Nergis mavalvala biography sample

Nergis Mavalvala is a Pakistani-American astrophysicist known have a handle on her separate in the first observation cut into gravitational waves. She is representation Curtis captain Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics at the Massachusetts Organization of Technology (MIT), where she is as well the Get on Head near the Department check Physics. She was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2010. Mavalvala is appropriately known cooperation her travail on depiction detection advance gravitational waves in the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) project, but she has also obtained prominent results on other physics problems that evolved out time off LIGO: parade example, she has performed pioneering experiments on laser cooling of macroscopic objects and increase by two the fathering of squeezed quantum states of light.

As a graduate scholar at Position, she conducted her student work under Dr. Rainer Weiss, where Mavalvala developed a prototype laser interferometer suffer privation detecting gravitative waves. After alumna school, she was a postdoctoral researcher and authenticate a research scientist at the California of Discipline, working intersection the LIGO. Dr. Mavalvala coupled the Rout physics authorization in 2002. In 2017 she was elective to the National Academy rule Sciences.

Mavalvala won representation fir

•

Early Life

Nergis was born in Lahore and grew up in Karachi, Pakistan. She spent her childhood in a home without gender stereotypes. This meant she and her older sister were free to follow their own interests. Nergis developed hands-on and practical skills, including fixing her bike, and enjoyed science and maths. She thought she would become an engineer when she was older. 

In 1986, Nergis moved to the United States to study physics and astronomy. During this time she discovered her love for physics and research. In 1990 she received her bachelor's degree in physics and astronomy from Wellesley College. She then became a graduate astrophysics student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In the USA, graduate students must pass an exam to show they have the skills needed to complete a PhD. Nergis failed this exam twice but carried on working to improve herself till she passed. Nergis received her PhD from MIT in 1997 and continued her research at the California Institute of Technology. 

Career Highlights

In 2002, Nergis returned to MIT and became a professor of astrophysics. She is now the Dean for MIT's School of Science. In this role, Nergis is responsible fo

•

Pakistani-American Astrophysicist Dr. Nergis Mavalvala, MIT professor and member of Nobel Prize winner LIGO team, visited Pakistani-American Community Center (PACC) in Silicon Valleyon February 24, 2018. She was invited by PACC founder Mr. Mohammad Asghar Aboobaker to talk about her inspirational work and meet with the community members, particularly Pakistani-American children in the Valley.

Riaz Haq (R) with Dr. Nergis Mavalvala

Who is Nergis?

Nergis was born in Lahore and raised in Karachi before coming to the United States in 1986. She completed her Ph.D. in Physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1997. She did her doctoral work under Dr. Rainer Weiss that included developing a prototype laser interferometer for detecting gravitational waves. Currently, she is Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she is also the Associate Head of the Department of Physics.

Gravitational Waves: 

In her brief presentation attended by over 100 people including boys and girls, Nergis explained Albert Einstein's gravitational wave theory and described her work in confirming the theory by detecting gravitational waves in Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) pro