tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56558080630289598012024-03-05T23:23:26.275-08:00My Laser BoyfriendOptical love and loss and the search for life post-Ph.D.KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-73833458921477704602021-01-16T08:39:00.009-08:002021-01-16T08:41:26.949-08:00The Internet Is Forever <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div><span style="font-size: large;"><i>(This article was originally written in 2017)</i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The internet is kind of magic</span>. I push a key on a board and it is a letter. Letters become words, bits become bytes, data travels through the air, to a router, to a cable, a server, another cable, under the sea, to you.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQgYlHlfhUyGyDsqc8x2Nh14_mHfULVoG-UJ_YYYQcD0gJOyR_uDaqPq1n2hoHxVa6sCDmEtzwDqkMAWuPeE1EfVYL7hKmgkpvk0sNEejb8iPWapfZ92ajg6l46Y-6tNNyd12APHT61hBt/s1600/TESubCom_Map_of_Submarine_Cables_RGB.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="1138" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQgYlHlfhUyGyDsqc8x2Nh14_mHfULVoG-UJ_YYYQcD0gJOyR_uDaqPq1n2hoHxVa6sCDmEtzwDqkMAWuPeE1EfVYL7hKmgkpvk0sNEejb8iPWapfZ92ajg6l46Y-6tNNyd12APHT61hBt/s400/TESubCom_Map_of_Submarine_Cables_RGB.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">I will never not love submarine cable maps</td></tr>
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Every day we create and consume content that exists only as some sequence of electrons and photons, somehow preserved in the ether. </div><div><br /></div><div>And by ether I mean a server farm.<br />
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Doesn't that blow your fucking mind sometimes?</div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Years ago I discovered </span><span style="font-size: medium;">this ridiculous website</span>: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170825003205/http://shouldyoudatenate.com/"><b><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Should You Date Nate</span></b></a><br />
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I couldn't stop laughing at this guy and the <a href="http://www.refinery29.com/2017/08/169606/should-you-date-nate-website-internet-reactions">responses he was getting</a>. In a frenzy, I made a parody: <a href="https://shouldyoudatekate.com/"><b><span face=""helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">Should You Date Kate</span></b></a>. I mean, our names rhymed - had to be done.<br />
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Sadly, Nate already took down his manifesto and <a href="http://shouldyoudatenate.com/">put up something else instead</a>, perhaps claiming it was a <a href="http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/a12106109/date-nate-website/">joke all along</a>. So my parody didn't quite work anymore.The internet moved on. Nate was a blip in internet fame. Nate + Kate never had a chance.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzU0UaOIKMLIrNLW2_zZopHYeo56uOJXdDIeBC4KTm4szc3taWdOG25ffZksz7Xw2hBG3Pl-pVzfyyMtrXw3TzshmSB-87HOsqcS9qUipuADBuwQ2n6TYD7JPrU_oYmEub3EVcnm7En6iu/s1600/datenate22.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="753" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzU0UaOIKMLIrNLW2_zZopHYeo56uOJXdDIeBC4KTm4szc3taWdOG25ffZksz7Xw2hBG3Pl-pVzfyyMtrXw3TzshmSB-87HOsqcS9qUipuADBuwQ2n6TYD7JPrU_oYmEub3EVcnm7En6iu/s400/datenate22.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Web sites are notoriously bad at staying put. Nate takes his site down long after anyone is paying attention, I stop paying for my parody domain, Blogger will stop existing, a plug is pulled, a flood, an apocalypse, the electrons stop moving. So it goes.<span style="font-size: large;"><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>The internet is forever </span>sort of, thanks to web archiving like <a href="http://web.archive.org/">WayBack machine</a>. A set of servers located in California that essentially stores backups of pushlished content on the internet. You can actually track all the published iterations of Should You Date Nate if you wanted to. (I did and I did).<br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In graduate school </span><span style="font-size: medium;">I had a dating blog:</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><a href="http://okstoopid.blogspot.com/">OKStoopid</a>. Reading it is pretty cringe-worthy now but in a weird way I miss it. I miss creating and feeling inspired to create. Everywhere I looked I would find something funny about being single or dating or relationships. I know inspiration, like romance perhaps, comes and goes. Over time I gave up on it.<br />
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When I'm in a creative rut I'll do an audit of all the weird content I've created over the years, the silly stuff that still exists in pockets of the internet, and wonder if there is some way to tie it all together somehow. I still haven't figured that out. </div><div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe it's ok </span>that all that content exists in different pockets, mostly preserved, but some harder to find. Maybe it's ok to intermittently create weird content and release it to the ether whenever the creativity strikes, all the nothing and the everything of it all at once. The creating is more important than the creation. The process more than the product. <br />
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-63435889211562161902019-07-01T13:11:00.003-07:002019-07-01T13:11:58.658-07:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;">I am excited to announce</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;">I am helping organize the first ever <b>Women in Nitrides </b>event alongside <b><a href="https://www.mrs.org/icns-13">ICNS-13,</a> The International Conference on Nitride Semiconductors</b> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">in Bellevue, WA next week.</span></div>
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This will be the first event of its kind at this conference, with the goal to meet and network with other women in the field. The event will be a breakfast on Wednesday morning, prior to the third day of talks. </div>
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(Contact me for details if you will be there! )</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">A bit of back story...</span></h3>
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As a Ph.D. student working with III-Nitride semiconductors, we were very lucky if we got to attend one of the large Nitrides conferences that happened once a year, either <b>ICNS</b> or <b>IWN </b>(International Workshop on Nitride semiconductors). </div>
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Both are big week-long conferences with several concurrent sessions on materials and device research and researchers from all over the world attending. It was a VERY BIG DEAL to present at either. The first I attended was ICNS in Jeju, Korea in 2009 and it was such a terrifying and amazing experience! </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I switched roles a year ago</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> and last fall I was delighted to be able to attend <a href="http://www.iwn2018.jp/index.html">IWN2018</a></span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;">in Kanazawa, Japan. It was comforting to see so many familiar faces and feel immediately welcomed back in the Nitrides research community after being away from the field for over five years.</span></div>
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Obviously I noticed a lot of new faces as well, as a whole new generation of graduate students had come up in the years I was gone. </div>
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I also noticed that the conference was still hugely male-dominated.</div>
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That week, I met a woman graduate student at a conference dinner and we casually discussed it would be nice to meet some of the other women in the field. The conversation stuck with me. I couldn't stop thinking about how cool it would be to have a networking event just for women at the next conference.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">This year, I am organizing that event. </span></div>
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I saw that ICNS would be in the Seattle area, and my company's recruitment team in Seattle area was graciously willing to help me organize, plan and more importantly: fund it. Honestly I feel so lucky to work at a company that is willing to invest in something like this and they have definitely made it very easy for me. </div>
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I feel like the hard part was getting the courage to ask the question, and now I have an entire team of women helping me get all the details in order. </div>
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Obviously our company hopes to use the event to recruit some potential applicants for some open job positions in my team but we're trying to keep it as inclusive and classy as possible. </div>
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I am learning a lot from the experience already. We're still a week away and I'm a bit nervous! </div>
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Still, I know in my heart that anything worth doing, especially something novel, is never easy. I also know that I would have loved an event like this, especially when I was a graduate student attending these large conferences for the first time. </div>
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Representation is important. </div>
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-77334090880508216522019-01-27T02:51:00.000-08:002019-01-27T04:06:43.268-08:00Statistics and child-bearing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Interpreting statistical data is tricky. Look at this graph.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHutrZbgiFWd6lUt4WJC7ALvuIzdFotyygBT9mu1NsPIc7QcGPrhrdPDDewS7eYQNrWaUz6TWFnGnPpRydUfd65RWKhHPU0n563CdpQ84cq95FdaKghQuCZjsArl-FMnlIFQYzAFhlmhku/s1600/Child+bearing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="858" data-original-width="1278" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHutrZbgiFWd6lUt4WJC7ALvuIzdFotyygBT9mu1NsPIc7QcGPrhrdPDDewS7eYQNrWaUz6TWFnGnPpRydUfd65RWKhHPU0n563CdpQ84cq95FdaKghQuCZjsArl-FMnlIFQYzAFhlmhku/s400/Child+bearing.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">From: https://theconversation.com/how-childbearing-varies-across-us-women-in-3-charts-105015</span></td></tr>
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One could conclude, like the CDC does, that educated women tend to have fewer children, later in life.<br />
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Alternatively, one could say that women who have fewer children are more likely to get educated. That perhaps women who have children when they're very young are forced to drop out of school, or have significant challenges to advance through college.<br />
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I knew girls who got pregnant at 15 years old. Do you think it would be as easy for them to get a PhD as it was for me? I guarantee it was not.<br />
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Obviously it should be a woman's choice when to start having children and whether to attend college. My point is: that choice is not always available and the challenges of motherhood hinders and prevents many women from certain educational and career aspirations.<br />
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Additional statistics that the CDC report alludes to but makes for less fun graphs, is the role of income inequality on education level and childbearing. A girl born into a lower income family is more likely to get pregnant at a young age and less likely to attend college.<br />
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The truth is in the numbers, however inconvenient.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiJhpd8HoN7wP5cyzpCXPUeEEmUkIKucz83c7KzDXi7Uo2eULMcNVOZdttWUDKkImNJ-P9v3d0BMvuWmxY9X1HQbYLYc1mb1BykASdZuon2xIiBjbC7NQatSKFPtMW8rRRL4xxFe1oR2bL/s1600/26_contraception_gaps_fig3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="1422" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiJhpd8HoN7wP5cyzpCXPUeEEmUkIKucz83c7KzDXi7Uo2eULMcNVOZdttWUDKkImNJ-P9v3d0BMvuWmxY9X1HQbYLYc1mb1BykASdZuon2xIiBjbC7NQatSKFPtMW8rRRL4xxFe1oR2bL/s400/26_contraception_gaps_fig3.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/social-mobility-memos/2015/02/26/the-implications-of-inequalities-in-contraception-and-abortion/</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiU4qA5oSmAev84pllKoOQNOBgu6IPIab0cs6fi5FoaFtvLDeqOsZU3kpI5Q4lU-Nd2FV28hyphenhyphenuWFXLqj84cxbdgEKzAiQ8NtcE_oy32Tycc0jehUnururRubWHMYQm7m6efQp7C9Di7ZOG/s1600/https___blogs-images.forbes.com_prestoncooper2_files_2018_02_lowinc2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="571" data-original-width="960" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiU4qA5oSmAev84pllKoOQNOBgu6IPIab0cs6fi5FoaFtvLDeqOsZU3kpI5Q4lU-Nd2FV28hyphenhyphenuWFXLqj84cxbdgEKzAiQ8NtcE_oy32Tycc0jehUnururRubWHMYQm7m6efQp7C9Di7ZOG/s320/https___blogs-images.forbes.com_prestoncooper2_files_2018_02_lowinc2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/prestoncooper2/2018/02/26/college-enrollment-surges-among-low-income-students</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources:</span><br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://theconversation.com/how-childbearing-varies-across-us-women-in-3-charts-105015</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr113.pdf</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.forbes.com/sites/prestoncooper2/2018/02/26/college-enrollment-surges-among-low-income-students/#c89de2c293b9</span></li>
<li></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.brookings.edu/blog/social-mobility-memos/2015/02/26/the-implications-of-inequalities-in-contraception-and-abortion/</span></li>
</ul>
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-31707652204150795122017-08-09T09:42:00.001-07:002017-08-10T12:20:38.672-07:00The worst engineers I've ever met are all men. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">I have a PhD in engineering and have worked with engineers in some capacity for the past sixteen years. </span>So I can say with some authority: the worst engineers I've ever met are all men.<br />
