CUWIP

Three students from Wheaton (Rachel Barron ’21, McKenzie Blank ’21, and Elise Van Vuuren ‘23) attended the three-day conference. Their travel was sponsored by the Wheaton College Department of Physics. “CUWiP was inspiring to me this year because of the emphasis on having a healthy work-life balance and the insight into choosing a career. I highly recommend it for anyone in physics, engineering, or chemistry,” said Rachel Barron, President of the Wheaton College Society of Physics students. “It was encouraging to be surrounded by so many physics students, and hearing the speakers was inspiring. It made me more excited to be studying physics,” said Elise Van Vuuren ’23.

Rachel Barron Physics ‘21, McKenzie Blank Liberal Arts Engineering ‘22, and Elise Van Vuuren Physics ‘23 attending the Midwest CUWiP Conference.

“Midwest CUWiP 2020 is the latest trip by students in our department to the annual conference series, going all the way back to 2012,” said Dr. Heather M. Whitney, Associate Professor of Physics, who also led a panel discussion on “How to Get into Undergraduate Research” as part of the CUWiP program. “Our department values that students from both physics and liberal arts engineering often attend the conference, as was true this year. The students were grateful for the travel support from the Department of Physics, and enjoyed meaningful plenaries and seminars while getting to meet other women in physics from local institutions.”