Community Member Milestones
- Welcome to Caltech:
Anna Iudintseva
Anna joined Caltech as the first full-time mechanical engineer at the new gravitational wave detector observatory called Cosmic Explorer, which observes the first events that occurred after the Big Bang. In June 2025, Anna started working with other LIGO scientists to develop the 40 km by 40 km interferometer to be built in the next decade.
- Celebrating a recognition:
Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz
The Zernicka-Goetz Lab at Caltech, in partnership with the Terasaki Institute, recently received a $2.8 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. This grant will support high-throughput research using stem cell-derived models of early human development to uncover the factors that control embryo formation.
- Welcome to Caltech:
James Wiley
On June 30, James joined Caltech as a mechanical engineer for the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy, where he’ll build next-generation astronomical instruments for ground-based observatories such as Palomar and Keck. He earned his PhD in physics from the University of California, San Diego.
- Welcome to Caltech:
Madison Quan
On September 2, Madison joined Caltech as the interim head coach of the women’s basketball team for the 2025-26 season. She previously served as assistant coach for the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens, the same team she played on during her four years as an undergraduate at Pitzer College.
- Celebrating a recognition:
Sujit Datta
On September 1, Sujit was named the new Chief Editor of Reviews of Modern Physics, which is the foremost journal in physics devoted to publishing authoritative, foundational, and influential review articles across all areas of physics. He looks forward to ensuring the journal stays responsive to the rapidly evolving landscape of modern physics and its expanding connections with other fields.
- Welcome to Caltech:
Audrey Martin
Audrey joined Caltech on July 23 as a research scientist in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences. Her research focuses on asteroids and the Moon, which is done through JWST spectra analysis, Apollo sample characterization, and creating asteroid and lunar regolith analogs. She was previously a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Central Florida.