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The ones who dangerously disregard safety procedures, who dive into a project without researching how to do it correctly, who would rather get a project completed as quickly as possible than take the time to understand the consequences of every shortcut they take. Ones who argue over someone else's data in a meeting, even if they have no idea what they're talking about and have no purpose even being in the meeting in the first place. Who turn red and yell at colleagues when something completely out of their control unexpectedly holds up a deadline. Who withhold information from other members of the team because they just don't like that guy.<br />
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Just a few examples. All men who did this.<br />
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Do I think men are naturally predisposed to be bad engineers? Hell no! That's ridiculous because gender has nothing to do with being a good engineer.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">GENDER HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BEING A GOOD ENGINEER.</span><br />
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A good engineer has many qualities. There are many different KINDS of good engineers. A good engineering <i>team</i> has good people who bring something different to the table. A good team is diverse.<br />
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There is one essential quality that every engineer needs, and that is ability to respect the other members of the team. Even if those team members are quiet, or loud, or don't speak English very well, or are conservative, liberal, a person of color, overweight, or a woman. Even if you would never hang out with that person outside of a work environment, you have to respect them as a peer. If that respect isn't there then that team is going to suck at being a team, and bad engineering decisions are bound to happen.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So when an engineer has the audacity to <a href="http://gizmodo.com/exclusive-heres-the-full-10-page-anti-diversity-screed-1797564320">post a manifesto</a> about how certain people (women) are naturally inclined to be bad engineers</span>, and that promoting diversity is bad for the company, that guy probably is not a great member of an engineering team because it seems kinda clear that requisite respect is not going to be there.<br />
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(And, OK, so even if studies show that women are on average more empathetic and statistics show people generally trust male leaders more, who the fuck cares? Does every man <i>lack</i> empathy? Does every man <i>really</i> have leadership potential? That's ridiculous, right?)<br />
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I'm not saying men are bad engineers. Even though I literally said "the worst engineers I've ever met are all men." I'm not saying that. I am saying there's too many of them. There's too many men. I'm saying practically all of the engineers I've ever worked with are men, and some of them were bad engineers. Mostly they're just human beings who make mistakes sometimes.<br />
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Likewise, I'm sure there's men in my company who expect I suck at my job because I'm a woman, or if I ever make a mistake it somehow confirms their bias, but I hope they have the common sense to keep it to themselves. I have no interest proving myself to them as long as my manager and team members respect me, which they do.<br />
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Seriously though, some days I wish I worked with even one woman.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Diversity isn't just a gender thing, it's more than that. </span>It includes people of color, and people who took a nonstandard path to get where they are. It's people who don't look like engineers. These engineers deserve a chance. They deserve respect. They deserve the benefit of any doubt. They are guaranteed to be bringing something new to the table.<br />
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Can I add: these nonstandard engineers don't need to be magical unicorn rockstars that need to win everyone over with their amazing amazingness. They shouldn't HAVE to be rockstars. I mean this sincerely and respectfully: they can be average. I'm an average engineer who happens to be a woman! Being average is OK! If you have a diverse team of average skilled engineers who all respect one another, I promise you that's better than a team of rockstars who disrespect and distrust one another.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Companies <i>should</i> have programs to enhance diversity for their engineering teams. </span>Any person from a nonstandard background who made it through engineering school has experienced enough adversity. It's humiliating and lonely being the odd-person all of the time. Helping them get the foot in the door at the start of their career isn't taking away from anyone else, it can only add.<br />
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Nonstandard engineers might be rockstars afterall, once they're given a chance to thrive. They deserve a seat at the table. And if room needs to be made, perhaps companies should get rid of their worst engineers to make it. In my experience, there's plenty of those!</div>
KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-3896165631481414402016-12-18T09:08:00.003-08:002016-12-19T13:32:36.980-08:00My year in review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I decided to document 2016 by how much TV I watched.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvECi1kPpmlZHQqgLChSJOWqeST4qGXxB2TZR7iEHwZliBOQEzlRRjJda7tYGsbuMeMzsPJ95jobMLhqL_t9y0gWqtJ_e2KSsQ0SICQeAhWxP9QJHyhMo2uSM9jp0eDcLOflKMh1LN7dDp/s1600/final+review.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvECi1kPpmlZHQqgLChSJOWqeST4qGXxB2TZR7iEHwZliBOQEzlRRjJda7tYGsbuMeMzsPJ95jobMLhqL_t9y0gWqtJ_e2KSsQ0SICQeAhWxP9QJHyhMo2uSM9jp0eDcLOflKMh1LN7dDp/s400/final+review.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">(Click on the image to enlarge. Another version available here: <a href="http://imgur.com/x8qf80Z">http://imgur.com/x8qf80Z</a> )</span></div>
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It all started with a meme on Facebook: <b>NAME YOUR VAGINA using the name of the last movie you watched! </b></div>
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This led me to scroll through my <a href="https://www.netflix.com/viewingactivity">Netflix viewing activity</a>, a catalog of every episode of every show and movie I've ever watched, listed chronologically by day from the day I created my account. I realized I could remember specific times in my life based on what I was watching: shows I binged alone, shows I watched with a housemate or significant other.<br />
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(My vagina is named Moonlight, by the way. I saw that in the theater long after I streamed The Imitation Game.)<br />
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My Netflix history made me wonder. Could I visualize the data, perhaps plot my Netflix viewing over time? Could I see how intensely I binged certain shows? Could I tell when I was single and spending more time at home? Was it obvious when summer came along and I was out of the house more, or when winter came along and the seasonal depression kicked in?<br />
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I love data visualization. I have a lot of experience with manipulating data sets in Microsoft Excel, which may not be the most elegant way to do it, but that's where I started. I copied my Netflix viewing history and pasted it into a new Excel workbook (Paste Special, Text).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_5kXg-qYaoJASlaztWbY1aUAt4V7b1ya8QlJf6qP_X9h41psWcqVg0l4LGBh37KC3vWY-wDqoTVuGRFoDGQL6MHtODyaQ-QwoY8_A-o8L9BFCvmPUlipjDdd1fgSINrCXO6ByxUCyK66U/s1600/import.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="98" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_5kXg-qYaoJASlaztWbY1aUAt4V7b1ya8QlJf6qP_X9h41psWcqVg0l4LGBh37KC3vWY-wDqoTVuGRFoDGQL6MHtODyaQ-QwoY8_A-o8L9BFCvmPUlipjDdd1fgSINrCXO6ByxUCyK66U/s320/import.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Initially, I intended to plot how many shows I watched in any given day, so I used the <a href="https://exceljet.net/excel-functions/excel-countif-function">COUNTIF</a> function to count how many individual entries (episode or movie) I watched in every day in 2016. <br />
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Here is the data using a COLUMN plot.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-RNCg2B-KOzSGLXGglfqXLnzyb03kjJRQKOGc1Ai9hBHo843ZhEBvXAm-aET4yPPY0LNQF_Fkr3MWuN3Nehn7NcVWxPvbLhmilRxbpP0d75s8pWRMqhSRL-s02trW9D2Ymjb8aXOy1p-/s1600/columns1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-RNCg2B-KOzSGLXGglfqXLnzyb03kjJRQKOGc1Ai9hBHo843ZhEBvXAm-aET4yPPY0LNQF_Fkr3MWuN3Nehn7NcVWxPvbLhmilRxbpP0d75s8pWRMqhSRL-s02trW9D2Ymjb8aXOy1p-/s400/columns1.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I prefer the AREA plot since it looks prettier and shows sharp changes and clusters of data well.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOoPvzxc_FmufsPSeu1So_vBOdYb-I1BS_PQVjE7AcgxtHlt4HZWSyxKuLTGrxg9mIwrZvQ9TRiY6prZUBDa8BpalYoIa4FhCrCQj9fNv97GaKShbw1PzCa-1FQ_M6YMwyYyAtpJR9D1hx/s1600/first+plot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOoPvzxc_FmufsPSeu1So_vBOdYb-I1BS_PQVjE7AcgxtHlt4HZWSyxKuLTGrxg9mIwrZvQ9TRiY6prZUBDa8BpalYoIa4FhCrCQj9fNv97GaKShbw1PzCa-1FQ_M6YMwyYyAtpJR9D1hx/s400/first+plot.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Realizing it would be more interesting to break the data up by individual show, I visually determined the top 17 shows (ones I obviously binged) and separated the data further using the <a href="https://exceljet.net/excel-functions/excel-countifs-function">COUNTIFS</a> function to count how many episodes of each show I watched in any given day.<br />
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Here's part of that datasheet. I colorized it using <a href="http://www.excel-easy.com/examples/color-scales.html">Conditional Formatting - Color Scales</a> to make the binged shows "pop".<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUY6MvOPTjAhYOz9uvdoIr4irocv5U5V70xMlBkFLs6oe37wuHj5YR5PtG1f6BSLAqNuPg4M9ngs0ZLMhI59ebCTB4k20ki_EQ4dWD830FvErDSAgnsBiiXJjmdJoiUpzgR7NRslXpSrAw/s1600/shows+columns.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUY6MvOPTjAhYOz9uvdoIr4irocv5U5V70xMlBkFLs6oe37wuHj5YR5PtG1f6BSLAqNuPg4M9ngs0ZLMhI59ebCTB4k20ki_EQ4dWD830FvErDSAgnsBiiXJjmdJoiUpzgR7NRslXpSrAw/s320/shows+columns.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anything that wasn't a binged TV show (including comedy specials, movies, shows I only watched a few episodes of) fell in the "other" category.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkRCi3i9EorcePNboMQZp26f-e-UmaBEkMM9mdXpDTcst6N4hQYSUNdj8LXhf2NB8pF9dTVopsOpp9zWHHfXjCvK6Y8c7j7CSCHqTWaw13PIfYRCF3vJRk7s64FaNXAtNyzecN_4XrLcUJ/s1600/second+plot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkRCi3i9EorcePNboMQZp26f-e-UmaBEkMM9mdXpDTcst6N4hQYSUNdj8LXhf2NB8pF9dTVopsOpp9zWHHfXjCvK6Y8c7j7CSCHqTWaw13PIfYRCF3vJRk7s64FaNXAtNyzecN_4XrLcUJ/s400/second+plot.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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When I looked at this initial visualization though, I was bothered that a few months were practically blank, as if I wasn't watching anything. Did I magically get a life? What was I doing in October and November?<br />
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It turns out I was binging on my Hulu account. <br />
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<a href="https://secure.hulu.com/account/history">Hulu account history</a> keeps track of past viewing chronologically as well, but anything older than 4 weeks is labeled by the month only. I binged a season of RuPaul's Drag Race "3 months ago" but I don't know what specific days, or how many episodes I watched in one sitting.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gsyIqhyphenhyphenfaMrFca1e6CxXKDvGL1gUwQlbfjessG8kdOPkYveizGWY_5Uyp_7fOwKBTD0L1aOClA5ATp0UXtVJKS8mUQdbnUP_TKE0-tbRe-Syppd5i9F_SQfNJyUp_4GmCazkQCiI-suf/s1600/hulu.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gsyIqhyphenhyphenfaMrFca1e6CxXKDvGL1gUwQlbfjessG8kdOPkYveizGWY_5Uyp_7fOwKBTD0L1aOClA5ATp0UXtVJKS8mUQdbnUP_TKE0-tbRe-Syppd5i9F_SQfNJyUp_4GmCazkQCiI-suf/s320/hulu.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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In order to include Hulu data in my graph, I couldn't plot them by number of shows per day like I could the Netflix shows, so I averaged the number of episodes I watched over the course of the month. For example, I watched fifty episodes of Project Runway one month ago, which is approximately 1.67 episodes a day for that month. This is why Hulu shows are shown as wide columns and not "spikes" like the Netflix data. I feel it's a fair representation of the data based on the limited information on the data set. (If anyone knows how to get more specific Hulu history data, please let me know!)<br />
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Sidenote: I did some Hulu data manipulation to account for the few times I knew I was out of town and away from any TV entirely, so I excluded those days from any monthly Hulu average.<br />
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After verifying that I indeed watched a lot more TV on the weekends, I decided to distinguish Saturdays and Sundays on the plot. I created a column plot just displaying weekends to be used as an overlay. They're shown as the vertical stripes in the background of the main plot. <br />
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My TV habits during the week in a simple column plot.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW9gzcvSOPh5IbxQWkUibOekZhNIZpc19CKHPsLVsYW4op8JUeqbTskO2fA9mUUWWpgBdD5unXm9PziusnRDz3LUunPVLM6hPnjwNjM9nNe7uW9wOJ5LOBQis5ivpt5vYf60a1BQcdlhju/s1600/by+day.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW9gzcvSOPh5IbxQWkUibOekZhNIZpc19CKHPsLVsYW4op8JUeqbTskO2fA9mUUWWpgBdD5unXm9PziusnRDz3LUunPVLM6hPnjwNjM9nNe7uW9wOJ5LOBQis5ivpt5vYf60a1BQcdlhju/s400/by+day.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Out of curiosity I also plotted up my monthly totals:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMrUyO2tobmvWT9viAxaMXId5NMEWADZRExbsF4-I6yrxCmlvfrJGfH9zlTBXQ-ztmW8YaU-JdRNoekSdDrdcVYtoQCki-_aBLGd9VjN-cD-2BLPeWyKpJA1jacSul7rNvtVJYc3e1LgpF/s1600/by+month.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMrUyO2tobmvWT9viAxaMXId5NMEWADZRExbsF4-I6yrxCmlvfrJGfH9zlTBXQ-ztmW8YaU-JdRNoekSdDrdcVYtoQCki-_aBLGd9VjN-cD-2BLPeWyKpJA1jacSul7rNvtVJYc3e1LgpF/s400/by+month.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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The current December is looking to surpass all previous months, I only have data for the first half of the month but I've watched more TV than all but one of the previous months. I blame the Portland snowpocalypse.<br />
