Milo Van Mooy ’26 

Physics 
Commonwealth Honors College

Falmouth, Massachusetts

Physics major Milo Van Mooy conducts experimental research with strong societal impacts. For his honors thesis, he is conducting ambitious and novel experiments by inventing new methods to study phenomena relevant to how microplastics are transported by ocean or river waves. This work may have additional implications for sedimentation and a variety of other processes involving particle transport. Van Mooy has written a first-authored paper on this work, to be submitted later this year. Previously, Van Mooy contributed to research on how fluid mechanisms influence the aerosol spread of infection among people waiting in line, resulting in a paper published in Science Advances.

What inspires you to do this work?

In the field of fluid mechanics, a lot of the questions seem relatively simple, and yet we don’t know the answers. This stems from the fact that fluid dynamics are governed by complicated partial differential equations, known as the Navier–Stokes equations, that, without simplification, have no known solution. As a result, there are many interesting phenomena present all around us in everyday life that we cannot yet explain. I like the idea of explaining such complicated phenomena with simple models and experiments.   For example, my research on microplastics seeks to understand how tiny pieces of plastic are moved through the ocean by waves and currents. We need to develop new experiments to predict how these plastics will either group together or spread apart. This could aid the identification of locations where microplastics will congregate, and thus we can focus our remediation efforts on these “hot spots.”

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How has research enhanced your education at UMass?

As a physics major and math minor, most of the work I do for my classes involves solving math problems. This math becomes more meaningful when paired with the investigation of relevant research questions. I was fortunate to get involved in research early—starting in the fall of my sophomore year—and being consistently involved in research projects has helped to validate the importance of the material I was learning in classes.

How does your faculty mentor support your work?

Over the past three years, I’ve had the opportunity to work on several different projects with Varghese Mathai, assistant professor of physics. He does a really good job helping undergraduates launch their research careers by introducing us to research and quickly involving us in meaningful projects. He puts a lot of trust in us to work on experiments independently.

Professor Mathai has also opened a lot of doors for me by involving me in publications and encouraging me to submit an abstract for an oral presentation to the American Physical Society Division of Fluid Dynamics meeting, where I was selected to present. He also gave me valuable advice on graduate school and helped me make connections, which has led to my being accepted to several programs in fluid mechanics.  

Why would you recommend UMass to a friend?

I think everyone should go to UMass! There are so many opportunities here—you just need to go out and find them. I knew I wanted to do research when I started college, so I just started sending out emails to faculty. Professor Mathai responded, and it led to a long and productive research experience in his lab. In my experience, UMass offers all the advantages of a big state school, in terms of resources and opportunities, along with the attention and guidance from faculty that you’d expect at a smaller school.  

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