “Although this topic is unrelated to the work that I do in Professor Arango’s lab, having a background in different fields of physics will serve me well. Physics is a diverse subject. Delving into multiple research projects as an undergraduate helps me better define my interests.”


Looking ahead, Arango’s student researchers not only see the limitless potential of solar cells but also the bright light of possibilities. “Women in physics are a minority,” Uppalapati acknowledges. “Mount Holyoke gives me confidence that when I go into a workplace, my capabilities will speak for themselves,” she said. “It’s a great place to become a scientist.”


Best of the Best in Physics: Alyssa McKenna ’12: Goldwater Scholarship Abby Goldman ’10: Fulbright Research Grant, Israel; Kathryn Greenberg ’09: Gates Scholarship, Cambridge; National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship, Harvard; recent alumnae are pursuing graduate studies in physics at: Harvard, MIT, Yale, Stanford, and University of Michigan

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