As we approach the commencement ceremonies for the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Class of 2025, we will share graduating senior spotlights of outstanding students from each CEMS department.
Graduating senior Sarah Phillips is a double major in Physics and Mathematics with a minor in Astronomy from Burlington, VT.
How did you choose your major?
When I first started visiting colleges in high school and browsing brochures, the physics and astronomy course names immediately caught my eye.
Nothing else on that list of hundreds of courses could compete with the likes of quantum mechanics, black holes, or relativity. While I had always loved learning about physics, it took until that moment for me to realize that I could actually try to become a physicist. Anyone who has taken physics or math will tell you that it can be a slog, and I can't argue with that. However, the satisfaction of finally understanding a difficult problem, getting a cool result in lab, or learning something new about the universe that is so weird it keeps you up at night—those things are what keep me coming back for more.
Do you have a memorable research experience from your time in CEMS?
Over the summer of 2024, I traveled to Yonezawa city in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, for an 8-week research assistantship as part of the PIRE (Partnerships in International Research and Education) Excitonic Soft Materials for Clean Energy program. During this assistantship, I learned how to synthesize nanoscopic crystals of a fascinating species of material known as perovskite, which is used in a number of light and energy-related applications, from solar panels to OLEDs. I got to work directly with graduate students investigating how different methods of synthesis could lead to nanocrystals that could be used to make lasers. Just this past April, I got to present my findings at the MRS conference in Seattle. This opportunity to go to Japan turned into hands-down one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life, and gave me a great appreciation for the internationally collaborative nature of science.
Is there a class or professor who had a significant impact on your academic journey at UVM?
The class that had the greatest impact on me is one I stumbled upon completely by accident, when looking for electives to finish my math degree. This course, Principles of Complex Systems I with Prof. Peter Dodds, completely changed my perspective on physics, math, computation, and how they can be used to understand the more human parts of our world. For example, principles derived from physical systems can be used to model the explosion of differing narratives after a big news story breaks, showing that over time these stories will collapse down to an equilibrium of one or two prevailing versions. I also got to do a project quantifying the distortion of meaning indifferent English translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey by looking at the frequency of individual words across the text. Although taking this course did not sway my post-grad plans away from physics, it helped me understand and appreciate the vital connections between STEM and the humanities, and the danger of the false dichotomy—or pseudo-feud—that exists between them. Complex Systems ensured that whatever meager influence in science I might be able to accrue in my life, I will always be an advocate for the importance of both computational and traditional social sciences.
Sarah has been an outstanding member of the physics department. She has been an undergraduate TA for both physics and astronomy courses, the president of the Society of Physics Students, and a highly accomplished researcher. She spent the summer of 2024 in Yonezawa, Japan, investigating perovskite quantum dots with Prof. Akito Masuhara, and her work will result in two peer-reviewed publications and presentations at both the CUWiP conference and the Spring 2025 Materials Research Society Meeting.
- Dr. Matthew White
Associate Professor
Department of Physics
What are your plans after graduation?
This fall, I will be attending the University of Colorado: Boulder as a PhD student in Physics. The resources and mentors I have in CEMS and as a student in the PLHC guided me throughout the process of finding research experience and have prepared me exceptionally well for graduate school.
Is there any advice you would share with incoming first-year students?
Cynicism is your enemy. It can be embarrassing sometimes, but nothing has helped me more throughout my time in college than being unabashedly excited about things.
Is there an achievement that you are particularly proud of?
Getting to participate in UVM's 2024 April Fools prank (broadcasting that the time and path of the eclipse had been miscalculated) has to be an all-time high. I didn't expect to fool so many people, but I guess it goes to show that scientific communication is important!
Sarah's honors thesis research explored the strong-coupling of molecular excitons and photons in optical resonator cavities. I’m beyond proud of her accomplishments and look forward to her future successes as she pursues her PhD in Physics at the University of Colorado!
- Dr. Matthew White
Associate Professor
Department of Physics
How do you envision your future in the next five years?
The next five years of my life are going to all be spent toiling away in graduate school, where I hope the project I end up working on will bring minimal heartbreak (probably due to equipment breaking), and maximum excitement and fulfillment. I hope that in addition to being a physicist, I will have the opportunity to help create fun and effective scientific communication for the next generation of future physics majors, whether they know it yet or not.
