Biography:

Edlyn V. Levine, Ph.D. is a Senior Physicist at the MITRE Corporation and a Research Associate in the Department of Physics at Harvard University. Dr. Levine's research at MITRE focuses on the physical kinetics, electrodynamics, and thermodynamics of complex media. Her research efforts are aimed at the development of advanced platforms for sensing and communications systems in the interest of national security. She is a four-time awardee of the MITRE Innovation Program grant for her research. Dr. Levine earned her Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2016 and was an NSF Graduate Fellow and an NDSEG Graduate Fellow.

Dr. Levine is a member of the Harvard Graduate School Alumni Council, and has previously served as Coordinating Fellow for Graduate Student Life at Harvard. She held the position of president of the Harvard Graduate Science Policy Group and was the founder of the annual Harvard - DC Trip, bringing science graduate students to the capital to visit agencies involved in science policy. Dr. Levine is currently the leader of MITRE's Academic Engagement Team, focusing on building research and recruitment relationships with universities. Dr. Levine is active in scientific and technical exchange meetings including APS March Meeting, Boston APS Local Link, and a Program Committee Member for the COMSOL Multiphysics Conference. She engages in student outreach and mentorship at her alma maters, Harvard University and the University of Pittsburgh.

Statement:

I am running for member-at-large of FIAP due to my desire to contribute to our community and to translate my efforts to bridge industrial and academic physics from Boston/Cambridge to the wider APS FIAP community. I have the unique perspective of an early-career physicist who has successfully spanned both academia and industry: I hold a joint appointment between Harvard University and MITRE Corporation. I have also striven to build research collaboration between industry and academia, and am leading one such effort between MITRE and Harvard. Finally, I am deeply engaged in exposing physics students (primarily Ph.D.s) to opportunities to work as physicists in industry: this includes direct mentorship, serving on career panels at universities, serving as a mentor on the FIAP IMPact program, and introducing Ph.D. candidates to consider internship opportunities while they are in graduate school.

If I am elected as a member-at-large of FIAP, I will focus on fostering increased collaboration between physicists in academia and industry. This will involve encouraging larger participation by industrial physicists in national meetings to present research results and ideas for cross pollination with academia. I will also support highlighting of successful collaborations and best practices to serve as examples stimulating future efforts. I would like to build increased mentorship of graduate students by industrial physicists in programs like IMPact and networks such as LinkedIn. Finally, I would like to facilitate graduate students entering industry by exposing them to the range of possible research positions. This can be done by adding industrial career mentorship, panels, and job fair participants at the national meetings.