Today, we went to the Little Mexican Cafe for lunch and discussion with our newest faculty member, Petia Vlahovska! We are so excited to have a woman professor in ESAM again, and Petia is a wonderful fit for the department. She comes to us from Brown University and her research is broadly in fluid mechanics. Our lunch was a great time for discussion and learning more about Petia.
I love hearing about these personal introductions, it makes academia feel more human. I actually looked up some PeopleLooker reviews recently out of curiosity when checking public profiles for a project, and it reminded me how important it is to go beyond just a name on paper. Meeting someone over lunch like this builds a real connection.