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I decided to add a little blip for every Seattle Seahawks game because I watched nearly every game this season on TV, so that's the fourth dataset. So, the plot at the top of the article is actually four overlaid Excel plots: Netflix data, Hulu data, Seahawks games, and weekend demarcations.<br />
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Once I finished creating the data plots, I copied and pasted them into Microsoft Powerpoint and carefully arranged them by dragging the corners to align the axes. I then layered them using simple object arrangement options like <a href="http://www.gcflearnfree.org/powerpoint2013/arranging-objects/2/">Send to Back</a>. I kept only the axis labels and axis titles visible in one of the plots.<br />
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Finally, I added some comments in the plot at text boxes, as certain life events seemed to have some impact or explain certain increases or decreases in viewing habits of certain shows. For example, my parents came to visit in late September and dad started binging Narcos. Also, and I totally forgot about this, but around Valentines Day I apparently binged a whole season about an animal rescue dog shelter called "Animal House." Yes, I happened to be single at that time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXICYnj6uLQTw6FekcVoyLvEhV6pdQiF6YBt7qKJXst699fIqSdWW-uP7OiF4MH5bxE_60H-g0SWzkujaMa7XeWu8BszWNVpMFu2OyOFI-E8brBlqPIGlZpMKOmo-KZV9CRyhWJjG0ywQM/s1600/animal+house.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXICYnj6uLQTw6FekcVoyLvEhV6pdQiF6YBt7qKJXst699fIqSdWW-uP7OiF4MH5bxE_60H-g0SWzkujaMa7XeWu8BszWNVpMFu2OyOFI-E8brBlqPIGlZpMKOmo-KZV9CRyhWJjG0ywQM/s400/animal+house.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Not shown in the chart are anything I watched on cable TV. Shows that could have some significance:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>CBS This Morning, I watch most mornings while I get ready for work </li>
<li>The Voice, sometimes </li>
<li>Jeopardy, sometimes </li>
<li><a href="https://www.viceland.com/en_us">Viceland</a>. The whole channel. Seriously any show. I was watching obsessively once I discovered it in July or Aug. Comcast seemed to drop the channel from my basic cable lineup sometime in Nov. I miss it a lot.</li>
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-85562087019122513902016-10-02T14:11:00.001-07:002016-12-18T08:30:57.028-08:00How To Be Successful In Tech: Don't Be Female?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As an employee in the tech industry and graduate from UC Santa Barbara, I'm embarrassed that a professor at UCSB managed to publish this heap of garbage: <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2016/09/28/why-women-in-tech-might-consider-just-using-their-initials-online/">Why Women in Tech Might Consider Just Using Their Initials Online</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://www.tmp.ucsb.edu/about/faculty/john-greathouse">John Greathouse</a>, an investment insider and professor at UCSB's Technology Management Program writes that "women in today’s tech world should create an online presence that obscures their gender... to access opportunities that might otherwise be closed to them."<br />
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Basically, he says that women should trick people into thinking they're male in order to get their foot in the door. I know this works, sadly, and I have done this. But just because it works doesn't mean it's a solution.<br />
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Greathouse completely discounts any responsibility of investors and leaders in the tech industry for the sexist biases he readily acknowledges:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"I happen to believe that this bias is at least somewhat the result of unconscious factors. But whatever the reason – and however unfair it may be – I would suggest that if you are a woman raising capital, you might consider not including photos of your team in your pitch deck."</i></span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/john-greathouse-rincon-venture-partners-vc-op-ed-2016-9">Backlash to the article</a> was <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Greathouse+sexist">immediate</a> and Greathouse has already <a href="https://twitter.com/johngreathouse/status/781584645691289600">publicly apologized</a>.<br />
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I will say that I understand Greathouse had good intentions. At the very least, admitting the industry is inherently sexist is a good start. Yet a lot more needs to happen and tech leaders need to step-up. Change has to start from the top-down.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Inherent sexism isn't a problem that only women need to overcome, it's a problem men in the industry need to overcome. </span></b><br />
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Instead of advice columns aimed at women starting out in tech, telling them how to be confident yet likable or hide their gender completely, how about advice columns aimed at tech leaders, telling them how to lead by example, how they <i>themselves </i>can promote diversity and foster an environment that's welcoming and inclusive to women and people of color.<br />
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I refuse to believe my gender is a burden. If my colleagues and managers believe it is, what hope do I have for success?<br />
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-62779149106130262102014-11-14T11:32:00.000-08:002015-08-02T23:12:04.170-07:00The problem with work-life balance is it first assumes a life.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The nice thing about working in a technical industry job is although I work long hours during the week, I'm not expected to bring my work home.<br />
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OK, this isn't entirely true. I'm still expected to check email and respond in case shit goes down, but for the most part my coworkers leave me alone on my days off. Being single and living alone means my weekends are pretty low-key. I drink coffee, do laundry, listen to music and make plans with friends. I recently got a television. It's nice, I guess.<br />
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Maybe it's a lingering side-effect of the constant struggle that is academia, but whenever I take advantage of some down-time for myself, there's always a nagging guilt I could be doing something more productive with my time. I could be reading research papers or catching up on sci/tech headlines or writing, but instead I shop for area rugs on <a href="http://www.westelm.com/shop/rugs-windows/rugs-flooring/?cm_type=gnav&N=4294959595">West Elm</a>, play <a href="http://www.popcap.com/plants-vs-zombies-1">Plants vs. Zombies</a> for two hours and then meet friends for drinks.<br />
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Is that ok? Is it a life? Or worse, am I not ambitious enough in my spare time?<br />
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In this way, I totally do NOT relate to this <a href="http://www.smbc-comics.com/">Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal</a> comic. Nope. Not at all.<br />
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I lied. I do. I totally do.</div>
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-29124011598561697312014-10-17T10:54:00.002-07:002014-10-17T11:07:17.339-07:00Thank you for the introduction, Mister Chairman (part 1)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>Part of a series of posts on being a woman in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and how it isn't actually that bad, most of the time. </i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sometimes I forget how big the gender gap in STEM really is.</span><br />
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Last year, I traveled to Germany as an invited speaker for a large physics conference. After I'd arrived, registered, and settled into the room my talk was held, I scanned the room for familiar faces. It suddenly struck me that the audience was completely dominated by men. I looked down at the speaker schedule and realized there was only one other female speaker in our entire symposium of twenty talks.<br />
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You know what? <i>It was fine. </i>It was otherwise totally normal, unsurprising and fine. The symposium was interesting, the venue was perfect, the conference organizers were generous and welcoming. I never felt singled-out or disrespected in any way.<br />
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There was only this one little thing. While serving as chair for an afternoon session, I introduced a nervous graduate student speaker who automatically replied, “Thank you for the introduction, Mister Chairman<i>.</i>”<br />
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I simply smiled and took my seat. A few people in the audience chuckled. It was obvious English was not his first language and perhaps "Mister Chairman" was exactly how he practiced it. Why would he assume the chair might be a woman? Was he supposed to say "Miss Chairperson" in this instance? I don't even know. Can you blame him?<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I never wanted this blog to focus on my experience being a woman in engineering. </span><br />
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I never wanted to write posts like "<i>Can you believe this male coworker said this questionably sexist thing to me? What does this mean for women in science as a whole and how are we going to prevent this from discouraging young women to pursue science?</i>"<br />
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Honestly, I've never experienced<span style="background-color: white;"> blatant sexism. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">I'm not saying sexism in STEM doesn't exist. It totally does. I'm not saying the conversation about sexism in STEM isn't important. It totally is. Sexist bullshit DOES happen and there are a lot of people contributing great, thought-provoking articles about gender inequality in the STEM community. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">But in my years of academia and industry, I don't have any horror stories. I've never been stopped in my tracks by sexism. There's only the occasional little things, questionably sexist but usually amusing, that remind me I'm an outlier. Maybe they build up over time but they never seem to matter in the long run.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;">I don't spend a lot of time thinking about being a woman in engineering because I'm too busy being an engineer. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;">I'm posting this because maybe being a woman in engineering and NOT experiencing sexism is important to talk about too.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><i>To be continued.</i></span></div>
KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-34302874177692747802014-08-18T07:45:00.000-07:002014-08-18T07:45:06.803-07:00Published. (The other kind.)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My first pop-science article has been recently published in UCSB Convergence magazine. <a href="http://convergence.ucsb.edu/article/goodbye-droop">Check it out online here.</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://convergence.ucsb.edu/files/issues/convergence-18/goodbyetodroop-sideimage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://convergence.ucsb.edu/files/issues/convergence-18/goodbyetodroop-sideimage.jpg" height="292" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; font-style: italic; line-height: 11.699999809265137px; text-align: start;">Photo credit: École Polytechnique, Ph. Lavialle</span></td></tr>
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The title the editors chose, "Goodbye to Droop" is a little misleading. I wrote about a recent discovery (by my postdoc advisor and others) in which they <i>merely identified a leading cause</i> of LED efficiency droop. They haven't necessarily (publicly) solved the droop problem yet. <br />
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At the same time, I realize a more accurate title "Leading Cause of LED Efficiency Droop Potentially Identified" is less tantalizing for sure.<br />
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The article was written over a year ago for a science communication workshop arranged by UCSB’s <a href="https://csep.cnsi.ucsb.edu/">Center for Science and Engineering Partnership</a> (CSEP) Professional Development Series. I had a lot of fun writing it and look forward to future opportunities to communicate science.</div>
KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-24584091586834656622014-05-04T13:18:00.001-07:002016-12-19T12:48:26.922-08:00What do I do for a living? I put stuff on stuff.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Nine months ago, after six years of graduate and postdoctoral research on laser diodes, I took a job in the semiconductor industry.<br />
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Acquaintances of mine occasionally ask: "How's the laser business?" I then have to explain that I don't work with lasers anymore. I work in thin films. I'm almost apologetic about it because I know thin films sound much less sexy. Boring even.<i> </i>But it's not boring at all!<br />
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Electronic chips are very complex and made up of lots of layers, layers that define where electricity goes from one point to the other. These chips are insanely intricate. The demand for better, faster, cheaper electronic things means these chips are only getting smaller and more intricate. I specialize in one layer, a very thin layer, that's used in the process of making these chips. This is called a thin film. And the process of putting it on there is called thin film deposition. This is what I do.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ou6yjNQk4odKmJv7diw13U3l70Ai93AwmlNOWZUr3QrsQlDBLoWMHj6lC8uI_UU-9cHoFEp6voT9YzUMR0e-HvyV88U4rvdJZOM-hP2FNv2RwfZWYaB3Ti5jfjSedCFbZlAf-saFbRe-/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-05-03+at+12.59.42+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ou6yjNQk4odKmJv7diw13U3l70Ai93AwmlNOWZUr3QrsQlDBLoWMHj6lC8uI_UU-9cHoFEp6voT9YzUMR0e-HvyV88U4rvdJZOM-hP2FNv2RwfZWYaB3Ti5jfjSedCFbZlAf-saFbRe-/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-05-03+at+12.59.42+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">New semiconductor technology like 3D NAND involves lots of layers of very small </span></b><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>dimensions</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Image from <a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/design/chipmakers-push-memory-into-the-third-dimension">IEEE Spectrum</a></span></div>
