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VOL. 30/34 Friday, August 21, 2020 Muharram 2 , 1442 AH
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Pakistan-born quantum as- Pakistan-born Astrophysicist Nergis Mavalvala (MIT) in 1997. She did her doctoral
trophysicist Nergis Maval- work under Dr Rainer Weiss that
vala has been named the included developing a prototype
new dean of the MIT School of Named Dean of MIT School of Science laser interferometer for detecting
Science, one of the five schools gravitational waves. Currently, she
of the Massachusetts Institute of is Curtis and Kathleen Marble Pro-
Technology (MIT), it emerged on that the School of Science will re- fessor of Astrophysics at the Mas-
Tuesday. main in such capable hands.” sachusetts Institute of Technology
The report added that the news (MIT), where she is also the As-
According to MIT News, she was announced by Provost Martin sociate Head of the Department of
will become the new dean from Schmidt via a letter emailed to the Physics.
September 1 and will succeed Mi- MIT community in which he said:
chael Sipser, who will return to the “I very much look forward to Gravitational Waves
faculty as the Donner Professor of working with her and to benefiting In a brief presentation (during
Mathematics after six years of ser- from her unerring sense of scientif- a visit to Silicon Valley) attended
vice. ic opportunity, infectious curiosity, by over 100 people including boys
down-to-earth manner and practi- and girls, Nergis explained Al-
Mavalvala is renowned for her cal wisdom. bert Einstein’s gravitational wave
pioneering work in gravitational- “I hope you will join me in theory and described her work in
wave detection, which she conduct- congratulating her as she brings her confirming the theory by detecting
ed as a leading member of the Laser great gifts as a leader to this new gravitational waves in Laser Inter-
Interferometer Gravitational-Wave role.” ferometer Gravitational-Wave Ob-
Observatory (LIGO), the report Born to a Parsi family in Ka- servatory (LIGO) project.
said. rachi, Mavalvala received her early Gravitational waves are the
education from the Convent of Je- disturbances in the fabric (“curva-
“She has received numerous sus and Mary School, an adminis- ture”) of spacetime generated by
awards and honors for her research tration official from the educational Dr Nergis Mavalvala accelerated stars and propagate as
and teaching, and since 2015 has waves outward from their source
been the associate head of the De- at the speed of light. She compared
partment of Physics. Mavalvala will the gravitational waves with the
be the first woman to serve as dean curvature and the ripples produced
in the School of Science.” in a trampoline when a heavy ball is
placed in the middle and bounced
It added that Mavalvala was on it.
“energized and optimistic” about
the role ahead, even as she ac- Dr Mavalvala at PACC - Photo courtesy Nasreen Aboobaker Riaz Haq with the eminent scientist All Stars Die
knowledged the unprecedented Nergis explained that all stars,
challenges the school and the insti- institute had confirmed to Dawn. Before that, she was a postdoc- opening of a new tool for doing like the sun in our solar system, are
tute as a whole were facing during com. toral associate and then a research astronomy,” Mavalvala had said in born, grow and eventually die. Our
this difficult time. scientist at the California Institute an interview at the time. “We have sun too will die but she assured her
She later moved to the United of Technology (Caltech), working turned on a new sense. We have audience that it won’t happen for
“We’re in this moment where States as a teenager to attend Welles- with LIGO. been able to see and now we will be over a billion years. She described
enormous changes are afoot,” she ley College in Massachusetts, where able to hear as well.” – Dawn.com black holes as big stars whose light
said. “We’re in the middle of a glob- she is said to have a natural gift for She also received the pres- cannot escape due to their massive
al pandemic and economic chal- being comfortable in her own skin, tigious MacArthur Foundation Riaz Haq adds: gravity. Huge amounts of energy
lenge, and we’re also in a moment, according to an article published on Award in 2010. Later in 2016, Ma- Nergis was born in Lahore and are released when these massive
at least in US history, where the im- the sciencemag.org website. valvala was part of a team of scien- raised in Karachi before coming to stars collide with each other and
perative for racial and social justice tists credited with the discovery of the United States in 1986. She com- new ones are born.
is really strong. Mavalvala did her BA at gravitational waves, a new window pleted her PhD in Physics at Mas- Neutron stars are created when
Wellesley College in Physics and for studying the cosmos. sachusetts Institute of Technology giant stars die in supernovas and
“As someone in a leadership Astronomy in 1990 and a PhD in their cores collapse, with the pro-
position, that means you have op- Physics in 1997 from MIT. “We are really witnessing the tons and electrons essentially melt-
portunities to make an important ing into each other to form neu-
and hopefully lasting impact,” she trons. Given the extremely small
said. waves of about 1,000 times smaller
than a proton, the equipment re-
Meanwhile, MIT President L. quired for detecting them must be
Rafael Reif stated that Mavalvala’s extremely sensitive to tiny distur-
“brilliance as a researcher and edu- bances. LIGO equipment uses giant
cator speaks eloquently for itself ”. shock absorbers to eliminate extra-
neous perturbations that can alter
“What excites me equally the result.
about her appointment as dean are Detected gravitational waves
the qualities I have seen in her as a
leader: She is a deft, collaborative NERGIS, P18
problem-solver, a wise and gener-
ous colleague, an incomparable
mentor, and a champion for inclu-
sive excellence.
“As we prepare for the start of
this most unusual academic year,
it gives me great comfort to know
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