HARVARD
Materials Research Science and Engineering Center
 
 
 
Graduate Student

Anna Wang
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Anna Wang is an Applied Physics Ph.D. student in Vinothan Manoharan's laboratory. She completed her Bachelor of Science at the University of Sydney, where she majored in physics, mathematics and biochemistry. During her Honours year, she researched microstructured polymer optical fiber-based sensors and metamaterials. At Harvard, Anna studies the dynamics of colloidal particles near and at interfaces using a high-speed, 3-D imaging technique, digital holographic microscopy. With this technique, she is able to detect small movements with great precision, as well as track objects over large distances. She has captured digital holograms, for example, of micrometer-scale silica rods and sub-micrometer-scale Janus particles freely diffusing in water. This technique can be extended to a range of applications, including particle tracking, microrheology, and fundamental studies of colloidal self-assembly or microbial motion. Anna is a frequent contributor of sound bites at the quarterly New England Complex Fluids workshops and interacts with MRSEC members in the Lewis and Weitz groups regularly.