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The leap from lasers to thin films wasn't so big. In school I studied <i>deposition </i>for laser diode applications, using technique called MOCVD (metal-organic chemical vapor deposition). Doesn't matter what it's called. Basically I programmed a machine to deposit a bunch of layers on top of a sample. Then I tested the properties of the layers, and then I'd see if I could tweak various knobs on the machine to tweak the properties of the layers. When I thought I got everything right, I would make a laser diode out of it. I would make a laser out of the layers.<br />
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These days I still specialize in <i>deposition</i>, but this time I'm using a different technique called ALD (atomic layer deposition). I still work on a machine that deposits layers and I'm still tweaking knobs and seeing how that changes the properties of the layers. That's it. No lasers.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>ALD process cycle deposits thin films one molecule at a time</b><br />
Image from<a href="http://www.oxford-instruments.com/products/etching-deposition-and-growth/plasma-etch-deposition/atomic-layer-deposition"> Oxford Instruments</a></td></tr>
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The nice part of working with thin films is I really get to dig in and focus on the deposition process and the various knobs on the machine and how they change the film properties.<br />
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The problem with working with thin films is they are SO THIN. We're talking tens of nanometers, which is getting down to the atomic level of things. When you're working with films that thin it's hard to even measure them accurately. Even basic properties like how THICK the film is can be hard.<br />
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So, in addition to knob-turning the deposition of thin films, I'm digging into different techniques used to measure them.<br />
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One of the ways we measure the thickness of thin films is with light. You shine a light at the film, and depending on how the light reflects off of it, you can derive how thick the film is. The phenomenon behind this measurement technique is thin film interference, which a lot of people learn about in undergraduate-level physics. Interestingly, this measurement can often involve a laser.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Some basics of thin film light interference to measure film thickness</b><br />from <a href="http://www.applied-spectroscopy.com/ftm.htm">Applied Spectroscopy</a></span></div>
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So that's what I do. I use a machine to deposit a thin layer on things. And then I measure properties of the layer by shining light at it. And then I turn knobs on the machine to tweak the properties of the layer. And when I get it right, we sell the machine to companies who use it to manufacture the electronic chips that go into computers, cell phones and tvs and such.<br />
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I also do other stuff. Like copy and paste datapoints in Excel. But that part is <i>actually</i> boring.<br />
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Some related posts:<br />
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<li><a href="http://laserboyfriend.blogspot.com/2012/12/if-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-laser.html">If You Ever Wanted To Know About Laser Diodes</a></li>
<li><a href="http://laserboyfriend.blogspot.com/2013/09/mass-flow-controllers-and-finding-ones.html">Mass Flow Controllers and Finding One's Path</a></li>
<li><a href="http://laserboyfriend.blogspot.com/2013/06/leveling-up.html">Leveling Up</a> </li>
</ul>
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-48299284754901267872013-10-19T14:04:00.002-07:002013-10-19T14:04:54.026-07:00"I'm not a female scientist, I'm a scientist, man."<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Middle schoolers from Oakland, CA tell a rap-battle version of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_Franklin#Controversies_after_death">the story of Rosalind Franklin</a>, an x-ray crystallographer who made important contributions on the discovery of the DNA double-helix structure.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/35FwmiPE9tI?feature=player_embedded" width="500"></iframe></div>
KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-23306030874458179142013-09-04T12:25:00.000-07:002014-05-03T11:02:40.651-07:00Mass flow controllers and finding one's path<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">I went to school for eleventy billion years </span>and ended up with a bachelors, masters and Ph.D in electrical engineering (EE). I often wondered along the way if I should have switched majors at some point.<br />
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It probably happens to everyone, but as an undergrad I took a lot of required classes I wasn't really into. I discovered I was much more interested in learning how the individual semiconductor components worked and were fabricated than designing circuits that used them, or analyzing signals that controlled them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Cmos_impurity_profile.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Cmos_impurity_profile.PNG" height="166" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b><i>NMOS and PMOS logic circuits were kind of interesting... but how they were made and worked at the fundamental level was WAY more interesting.</i></b></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The nice thing about graduate school </span>is you can delve into whatever little niche that interests you. For my PhD work, I specialized in metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOCVD">MOCVD</a>) in the fabrication of <a href="http://laserboyfriend.blogspot.com/2012/12/if-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-laser.html">laser diodes</a> on nonpolar crystal orientation of GaN. This incorporated a little EE, and a lot of materials, chemistry, and solid state physics. It was a great way for me to steer away from my circuits-heavy background towards the fundamental physics and fabrication of electronic devices.<br />
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And yes, telling people I made lasers was <i>so cool.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">MOCVD, also called metal-organic vapour phase epitaxy </span>(MOVPE), is a deposition technique for thin films and semiconductors. It's a big machine that involves metal-containing molecules called precursors which are routed through various gas lines to a reaction chamber where the sample, called a substrate, sits at high temperature. The precursors combine with other process gasses in the chamber and, over time, atomic layers of semiconductor material get deposited on the surface. This layer-by-layer deposition, shown below, is also referred crystal growth or crystal epitaxy. </div>
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In short, MOCVD is both the gigantic tool and the process I used to "grow" lasers.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnwwa2Fd0k7OYiP6hbT7K6OLhPlO3hRIbjZgqU6vlms1nyjfpH03NOe39tlWiYb0vy0RtpCYKxZ4wSpdeCzQiKpreLztDNR0LdHWTZJ6M_sJpIdb5Umkm5Vfow6sLZGb_6uiLaxIKtm8zO/s1600/MOCVD+gas+stream+illustration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnwwa2Fd0k7OYiP6hbT7K6OLhPlO3hRIbjZgqU6vlms1nyjfpH03NOe39tlWiYb0vy0RtpCYKxZ4wSpdeCzQiKpreLztDNR0LdHWTZJ6M_sJpIdb5Umkm5Vfow6sLZGb_6uiLaxIKtm8zO/s640/MOCVD+gas+stream+illustration.jpg" height="356" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Horizontal gas-flow MOCVD system showing growth of Gallium Arsenide. The precursor chemicals containing Ga and As flow into the chamber and react on the surface of a hot substrate, leaving behind Ga and As atoms to incorporate into the perfectly crystalline film, while the rest of the precursor leaves through the exhaust. Growth entails a continuous flow of precursors for a specified amount of time, depending on the rate of deposition and how thick you wanted the layer to be.</i></b></td></tr>
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To "grow" an electronic device you first define all the layers in the structure you want, then you write recipes on a computer that controls the the MOCVD system specifying which precursor chemicals to use, when to turn them on, and how much of them should flow into the chamber at a given time. Each layer gets a little of this and a little of that and the amounts of each are finely calibrated.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI0IqoBHQ5q1ud_v9_bb9Dw7TJUyC0s-Vfp6LUJ2grRloV-mzsu6BmMuSgc1Hk6VpvlPbKT1XhCrzIFiZobF9bKpHUWRt5wCfTYrEd32q_rhUHCzPbuH8m4E1BfzHtGeuElZujj4Am_EqP/s1600/mocvd-1s.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI0IqoBHQ5q1ud_v9_bb9Dw7TJUyC0s-Vfp6LUJ2grRloV-mzsu6BmMuSgc1Hk6VpvlPbKT1XhCrzIFiZobF9bKpHUWRt5wCfTYrEd32q_rhUHCzPbuH8m4E1BfzHtGeuElZujj4Am_EqP/s400/mocvd-1s.JPG" height="345" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Schematic diagram of a MOCVD system with two process gasses (hydrogen and nitrogen) and six precursors, with individual valves and mass flow controllers that control what and when to flow into the reactor. </i></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">When you work in deposition equipment like I do, you get really familiar with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_flow_controller">mass flow controllers</a> or MFCs</span>. These small but necessary instruments are used to control how much process gas or precursor flows through the lines to the reactor. As a recipe writer and tool operator, one of the parameters you specify is the flow rate of each precursor through their respective MFC and when to turn them on or off. They direct traffic so to speak.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dkQFGrNsD0nyi9OoZeOFITusGl7SApiDH3wJ8HTRwvY5161Kq4htIoKUybDwQ0lFbwQm1gFTQPavI7JfYVA89HhdpIxuwzPKUf8gCSrwztqvw2bhPBYtUTLqwQ5mJClNqYAPSOxi1lyE/s1600/flow+rate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dkQFGrNsD0nyi9OoZeOFITusGl7SApiDH3wJ8HTRwvY5161Kq4htIoKUybDwQ0lFbwQm1gFTQPavI7JfYVA89HhdpIxuwzPKUf8gCSrwztqvw2bhPBYtUTLqwQ5mJClNqYAPSOxi1lyE/s320/flow+rate.jpg" height="170" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Relationship between velocity (v_bar) and flow rate, Q which is measured in units standard cubic centimeters per minute, sccm (pronounced "skim") or standard liters per minute, slm (pronounced "slim"). </i></b></td></tr>
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Just like I loved learning about the inner-workings of electronic devices as an undergrad, I love learning about the inner workings of the pieces of equipment used to make them. MFCs are a tiny part of a giant deposition system like MOCVD, but alone they are pretty interesting.<br />
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Here's a cool video from Sierra Instruments that discusses how MFCs actually do their thing.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XzhFCpcVezg?feature=player_detailpage" width="500"></iframe><br />
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Isn't that neat? They even use MFCs to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dQoTN4EIw90">make beer</a>! Yay, beer!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In my new job, </span>I'm basically a recipe writer and tool operator for a similar CVD-type system. My group specializes in the deposition of thin film dielectrics, which is used as a single layer in semiconductor devices. MFCs are still really important.<br />
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I'm still learning a lot and getting used to the fast-pace of industry work. Most of my coworkers come from backgrounds in chemistry, physics, and materials science. My EE background sets me apart in some ways and sometimes I worry I lack enough relevant background and have some catching up to do in that regard. Whenever I feel especially stupid, I remind myself: <i>I have a Ph.D. in engineering. I'm not stupid. I should be able to figure it out. </i><br />
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Hopefully, one day my knowledge of undergraduate level circuits will be an advantage... Perhaps in meetings with customers when they mention gates or FETs and I know exactly what they're talking about? Honestly I have no idea. I may have a Ph.D. in engineering and a long term full time job that I like, but I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.<br />
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So far, though, every path I take seems to lead me in the right direction.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYELzhcfwokGgOjQs3ok4IHy5SFBri-80vQEq5smLTLXLnvpESGMOjZbhC29RPSf1ABI25M1q8eynA0KYWc3oD-A6BHL80SzwRrQADLoEWnOVSux50OxZn3T49WIoN3jZrO6eTOa4JZN9a/s1600/Kirchhoff%2527s_first_law_example.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYELzhcfwokGgOjQs3ok4IHy5SFBri-80vQEq5smLTLXLnvpESGMOjZbhC29RPSf1ABI25M1q8eynA0KYWc3oD-A6BHL80SzwRrQADLoEWnOVSux50OxZn3T49WIoN3jZrO6eTOa4JZN9a/s200/Kirchhoff%2527s_first_law_example.png" height="200" width="190" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>The many paths of electrical charge and Kirchoff's current law.</b></i></td></tr>
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-43821264915347550842013-08-06T12:28:00.000-07:002013-08-17T15:40:16.136-07:00Music that got me through college - Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is an understatement for those who know me well, but I was in college for a long time. I started attending community college at 18 years old, bounced around two undergrad universities, then endured a long stint in graduate school before finally finishing my Ph.D just after my 33rd birthday.<br />
<br />
