Science photographer Felice Frankel, a research scientist in the School of Science, has been named the 2005 Honorary Fellow of the Society for Technical Communication. In praising Frankel's work, STC stated, "Your stunning images make science accessible to a broad audience, deepening our understanding and appreciation of your subjects and expanding the boundaries of technical communication." The image above taken by Frankel shows a drop of ferrofluid, which is magnetite suspended in oil. The ferrofluid is on a slide on top of a yellow slip of paper, and magnets under the paper are pulling the magnetite particles into place. The STC is a professional organization dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of technical communication. With more than 17,000 members, STC is the largest organization of its kind in the world. For more than 30 years, STC has been conferring this honor on individuals who are not members of the society but who have achieved eminence in the field. Among previous honorary fellows are Stephen Jay Gould, Maxine Singer, Buckminster Fuller and MIT's Timothy Berners-Lee. Frankel plans to attend STC's 52nd Annual Conference in Seattle, Wash., May 8-11, to accept the award and discuss her work. Photo / Felice Frankel

A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on April 27, 2005 (download PDF).