Bahar Shakerifakher
President
Bahar is a second-year graduate student in Physics and Brain and Cognitive Sciences, studying the brain through the lens of statistical mechanics. She is interested in how we form perception and understanding of the world around us, and in the thought processes that lead to decision-making.
Like all beings, she is shaped by both nature and nurture, embedded in and dependent on a dense network of interactions with family and friends.
If you don’t find her in her office, she’s probably backpacking in a national park or diving in a newly discovered cave — enjoying a state of solitude and ecstasy while pondering whether humans are first social beings or individuals, and imagining a better political theory for reducing the world’s suffering.
Jess Ip
Vice President of Socials
Jess Ip (she/her) is a third-year in the Condensed Matter Experiment division, where she grows crystals to investigate exotic quantum phenomena. Born and raised in Macau, she went on to earn a double major in physics and philosophy from the University of Chicago. Outside the lab, you can find her playing the carillon in the bell tower, dabbling in painting, or, despite having no sense of direction, setting out on hikes and exploring museums, often getting happily lost along the way.
Sahaj Patel
Vice President of Academic Advocacy
Sahaj (He/him) is a 3rd year graduate student in the condensed matter experiment division studying crystal growth and strain control of unconventional magnets. He grew up in the suburbs of New Jersey and completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. If he’s not in the lab, you can often find him at the climbing gym, hiking in the White Mountains, or baking in the kitchen. Additionally, he is always more than happy to share photos and videos of his cat, Patches!
Swati Ravi
Vice President of Admissions Initiatives
Swati (she/her) is a third-year student in the astrophysics division studying the structure of neutron star and black hole systems by characterizing their magnetic fields. She also develops technology for future space telescopes including a NASA sounding rocket telescope called REDSoX (yes, like the baseball team!) which will look at magnetic fields of high-energy astrophysical objects at new energies. Swati grew up in Dallas, TX, completed her undergraduate studies at Columbia University, and earned her master’s degree at University College Dublin. Outside of the lab, she enjoys reading, painting, fiber crafts, and botany.
Maggie Kerr
Treasurer
Maggie (she/her) is a second-year student in NUPAX interested in nucleon structure and how the strong force characterizes intrinsic properties of protons and neutrons. Her research investigates the mechanical and spin structure of protons. She grew up in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, and also completed her undergraduate degree in New Brunswick, at Mount Allison University. Outside of physics, Maggie enjoys running, hiking, reading speculative fiction, exploring the Cambridge/Boston gluten free food scene, and occasionally reviving her childhood pursuits in classical music.
Jonathan Geller
Cookie Social Chair
Jonathan (he/him) is a second year CMX student in Nuh Gedik’s group using time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to look for unusual light-induced behavior in quantum materials. He grew up in Connecticut and went to undergrad at Williams College. He enjoys cooking, playing board games, and riding public transit, but isn’t particularly good at any of them.
Shon Mackie
Cookie Social Chair
Shon is a 5th year physics student in the plasma division. His thesis work focuses on applications of neutron spectrometry to diagnose the burning plasma core of nuclear fusion experiments. In addition, he initiated an annual student-led expedition to study the geophysical plasma phenomena associated with the Aurora Borealis. Originally from Southern California, Shon attended UCLA for his bachelor studies in physics and mathematics before joining MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center. When he manages to escape the ivory tower of academe, Shon enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and canoeing.
Teo Bulichi
Pizza Social Chair
Teo is a third year student in the Astrophysics division, studying supermassive black holes. She is originally from Romania, and completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Edinburgh. Outside of academics, she enjoys traveling, hiking and watching movies.
Meghna Shankar
Pizza Social Chair
Meghna (Meg) (she/her) is a 3rd year student in the condensed matter experiment division studying magnetic materials with optical and x-ray spectroscopy. She is from Seattle and completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Washington. Meghna plays viola and enjoys playing in the MIT symphony orchestra, reading chamber music with friends and attending classical music concerts in the Boston area. Outside of studies she likes to go running around Cambridge and is trying to take more advantage of sailing and hiking opportunities while the weather is good.
Timothy Zaklama
Faculty Breakfast Chair
Tim is a 4th year CMT student in Liang Fu’s lab. My research mainly involves topological materials and leveraging AI and machine learning to predict novel material phenomena. Tim is originally from Westchester, NY, and after going to Vanderbilt University, worked at a quant trading firm in Chicago before coming to MIT. Outside of research, Tim loves to mentor, adventure, sail, play sports, and pass the time with good people.
Daiming Zhang
Faculty Breakfast Chair
Daiming (he/him) is a 2nd year graduate at Center for Theoretical Physics working on algebraic approaches to gauge/gravity duality. He grew up in southeastern China and attended Tsinghua University in Beijing for undergrad. Outside of physics, feel free to talk to me about novellas, classical music, or anything else you have in mind!
Manu Srivastava
Colloquium Lunch Chair
Manu is a 4th year graduate student at the Center for Theoretical Physics. He is passionate about understanding the functioning of the universe at the most fundamental level possible. In particular, trying to work towards a quantum theory of gravity for the universe we live in. His current interests are black hole physics, algebraic quantum field theory and holography. He did most of his schooling on the Western Ghats of India followed by an undergrad at IIT Bombay in Mumbai. Before joining MIT, he was at the Perimeter Institute in Canada for a year long Masters program. He is a poetry enthusiast who is also interested in Eastern Philosophy. He spends most of his non-Physics time on a plethora of different sports- cricket, basketball, tennis, badminton, squash, to name a few .
Rachel Steinhorst
Colloquium Lunch Chair
Rachel is a fourth-year in the CTP studying relativistic heavy ion collisions, the quark-gluon plasma, and hot/dense QCD. She is originally from Wisconsin and did her undergrad at Michigan State University. She enjoys reading, swing dancing, cooking, and sailing on the Charles river.
Natalie Wright
Physics Colloquium Committee Rep.
Natalie is a 5th year student in the NUPAX division, where she studies bound nucleon structure and high-density nuclear systems. She was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and attended Yale for undergrad. Outside of physics, she can be found playing guitar, crafting, or moving in various ways (often outside).
Zitian Ye
Physics Colloquium Committee Rep.
Zitian (she/her) is a second-year student in the AMO division studying dipole-dipole interactions between ultracold dysprosium atoms. She is originally from Beijing, China, and came to the US for undergrad at Caltech. Outside of physics, Zitian enjoys reading, running, traveling, good food, and classical music.
Sean Benevedes
Career Chair
Sean (he/him) is a fifth year student in the CTP working on particle theory, quantum field theory, and machine learning. He is originally from California’s Central Valley and went to UC Santa Barbara for undergrad. He can occasionally be found lifting weights, running, or crocheting very round plants and animals.
Noah Paladino
Intramural Sports Manager
Noah (he/him) is a fifth year student in the NUPAX division working with Philip Harris on the CMS and SpinQuest experiments, with a primary focus on dark matter searches. Originally from New Jersey, he completed his undergraduate degree at Rutgers University, which is where he found his love of particle physics research. Outside of physics, Noah is involved in the Tech Model Railroad Club at MIT and enjoys cycling, soccer, pickleball, and volleyball.
Niels Vanderloo
Webmaster
Niels (he/him) is a third year student in the plasma division studying magnetic fields in astrophysically relevant plasmas using the biggest lasers in the world. He is from New York City and went to Oberlin College where he studied Physics and Mathematics. Niels likes to go on runs, explore Boston by bike or transit, and play baseball.