Another understatement: I love music. A LOT. Music has been a constant companion of mine and certain bands, songs and albums will always remind me of particular times in my life. And not in a general "this song reminds me of 1999" way but specific moments like "this song reminds me of moving into my first apartment" way.<br />
<br />
I intended to make a whole series of posts about the music I listened to in the 15 years I spent in college. I posted<a href="http://laserboyfriend.blogspot.com/2012/09/music-that-got-me-through-college-part-1.html"> Part 1 almost a year ago,</a> which highlighted those early years in community college.<br />
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I am going way out of chronological order and skipping to the end: music that reminds me of writing the dissertation. I'll fill in the gap years in a future post, including my Skinny Puppy phase, and those handful of years being involved with the campus radio station.<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Part 2. Dissertation writing (Early 2012)</i></span><br />
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Memories of drinking coffee, writing writing writing, crying, eating, watching some cat videos, writing writing writing, sleep, repeat.</div>
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Explosions In The Sky "Your Hand In Mine" <br />
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Band of Horses "The Funeral"
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Grimes "Oblivion"<br />
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M.I.A. "Bad Girls"<br />
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-26185627596361133492013-08-04T10:44:00.000-07:002013-08-07T20:33:25.718-07:00My life (so far) with semiconductors<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">and why I love dressing like a marshmallow.</span></i><br />
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I recently left the ivory tower of academia and got a job in the "real world" of semiconductor fabrication, where I spend a large part of my workday shuffling 300 mm silicon wafers around in a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleanroom#Cleanroom_classifications">class 100 cleanroom</a>, aka "the lab."<br />
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There's a very specific set of training and procedures to be allowed into the lab. In the hallway there is a dispenser of plastic shoe covers to put on, and then you must unlock the door with a keycard to enter the gowning room. This is where you don the required hairnet, jumpsuit, hood, face mask, another pair of shoe covers, eye glasses and gloves. Then you must pass through an "air shower" before finally entering the cleanroom. <br />
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The idea isn't so much to protect you from anything in the cleanroom, it's to protect the things in cleanroom from dust and from YOU.<br />
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This video shows a typical gowning procedure.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">from <a href="http://www.thedatarescuecenter.com/">http://www.thedatarescuecenter.com/</a></span></div>
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<br />
I'm not new to cleanrooms. I spent a large part of my dissertation work in the <a href="http://www.nanotech.ucsb.edu/">UCSB Nanofabrication Facility</a>, which had similar gowning procedures I use now. I know you can never be in too much of a hurry to either enter or exit the lab as all the gowning and degowning takes some time.<br />
<br />
I actually love having to wear a cleanroom suit. This might sound really strange but there's a few good reasons.<br />
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First, the act of getting ready to enter the lab is very ritualistic, which helps put me in the mental space to be productive and do work. Those 30 seconds of standing in the air shower with loud jets of cool air blasting at me from all directions are spent thinking about what I'm going to tackle first.<br />
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The other reason I like wearing a cleanroom suit is this: Especially as a woman in a VERY male-dominated industry, wearing a cleanroom suit makes me forget what I look like. When I'm in the suit, it doesn't matter. I'm not self-conscious at all. Even my gender is irrelevant. This is huge.<br />
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</div>
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It's not so much that I'm particularly <i>uncomfortable</i> outside the cleanroom. I'm sure I stand-out since there are only a small handful of women who work on my floor of the building, but no one treats me any differently and with a Ph.D. in engineering I'm certainly used to being a minority. Still, there's something so <i>comforting</i> to me about being dressed like an asexual marshmallow. I noticed this in my graduate school work as well, that wearing a cleanroom suit removes any potential for awkwardness when working closely with male coworkers. Even if it's perceived potential for awkwardness on my end. In the cleanroom, I'm at ease. I feel more like an equal because we all look exactly the same.<br />
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Of course, the big drawback of everyone looking the same is it can be difficult to tell who's who. The only exposed part of anyone's face is a few square inches of space around their eyes, so you have to get pretty close to someone and look at them dead-on to recognize them. Eventually, you learn to identify your friends and coworkers by how tall and wide they are, or how they walk and carry themselves.<br />
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Also, if you meet someone for the first time in the cleanroom, you will need to be reintroduced outside the cleanroom because you will NOT be able to recognize them. At least once I've ran into someone in the gowning room and they told me, "Oh! KK! I had no idea that's what you looked like!" I'm unsure if this was a compliment.<br />
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Because of this, it's funny to imagine people who work in a cleanroom having romantic feelings towards someone they work alongside yet don't know what they really look like. Like in this <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Such_Great_Heights#Music_video">Postal Service video</a> (below).<br />
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For fun, I recently started a Tumblr called <a href="http://cleanroommissedconnections.tumblr.com/">Cleanroom Missed Connections</a> that explores this idea some more.<br />
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-7632849987044308642013-07-05T09:08:00.001-07:002013-07-21T22:59:04.514-07:00Teamwork in Grad School: Don't take it personal. It's only science.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Grad school is not a solitary endeavor. </span></i></b></h3>
I should restate that as: grad school <i>shouldn't be</i> a solitary endeavor.<br />
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As a grad student with a research project you'll probably spend the majority of your time working within a larger group of researchers which may include your PI, defense committee, postdocs, project scientists, other grad students, internal collaborators, external collaborators, and so on. Your dissertation eventually gets defined as one piece of a larger puzzle that the group, as a whole, is trying to solve.<br />
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Of course the ultimate goal of grad school is to write and defend a dissertation. <i>That,</i> my friend, is inherently your own. Eventually you will break away from the group and focus on your own thing, especially during those last several months of frenzied last-minute experiments and late night dissertation writing as you race to finish.<br />
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You stand alone at the end, sure.<br />
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Until then, it's wise to think of yourself as a member of a team.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>"There is no 'I' in team, but there is an 'I' in pie. And there's an 'I' in meat pie..."</i></span></span></h3>
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Teamwork I should've learned in kindergarten but graduate-level research actually forced it into use. Some of us driven, left-brained, competitive, introverted types (I'm talking about myself here!) aren't necessary highly skilled at working well within a team by the time they start grad school, yet it's vital to survive in academic research.<br />
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A few things I've learned:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Treat grad school like a job.</i></b></span><br />
This is basically impossible because your life is defined as a graduate student. And, often, the only people you see every day are other academics and graduate students. It can get pretty competitive as well as incestuous.<br />
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For me, it helped a lot to consider my research project as my "job" and my labmates as "coworkers." There's just something about that mental classification of calling trips to campus as "going into work" that helped me maintain some life/work separation. Calling the other students in the lab "coworkers" helped keep interactions with my peers as professional as possible. (Except when I happened to date them, haha.)<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Being friendly and being friends are two different things. </i></b></span><br />
It may be unavoidable, but you don't <i>have to</i> socialize with your coworkers outside of work. You don't even have to <i>like them</i>. But you should be friendly with them anyway.<br />
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I was in grad school for over a year before I joined a research group. A HUGE research group. At the time, I only talked to a few senior grad students who were directly responsible for training me in the lab and didn't set out to specifically make friends with my extended research group. I'm pretty reserved by nature anyway, so I basically ignored them completely.<br />
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Looking back, my first few years could have been a lot easier and productive if I'd communicated more with my other group members right off the bat. Not only to broaden my social circle, but for collegiality sake.<br />
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Here's why:<br />
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Being on a first name basis with everyone in your extended group makes you a more useful member of the team.</span></b></i><br />
It's important to be comfortable working alongside different people, even ones you don't work with very often, or don't seem to have much in common with, or wouldn't want to be friends with. Just knowing who's who and their area of specialty is a huge step. Going beyond that, to the point you actually say hello to each other when you pass them in the hallway, can be even better.<br />
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It's important to break down potential communication barriers because your coworkers and labmates can be valuable resources. <br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Experimental research work has so many unexpected twists and turns, you never know who might have an impact. </i></span></b><br />
Obviously, the point of a PI, defense committee, and group meetings are to share your results and ideas and get feedback in a structured format. Yet the more people you're comfortable approaching and engaging in unstructured, casual conversation, especially the ones working in the same office or lab, the easier it is to go to them with questions or problems. Even small ones.<br />
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Short, casual conversations at the right time can be more beneficial than a planned project meeting.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>It's vital to facilitate these small conversations.</b> </i></span><br />
Check-in with your group members, even the ones you don't regularly work with. Someone with a slightly different perspective may end up providing useful insight. They may ask an intriguing question, suggest a new idea, or interpret your results in an enlightening way. Perhaps they know the exact solution to the weird problem you're having, or read an esoteric research paper that's totally relevant with what you're trying to do, or are trained in some characterization tool that does the exact measurement you need to do.<br />
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I can't even count the number of times I struggled to solve some problem in lab, only to find out some other grad student figured out a much easier way long before. I only had to ask around.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Speak up if something goes wrong.</i></b></span><br />
Thanks to <a href="http://scientopia.org/blogs/drbecca/2013/06/12/mess-up-speak-up/">Doc Becca</a> for reminding me of this advice: If you make a mistake, say something! It's ALWAYS better to say something. Even if it's a little thing. But ESPECIALLY if it's a big thing. Making a mistake and hiding it are grounds for getting kicked out of a research group. I've seen it happen!<br />
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Mistakes happen all the time, it's fine, it's expected. But hiding them or not being forthcoming when they happen can only cause more problems. Coming forward and admitting mistake might be embarrassing, but it's fine. After all the point of academic research is to learn! <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Asking for help is not a sign of weakness.</i></b></span><br />
Graduate-level coursework and research are hard enough as it is. You can make it much easier on yourself, and complete tasks in a more efficient way, if you ask for help when you need it. Especially in terms of experimental research, operating equipment and analyzing data, asking for help is not an admission of failure.<br />
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<b>Asking for help is what smart people do when they realize there's probably a better way.</b><br />
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In my research group, grad students work VERY independently and the ones who burn-out are the ones who take on the entire the burden of their project by themselves and get stuck. Sure, high-level technical details and mind-numbing measurements are part of the grad school experience and science in general, in moderation. But it's only useful if it's getting you closer to the goal. And NOT at the price of your sanity. If you're getting nowhere, it's time to reach out.<br />
