WANG(王), YI(逸) 

About:

Hello, I'm a PhD candidate in physics at Duke University. I currently work with Prof. Divine Kumah on iron-based thin-film superconductors, which have the potential to fundamentally change how we understand superconductivity.

My path through physics has been a broad one: cosmology at the Perimeter Institute, X-ray astronomy at Saint Mary's University, subatomic detector simulation at Mount Allison University, and next-generation CMB telescope instrumentation at Duke, before joining the Kumah Nanoscale Materials Lab. The subjects have little in common; the instrument is what connects them. What draws me to experimental work is the complete cycle, predicting how a piece of hardware will behave, designing and building it, measuring what it actually does, and understanding the gap between the two. That loop of design, build, measure, and revise is the most rewarding part of research for me, and it has been the constant across every group I have worked in.

The same interest in building continues outside the lab. I converted a van, and I am a student pilot working toward my private pilot certificate. An interactive art project of mine has received millions of views on TikTok, and I am currently developing two devices: a next-generation coffee machine, and a smart home recycling appliance that converts household recyclables into cat litter pellets.