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AIP Presents
Faces of the Physical Sciences
Our Collection is Your Collection

You can help paint a fuller picture of the physical sciences community. AIP collects and preserves visual documentation of the personal and professional lives of physical scientists. Our archive of photos, and the stories behind them, is widely used by members of the physical science community, historians and researchers.

Pictures of scientists play an important role in shaping ideas about what kinds of people practice science and what kinds of activities scientists engage in, so it is critical we have access to rich and diverse visual documentation of both who practices science and the full lives science professionals lead.

Each month we’ll feature a recent contributor to our archive and share their images and story. Thanks to a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, AIP will highlight women’s contributions to the physical sciences as well.

Learn More about Sharing Your Photos

October Spotlight: Darine Haddad, Ph.D.
Dr. Darine Haddad Explaining the NIST-4 Kibble Balance1

Dr. Darine Haddad, from the Fundamental Electrical Measurements Group at NIST, explains how changes in gravity within the room effect measurements of the balance.

Credit: Trevor Owens, courtesy of AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives.

Science is Teamwork

“The work represented in this image is not just about an instrument. It is about decades of discovery, collaboration, creativity, and people working together to make measurements more reliable for everyone.”

Haddad received her Ph.D. in Optics, Optoelectronics and Microwaves in 2004 from the University of Versailles, France, where she continued teaching and doing research in the field of optical sensors and dimensional metrology. In 2006 she worked on precision experiments to measure the Planck constant, first as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Laboratoire National de Métrologie et d’Essais (LNE), France, and since 2008 at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA.

The Joy of Discovery 
“Science may look hard, and it is, but it is also deeply fun. I get to learn something new every day, solve new challenges, and know that the work is helping advance science and technology.”

Darine Haddad is currently the project lead at NIST for the US primary realization of the unit of mass (named NIST-4), and the Quantum Electro-Mechanical Metrology Suite (QEMMS), featuring the compensation of gravitational forces with the use of two quantum electrical standards, bridging classical mechanics with quantum mechanics in a single experiment. 

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The central calorimeter of the D-Zero Experiment at Fermilab under construction. A group of physics grad students & postdocs and Fermilab technical staff stand in front of the detector in white clean suits. Names provided by donor include Sarah Johnson, Joan Guida, Gerry Blazey, Terry Heuring, Seung Ahn, and Pat Mooney.

Credit: Fermilab, courtesy of AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives

Submit Your Photo to the Emilio Segrè Visual Archives

Your submission will help us build a rich, inclusive record of our community.
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Darine Haddad from the Fundamental Electrical Measurements Group at NIST connecting to NIST-4 Kibble balance a Quantum Hall Array Resistance Standards (QHARS) placed in a 9T magnetic field at cryogenic temperature.

Credit: Darine Haddad, Ph.D. 

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The central calorimeter of the D-Zero Experiment at Fermilab under construction. A group of physics grad students & postdocs and Fermilab technical staff stand in front of the detector in white clean suits. Names provided by donor include Sarah Johnson, Joan Guida, Gerry Blazey, Terry Heuring, Seung Ahn, and Pat Mooney.

Credit: Fermilab, courtesy of AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives

Dr. Darine Haddad Explaining the NIST-4 Kibble Balance1

Dr. Darine Haddad explaining how changes in gravity within the room effects NIST-4 Kibble Balance measurements, a highly accurate instrument that measures mass. June 3, 2024. PH2025-2951_0001 .

Photo by Trevor Owens, courtesy of AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives.

Gemma Rius Faces of the Physical Sciences

Dr. Gemma Rius, tenured Research Scientist at the Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain), presents on the research and development activities of the Institute of Micro and Nanoelectronics to a group of young students. This outreach activity was the first guided tour to a research institute in Catalan Sign Language. It was part of a Science Communication activity within a project funded by the FCRI (Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation) on STEM for people with hearing impairments.

Credit: Donated by Gemma Rius, 2025.

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A van used by IceCube to transport people and supplies at the South Pole. The wheels have been replaced by Matrax tracks.

Credit: AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, gift of Spencer Klein.

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Group portrait of the nuclear physics medicine team testing a Siemens SPECT camera at the University of Florida Shands Healthcare System. (L-R) Dr. Izabella Barreto, Dr. Stephanie Leon, Dr. Anahita Heshmat, Homa Mojabi, and Dr. Mercy Akerele.

Credit: Izabella Barreto, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives

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Portrait of Marcel F. Corchado Albelo, a solar physics graduate student working at the National Solar Observatory, at Mar Chiquita in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.

Credit: Welmo Romero, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives

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Dr. Joyful Mdhluli (standing, left) leads a panel discussion at the 32nd IAU General Assembly, held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in Cape Town, South Africa. Other panelists included Dr. Khotso Mokhele (center) and Dr. Vanessa McBride (right).

Credit: Bradley Urion, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives

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Dr. Darine Haddad Explaining the NIST-4 Kibble Balance1
Gemma Rius Faces of the Physical Sciences
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  • Digital photography has transformed how we record our lives and connect with each other. At the same time, the people and roles that make up the physical sciences have changed considerably.

    We can no longer wait until people retire and hope their photographs eventually make their way into our collections. We need to connect with scientists throughout their careers and be part of how they document their lives and work, so the record we preserve reflects the physical sciences as they are today.
    Trevor Owens headshot 2025
    Chief Research Officer ,  AIP
August Photos of the Month The Faces of the Physical Sciences

AIP’s Faces of the Physical Sciences initiative is building a richer visual story of the researchers, educators, and students behind scientific progress. Your images can help preserve that story and determine who gets to be seen.

With your help, the ESVA will continue to be a living resource for understanding the physical sciences—not just as abstract knowledge, but as a human endeavor.