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Sometimes admitting difficulty (i.e. complaining, when done correctly, i.e. you tried a lot of things and none of them are working) turns into a really useful collaboration.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>The whole benefit of working in a team is the ability to collaborate. </i></b></span><br />
Of course you should be expected to do a lot on your own. But you should also take advantage of the people around you, especially the more experienced grad students and postdocs. If you're stuck on something, ask them how they would do it. If you're having a hard time writing a paper, ask them to look it over and provide suggestions. If you're swamped, consider delegating some tasks to someone else. Train a new student to take measurements for you.<br />
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If no one around you is being helpful, ask your PI to suggest someone new to talk to. <br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Give credit where credit is due.</span></i></b></div>
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Don't take advantage of people who help you. Acknowledge them. In fact, you may be ethically obligated to do so.<br />
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If someone contributed significantly on a project you're trying to publish, include their name in the author list or thank them in an acknowledgement section. If you borrow a slide or a figure that someone else made, give them credit by listing their name in the author list or put "courtesy their name" in the caption. When in doubt on how much specific credit you should give, ask. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Offer to help.</i></b></span><br />
Getting help when you need it is a benefit of working in a team, but this works both ways. Someone may come to you with a problem or question that's in your area of expertise, and it's in your best interest as a group member to try and help them out. If you can't help directly the very least you can do is politely point them in the right direction.<br />
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It's good to build up karma when you can because you never know when you'll help in the future. Who knows, helping someone else could lead to something interesting (or even a co-authorship). Of course, there is a line between being helpful and being a doormat, so it's important to know your limits, especially if it distracts you from making progress on your own research project.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Be approachable & agreeable (even if it's annoying).</i></b></span><br />
As a postdoc and one of the most senior people in my research group, I had to do a lot of favors: giving lab tours to campus visitors, editing research paper drafts, training grad students, etc. I don't mind it all because I consider it part of my duties as a postdoc and I get a sense of fulfillment being able to help.<br />
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But it isn't always easy. <br />
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For example, I used to find it unnerving when younger students drop by my office unannounced asking for advice. But I know being approachable is an important part of managing a team, and if the situation were reversed, I'd hope they'd be happy to talk to me as well. It's all part of fostering a friendly workplace. So I'd try to be open to it.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Email people back. But keep it prompt and short and sweet.</i></b></span><br />
Email is my favorite form of communication with my group members. I know not everyone likes email, but it's a good way to keep a record of communication and progress. So it's important to stay on top of it. <a href="http://laserboyfriend.blogspot.com/2013/02/productivity-email.html">Automatically filtering my inbox</a> is a big help.<br />
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One of my pet peeves is asking for a quick favor or verification via email and not getting a reply, especially arranging meeting times with younger students. Sometimes IM/calling/texting is better if you need a reply within several hours.<br />
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Another pet peeve is receiving really long, rambly emails (although I am TOTALLY guilty of writing them). Sometimes it's better to schedule a face-to-face meeting if it requires more than a few sentences.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><i>...And don't write angry emails. </i></span></b><br />
The worst interpersonal conflicts I've had as a grad student (not that there were many) was someone berating me with a really passive-aggressive, angrily-written email. Usually it was for something completely mundane like misplaced lab supplies. DO NOT DO THIS. It's childish and unprofessional.<br />
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First of all, always give people the benefit of the doubt. If shit goes down and you're upset, give yourself time to cool down before you want to rage on your keyboard. If you're past the rage and still have a major problem, talk to them in person. You will find a much nicer way to phrase it when you're looking at them right in the face. If you can't do that, talk to your PI about it.<br />
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One of the important parts of teamwork and fostering a friendly workplace is civility. If someone made a mistake and you need to let them know, choose your words and language in a way that doesn't come across as angry or belittling. We've ALL made mistakes. You don't want people to be afraid of admitting them. <br />
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<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">It's okay to dislike someone you work with.</span></i></b><br />
The Harvard Business Review has another great post <a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/hmu/2012/01/how-to-work-with-someone-you-h.html">How To Work With Someone You Hate</a> that includes some helpful advice about managing your own reactions and keeping negative feelings to yourself.<br />
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There are some people I get along with really well, and some people I don't. I find it very emotionally draining to be around people I don't communicate with well, so I try really hard to managing my mood when I'm around them. Mostly I try to keep my personal feelings to myself and just focus on the task at hand.<br />
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Although, honestly, sometimes the easiest way to be around someone you don't like is to just be really nice to them anyway. It makes the time pass more quickly. <i>And besides, just because someone's an asshole one time doesn't mean they're an asshole 100% of the time. </i>If someone did something to upset you, give yourself some space, but don't hold it against them for life. <span style="font-size: small;"><i><br /></i></span>
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;">Don't badmouth coworkers behind their back (especially with other coworkers).</span></b></i></div>
Try not to participate in office gossip. This is basically impossible in a grad school setting, but try. A little light-hearted ribbing is one thing, but often gossip can become cruel and unfair and create strife within a research group. Try to avoid it. This isn't middle school. <a href="http://laserboyfriend.blogspot.com/2013/06/pro-tip-dont-be-dick.html">Don't be a dick.</a><br />
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Besides, you never know who you might have to work with or depend on in the future, so it's better not to burn that bridge.<br />
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If you MUST gossip, do what I do and make up funny nicknames about your coworkers so you can vent about them to your non-grad student friends. (You still have non grad school friends, right?)</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Diversity leads to more innovation. But it can also bring conflict. This isn't necessarily a bad thing.</i></b></span><br />
And by diversity, I don't just mean ethnic or gender diversity. (They are both great, for sure!) I mean diversity in a larger sense. David Goldberg wrote a good article about <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-goldberg/engineering-education-reform-_b_1826537.html">different kinds of diversity</a>, such as diversity in personalities and aspirations, and how they can inspire innovation. Which I totally agree with. More diversity is better all around.<br />
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BUT the downside of having many people with many differences in ideas and points of view and opinions is it CAN lead to conflicts.<br />
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Conflicts are not a bad thing. In fact, the <a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/06/six_common_misperceptions_abou.html">Harvard Business Review suggests</a> that conflict among team members can often lead to more creative outcomes.<br />
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It comes down to respect. Differences in opinion are great if they are appreciated equally. Again, <a href="http://laserboyfriend.blogspot.com/2013/06/pro-tip-dont-be-dick.html">don't be a dick.</a> Be patient. It may take longer to resolve things, but the solutions will be all the better for it.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Realize everyone communicates differently.</i></b></span></div>
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I get uneasy categorizing other humans into "types," however, I recently attended a seminar on communication that talked about the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herrmann_Brain_Dominance_Instrument#Brain_Dominance_Model">Hermann Brain Dominance Model</a> that breaks up people into four types: Analytical, Sequential, Interpersonal and Imaginative.</div>
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<ul>
<li><b>Analytical thinkers </b>are logic and fact driven and want to know how things work. They're the ones arguing about data in a group meeting. </li>
<li><b>Sequential thinkers </b>are detailed, organized and like to break things down into steps. They're the ones typing out step-by-step instructions for lab equipment. </li>
<li><b>Interpersonal thinkers</b> are more sensory and feeling and like group discussions. They're the ones organizing the group happy hour. </li>
<li><b>Imaginative thinkers</b> are more conceptual and like to look at the "big picture," can be innovative and solve things long term, but gloss over details. </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
For example, I'm a "sequential thinker," and it's important to me to take very detailed, careful notes whenever I get trained on new equipment. Other people don't like taking notes and would rather just watch and listen. I used to think this was irresponsible, but I realize now that it's just a different way of learning. Which is totally fine.<br />
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It's not particularly important to have a list of types, or what they're called or how many types there are. The point is this: it's important to recognize and respect the fact that someone may operate differently from you. This recognition and respect will make working with them easier.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Communication is what real science is all about. </i></b></span><br />
Grad school can be a bubble. Don't get trapped in a bubble. Not many people can be successful being in a bubble. <br />
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The whole point of doing science is communicating your results: writing and reading research papers, attending conferences, and so forth. It's not just about designing experiments and getting good results and then graduating and never being heard from again. If you can't communicate your science, you're kind of just wasting resources.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Oh yeah, and there's that networking thing, too.</i></b></span><br />
One day you WILL graduate, and being on good terms with as many people as you can may be beneficial for your future career endeavors. Trust me on this. You will need to look for a job one day and you'll want to reach out to as many people as possible.<br />
<br />
Consider the fact that people you don't know very well can be more helpful than your closest friends, career-wise. Adam Grant wrote about <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130617112202-69244073-finding-the-hidden-value-in-your-network">the hidden value of "weak ties.</a>" He says, "When you haven’t seen people in three or five years, you can’t predict what novel ideas and networks they’ll be able to share. And it turns out that the older you get, the more valuable dormant ties become." This is what networking IS and this is why social networking sites CAN be useful.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>Don't take it personal. It's only science. </i></b></span><br />
Sometimes there are disagreements. Sometimes you get cut out of a project, or all your friends got to go to some conference and you didn't, or someone undeserving gets a great result while you're slaving away getting nowhere, or someone lands a better job out of school than you did. Sometimes people are just assholes. It's important to not let these kinds of things get to you.<br />
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Some might say 'pick your battles' but I'd rather say 'suck it up and get back to work.' <br />
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Your coworkers are not your enemy. You are, after all, part of a team. <i> </i><br />
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<i>----- </i><br />
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<i>Check out my </i><i><a href="http://laserboyfriend.blogspot.com/2012/12/my-laser-boyfriends-grad-school.html">Grad School Survival Guide</a>!</i><br />
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-56038012918744435002013-07-03T13:50:00.002-07:002013-07-03T21:56:04.174-07:00Clearing out my desk<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is me cleaning the desk area where I spent the past six years as a grad student and postdoc:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Bs-XSGForm1eeM5AM4ZawQ2-cSCUV9-p3q3yq8O00OJrwu4Q8iiKPdsDhYiFflgpM98ChlBEFqeAP3PslqsYU1oRBh9GVcxmGwc5YNrEll2nh3fgz2lCZbB8QTjy-TBtmNgAh6IKX2NW/s350/fuck-this-thing-cat.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Bs-XSGForm1eeM5AM4ZawQ2-cSCUV9-p3q3yq8O00OJrwu4Q8iiKPdsDhYiFflgpM98ChlBEFqeAP3PslqsYU1oRBh9GVcxmGwc5YNrEll2nh3fgz2lCZbB8QTjy-TBtmNgAh6IKX2NW/s320/fuck-this-thing-cat.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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#DGAF #later<br />
