Rebecca Welch reflects on her time at Coe before pursuing a Ph.D.
Rebecca Welch ’20
Rebecca Welch ’20, a physics major and National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow, discovered her passion for glass research at Coe College.
“When I first came to Coe, I was a pretty shy person,” Rebecca said. “Being in the Coe Physics Department really helped me grow because the physics lounge provided a great community for students to hang out and study together. They would talk about their research, and it sounded fascinating.”
Rebecca asked Dr. Mario Affatigato ’89, the chair of the Physics Department, for a project idea, which led to her first summer research project.
“I had no idea Coe did research on glass,” she said. “I studied over 50 lead-based glasses using time-of-flight mass spectroscopy. After the summer, I knew I loved research and working with glass, so I began another project with Dr. [Caio] Bragatto in which I learned how to use computer simulations to study glass. I studied nine different glass compositions and published my first paper in which I was first author.”
Rebecca went on to write six more papers and present her research findings at 10 different conferences.
“Before Coe, I had planned on getting whatever job I could find after my bachelor’s. I really didn’t have a direction,” she said. “Having the opportunity to conduct high-quality and meaningful research made me realize that I had more potential than I ever thought. It gave me confidence as a person and as a scientist, as well as a purpose.”
Rebecca’s new-found confidence prompted her to apply for an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering at Pennsylvania State University starting the fall 2020 semester.
“The fellowship provides a three-year salary for students to financially support themselves through their graduate school career in a STEM-related field,” she said. “It allows students to focus solely on research and devote more time to becoming accomplished scientists. It gives me the freedom to essentially attend any graduate school I want.”
The NSF awards only 2,000 fellowships annually.
In reflecting on her time as a Kohawk, Rebecca said she would not have attended graduate school if not for her time at Coe College. She credits her professors for seeing her potential before she did. She wants to become a professor and work with students to better their futures.