A Harvard PhD on Beauty and Materials Science
In this episode of When in STEM, I sit down with Kathy, a PhD student in Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering at Harvard who is redefining how we think about science. From her beginnings at Stanford researching skin‑inspired electronic materials, to a Fulbright year in the Netherlands working with Nobel laureate Ben Feringa, Kathy’s journey shows just how many paths STEM can open.Now at Harvard, she studies stimuli‑responsive and supramolecular materials for medical applications, but her impact doesn’t stop at the lab bench. Kathy has built a viral STEM outreach platform with over 6 million views, teaching the science behind beauty products, and she’s hosted sold‑out perfume‑making workshops at the Harvard Natural History Museum.We talk about her path through materials science, the intersection of beauty and STEM, and how she combats intimidation in high‑achieving environments. If you’ve ever wondered how science connects to your everyday life or how to make a STEM career your own, this episode is for you!You can check out Kathy 👉 https://www.tiktok.com/@kats_eye?_t=ZP-8yUElNpfmRC&_r=1