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(That's not entirely true. I still give a little bit of a fuck.)<br />
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-47630710363918705292013-06-14T08:16:00.001-07:002013-06-15T10:53:54.256-07:00Leveling Up<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;">I got my first big girl job!</span><br />
After being in school for what seems like eleventy million years, I'm moving to Portland, Oregon in a few weeks to start a new life as a process engineer for a semiconductor equipment company. Whoo!<br />
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I'm a little sad to be leaving California, my friends, research group, and academia in general, but it felt time for me to move on and I'm excited to do something different. <br />
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I'll be working on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_films#Deposition">thin film deposition</a>. Which probably doesn't sound exciting at all to most people, but that's okay. (As long as it does to me, right?)<br />
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While we're on the topic of thin films, here's a cute video (meant for kids?) from <a href="http://www.filmetrics.com/">Filmetrics</a> that explains how spectral reflectance works for measuring film thickness. This basically entails shining light of different wavelengths (colors) at the film and seeing which wavelengths (colors) reflect. If you know the material properties like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refractive_index">refractive index</a>, then you can make a pretty good estimation of how thick it is.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qZgKjZC1uqY?feature=player_detailpage" width="500"></iframe><br />
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I won't be a postdoc working with lasers anymore, but will continue to update this blog and likely post more about microelectronics and my experience transitioning to life in industry. Plus, I still have plenty of advice for grad students left to write. In fact, I have some upcoming posts about teamwork in grad school and conference etiquette, so stay tuned for those.</div>
KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-66249477376249701052013-06-04T12:31:00.004-07:002013-06-05T10:42:54.698-07:00Pro tip: don't be a dick<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Teamwork is a really important skill in graduate school and life. I've been working on a long blog post with about working well with others, which I will post one day. One of my tips is this: <b>Don't be a judgmental asshole.</b></div>
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<a href="http://psych.unm.edu/people/directory-profiles/geoffrey-miller.html">UNM Professor Geoffrey Miller</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/matingmind">tweeted</a> this gem a few days ago:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoUYDfIb0VlO12t4jW4w-sSaoVYs-8aCWuUQk35j-4vdMCsxkPdYClxcd8lh2z1Ve7hbxZ5aek8NbO1tuJGZyzcJHh7fDJQypcKLwiBmzm897A8O0LNv2Av0RPeS5zmM6tGMymf2Ewz_p1/s1600/BLykUGQCAAALudM+(1).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoUYDfIb0VlO12t4jW4w-sSaoVYs-8aCWuUQk35j-4vdMCsxkPdYClxcd8lh2z1Ve7hbxZ5aek8NbO1tuJGZyzcJHh7fDJQypcKLwiBmzm897A8O0LNv2Av0RPeS5zmM6tGMymf2Ewz_p1/s1600/BLykUGQCAAALudM+(1).png" width="425" /></a></div>
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This is a great example of a comment that makes someone sound like judgmental asshole. This kind of comment has NO PLACE in public forum ESPECIALLY from a professor who has the power to fire and hire potential PhD students. He eventually deleted the tweet and apologized for his comments, but only after a strong backlash. (You can read more details on the controversy over at <a href="http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/06/how-twitter-schooled-nyu-professor-about-fat-shaming/65833/">The Atlantic</a>.)</div>
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We all have coworkers who say stupid things. I'm actually the queen of sticking my foot in my mouth, so I'm guilty of it as well on occasion. Still, I try to be really careful about how off-hand remarks are perceived in a professional setting, especially now that I'm a postdoc and grad students might look to me to lead by example.<br />
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A good rule of thumb is just don't be a dick or an asshole. Period. Just don't do it. If you catch yourself doing or saying something that comes across poorly, own up to it apologize. Then next time, maybe you'll think twice before you open your big stupid mouth.<br />
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The bottom line is that all people deserve to be treated with respect. Especially in academia, be especially kind and encouraging to those who come in a shape or size or color that is not already well-represented in your field. Diversity in STEM and higher academia in general is so, so important for inspiring creativity and innovation.<br />
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Check out the awesome new Tumblr: <a href="http://fuckyeahfatphds.tumblr.com/">Fuck Yeah! Fat PhDs</a>.<br />
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And while we're at it, can we cut it out with the carb-shaming already?</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://24.media.tumblr.com/b6fb92acc867383922326cbd82ab7a7b/tumblr_mimxhed2Zm1rizt5uo1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/b6fb92acc867383922326cbd82ab7a7b/tumblr_mimxhed2Zm1rizt5uo1_500.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via <a href="http://baguettemenots.tumblr.com/">BaguettesMeNot</a></td></tr>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I love carbs and love everyone who also loves carbs. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23truth">#truth</a><br />
— KK PhD (@KK_PhD) <a href="https://twitter.com/KK_PhD/status/341740593883529216">June 4, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
In fact, if it wasn't for carbs I probably wouldn't have had the willpower to finish my dissertation. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23truth">#truth</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23carbs">#carbs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23doctormuffintop">#doctormuffintop</a><br />
— KK PhD (@KK_PhD) <a href="https://twitter.com/KK_PhD/status/341742758404435968">June 4, 2013</a></blockquote>
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-80469249980188835962013-05-20T18:04:00.000-07:002013-06-05T10:47:56.026-07:00Elevator pitches & LEDs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Watch Cyrus Dreyer, a graduate student in Chris Van de Walle's <a href="http://www.mrl.ucsb.edu/~vandewalle/nitrides.php">Computational Materials</a> group at UCSB (and one of my coworkers), give an elevator pitch on LED research for general lighting applications. It's title: "Lighting the World from the Head of a Pin." <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="280" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PqQuqTpDxPY?feature=player_detailpage" width="500"></iframe>
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Obviously, he's glossing over many technical details on how LEDs work, which is <i>so hard to do</i> because investigating the technical details is what we DO everyday. <br />
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In an elevator pitch, the point isn't to communicate details. The point is to communicate broader context, significance, and something memorable that sets your technology apart. For LEDs, one thing that sets them apart is the super small scale of the light emitting layer which is only a few nanometers thick. One billionth of a meter. That's approaching the scale of individual molecules.<br />
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Fun fact: your fingernails grow about a nanometer a second, which is actually <i>faster</i> than the rate we "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metalorganic_vapour_phase_epitaxy">grow</a>" the light emitting layers for our LEDs. But that's another story for another time!<br />
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Cyrus Dreyer's presentation was part of a Grand Slam contest organized by UCSB's <a href="http://gradpost.ucsb.edu/headlines/tag/grad-slam">Grad Post</a>. You can see the other finalists and winner <a href="http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFXQD5WjeLk8sPQYrLJdyMf3A_hqQFVMw">on Youtubes.</a></div>
KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-5760862389343512142013-05-03T20:30:00.000-07:002013-05-05T22:05:37.918-07:00Communicating with visible light<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i><span style="font-size: large;">The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.</span> </i><br />
There are 26 characters in the English language and that sentence uses every one.<br />
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The digital world uses two characters: 1 and 0. My fingers press buttons on a keyboard and it's translated into the language computers speak: on and off, go and stop. Electrons shift in a strip of metal.<br />
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But it doesn't end there.<br />
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Communication over distances takes many forms. A lot happens to those 1's and 0's before becoming letters and words again wherever you are. A laser shining into a fiber of glass, and then a tiny transmitter emitting energy right into the air.<br />
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Isn't that amazing?<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Data is all around you.</span><br />
Energies of particular frequencies can travel easily through the atmosphere. This is the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_frequency">radio frequency</a> band, which spans kHz to GHz range.</div>
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In wavelength, the radio band spans waves a millimeter to a full kilometer long, peak to peak. That's long enough to easily travel through walls too.<br />
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Humans discovered long ago how to generate and manipulate or 'modulate' radio waves to carry information. Amplitude modulation (AM) or frequency modulation (FM) are a few examples.<br />
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These days, there is a LOT of data in the radio frequency band besides AM and FM radio, including broadcast tv, cell phones, bluetooth, and satellite communication. It's all carefully allocated and regulated by the <a href="http://www.fcc.gov/">FCC</a>. (Check out this <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/United_States_Frequency_Allocations_Chart_2011_-_The_Radio_Spectrum.pdf">awesome chart</a>.) </div>
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But some say the radio frequency is getting <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/24/technology/directing-traffic-in-the-radio-spectrum-s-crowded-neighborhood.html">crowded</a>. </div>
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They say there's another option. </div>
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They say we can transmit data using a <i>different</i> frequency range. And it happens to correspond to wavelengths your human eyeballs perceive as LIGHT. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And we can use LEDs they said. And we can call it Li-Fi they said.</span><br />
In his <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/harald_haas_wireless_data_from_every_light_bulb.html">TED talk</a> on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visible_light_communication">Visible Light Communication</a>, <a href="http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/wordpress/hxh/">Professor Harald Haas</a> coined the term Li-Fi. It's like Wi-Fi but it uses visible light from an LED to transmit data. </div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="282" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" scrolling="no" src="http://embed.ted.com/talks/harald_haas_wireless_data_from_every_light_bulb.html" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="500"></iframe><br />
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Because LEDs are made of semiconductors, the stuff computers are made of, they can be easily modulated to transmit data through the air. </div>
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You could think of it like a strobe light spelling out words in Morse code, only really fast. Fortunately the human eye is slow, so a light flashing on and off faster than <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flicker_fusion_threshold">60 times a second</a> looks the same as "on."</div>
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The only problem with Li-Fi is it can't go long distance and can't go through walls. Because physics. But for research funding reasons, you could easily call it a security feature, not a limitation. :)</div>
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LEDs are awesome, yet again. </div>
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More info:</div>
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<a href="http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/wordpress/hxh/">Prof. Hass's research at University of Edinburgh</a></div>
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<a href="http://visiblelightcomm.com/">Visible Light Communication</a></div>
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<a href="http://purevlc.com/">Pure VLC</a></div>
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-82774780760174663902013-04-23T16:43:00.004-07:002013-04-23T20:26:16.962-07:00My dissertation as a word cloud<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Pretty much sums it up. </div>
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I just copied and pasted the whole thing into <a href="http://www.wordle.net/">Wordle</a></div>
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-79976533635069602452013-04-21T16:30:00.001-07:002013-08-04T11:20:31.772-07:00Lasers + music 4EVA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
From <a href="http://dennisppaul.de/an-instrument-for-the-sonification-of-everday-things/">Dennis P. Paul</a>, "An Instrument for the Sonification of Everday Things." It makes sounds out of random everyday objects. USING A LASER.
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="375" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/49484255" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe><br />
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Other people have figured out ways to make music with lasers.<br />
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Such as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_harp">laser harp</a>.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zqMdUQvN-Dk?feature=player_detailpage" width="500"></iframe><br />
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Or whatever the hell <a href="http://theawesomer.com/laser-beam-music-generator/1835/">this</a> is.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VMaKzHV1S8o?feature=player_detailpage" width="500"></iframe><br />
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This is a song made with a laser engraver. (I don't think the laser is even turned on.)<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="375" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/4028427" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://vimeo.com/4028427">Laser engraver plays Super Mario theme</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user1532182">Jedediah Smith</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</span><br />
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Lasers have influenced music in lots of ways.<br />
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Here's Queen singing about lasers back in the seventies when lasers were the rage. OK, they merely mention lasers. But it's QUEEN.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BAf2S6ij2gk?feature=player_detailpage" width="500"></iframe><br />
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Lasers have remained popular throughout the years.<br />
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Major Lazer named himself after lasers.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OeYN_hyR9YI?feature=player_detailpage" width="500"></iframe><br />
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The Flaming Lips incorporate lasers in their live shows.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3nkWTlef_jI?feature=player_detailpage" width="500"></iframe><br />
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An authentic laser light show is a great example of music and lasers combining into an art-form onto itself.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6xKECnsCUDU?feature=player_detailpage" width="500"></iframe><br />
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I've actually never been to a laser light show but I hope to convince someone to go with me one day.<br />
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Yes, I am still a 34-year-old woman.<br />
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This post is silly. Life is short.</div>
KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-31485597012092679922013-03-25T08:09:00.001-07:002013-04-03T12:34:58.813-07:00This is what a scientist looks like (but not really)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
University of California Television (<a href="http://www.uctv.tv/">UCTV</a>) recently put together a <a href="http://www.uctv.tv/light/">four-part video series</a> on one of my dissertation committee members, <a href="http://www.sslec.ucsb.edu/nakamura/">Prof. Shuji Nakamura</a>, and his role in GaN-based light emitting diode (LED) research. It's a great overview of the history of GaN and the impact it's had on energy efficient lighting applications. You can <a href="http://www.uctv.tv/light/">watch them online here</a>.<br />
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The videos include several shots of our labs at the <a href="http://sslec.ucsb.edu/aboutus.html">Solid State Lighting and Energy Center</a> at UC Santa Barbara. <a href="http://www.uctv.tv/shows/Journey-to-a-Brilliant-Discovery-Lighting-the-World-Ep-2-24739">Part 2</a> of the series talks about Nakamura's early life and his persistant motivation trying to create the worlds first blue LED on GaN. It also includes a shot of me at the 7 minute mark, just as the narrator explains how difficult it was to work on this semiconductor material.<br />
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Here I am, looking like a movie scientist:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgGyePB11smbbJ0dhkxYfqNhejc4DyTHhlfUepRtOLFpCAohz4Vslgr_ydoBp1HjO69hNvRfVepvohe8J9M5J7QXdMk0shkZvWYS-1LxOmggKIwQDgbnkSh7XsBTTUMrUbALNY7_R2jK2l/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-24+at+10.30.17+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgGyePB11smbbJ0dhkxYfqNhejc4DyTHhlfUepRtOLFpCAohz4Vslgr_ydoBp1HjO69hNvRfVepvohe8J9M5J7QXdMk0shkZvWYS-1LxOmggKIwQDgbnkSh7XsBTTUMrUbALNY7_R2jK2l/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-03-24+at+10.30.17+AM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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You can tell I'm a scientist because I'm wearing a lab coat and looking through a microscope. That's what scientists do. [deadpan stare]<br />
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A similar shot of me shows up again in <a href="http://www.uctv.tv/shows/The-Future-of-Light-Lighting-the-World-Ep-4-24926">Part 4</a> of the series, just as my PI Prof. Steve DenBaars is discussing lighting applications based on laser diodes. Here I am again looking a bit more hunchbacked, staring into that same microscope:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj31JvXhmsQHjAU5ScmByp_-yZ8DD4WSNseGz3XXCvn1h3VZS8920Jymg2TJ7voMnQ7B6z5g-xb0e4zZcq9jKyVZ8yVBFuLqj9xXfYwiUKKIXZBn34wep84qjr2gW52h2UioptfMScTkkqg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-24+at+11.10.43+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj31JvXhmsQHjAU5ScmByp_-yZ8DD4WSNseGz3XXCvn1h3VZS8920Jymg2TJ7voMnQ7B6z5g-xb0e4zZcq9jKyVZ8yVBFuLqj9xXfYwiUKKIXZBn34wep84qjr2gW52h2UioptfMScTkkqg/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-03-24+at+11.10.43+AM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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At my laser:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxnTf_jfOByqY1TYIJfHeleRygcUOBdNqyERTszCapbVT_kCR1sCCiFmMdp0hdClMZGMx1tJkvIMwQYTWLkdrtBa8Ie0yuneH-u-pQB9_X2wLvHpGCraF-mFfA8mE-8ZasIE9vUwtmmT4h/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-03-24+at+10.44.51+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxnTf_jfOByqY1TYIJfHeleRygcUOBdNqyERTszCapbVT_kCR1sCCiFmMdp0hdClMZGMx1tJkvIMwQYTWLkdrtBa8Ie0yuneH-u-pQB9_X2wLvHpGCraF-mFfA8mE-8ZasIE9vUwtmmT4h/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-03-24+at+10.44.51+AM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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Perhaps needless to say, these shots were totally staged. <br />
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Most of my friends and family have no idea what I do for a living. Although the entire video series explains my research and the research of my group in general terms very well, this brief glimpse of my lab isn't particularly enlightening. Obviously what looks good on film is often not true to life. <br />
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In a small manner of communicating my science to the masses, I'd like to point out what parts of these few seconds of me at work is actually authentic.<br />
<b><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><span style="font-size: large;">REALLY REAL:</span></b><br />
<ul>
<li>This is the actual lab and test set-up I used to test laser diodes for my dissertation work. </li>
<li>The microscope I'm looking through is the one we use to align the needle probes onto the laser diode devices, which we need to do because <a href="http://laserboyfriend.blogspot.com/2012/12/if-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-laser.html">they are so tiny</a>.</li>
<li>During filming, I had an actual laser diode probed and turned on via a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse_generator">pulsed wave generator</a>, one of the tools located on the shadowy lab bench, at eye-level, which is connected to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_probe_station">probe station</a> via a nest of coax cables. </li>
</ul>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">KINDA REAL: </span></b><br />
<ul>
<li>In the beginning of the shot in Part 2, I'm actually adjusting the seconds per division on the digital <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscilloscope">oscilloscope</a>, which is totally unnecessary to adjust since our measurements are automatically calibrated and measured via a Labview program from a nearby PC. However, at the time I had things in manual mode, and the scope was actually displaying the light output, current and voltage across the device I had probed.</li>
<li>I displayed a blue laser beam pattern on the computer monitor in the background. This is an actual image from one of my laser diodes, just not the one currently probed. </li>
<li>In the close-up of the actual edge-emitting laser diode I was "testing," I had the current and duty-cycle turned way down, to make the light very dim. Otherwise it would look too bright for the camera. With the current that low, it wasn't even "lasing," just a faintly glowing stripe of light. </li>
</ul>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">NOT REAL:</span></b><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The gel lights. Unfortunately ubiquitous in any fictionalized science lab. Our lab has standard fluorescent lighting, but obviously that doesn't look dramatic enough. I laughed when the film crew started setting up the green gels, which we joked was the "official color of science."</li>
<li>The lab coat. I normally don't wear one for laser testing. I actually wore a nice collared shirt and sweater the day we filmed this, but the camera guy really wanted me to wear a lab coat, so this is a random one I grabbed off the rack in the hallway that was WAY TOO BIG.</li>
<li>The video doesn't show all the other things I spend 95% of my time doing, such as: MOCVD crystal growth, cleanroom processing, materials characterization, plotting data, making powerpoint slides, and telling first year grad students what to do (haha).</li>
</ul>
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In the end, I think my role in the video was mostly authentic and I'm happy with the way it turned out. I was glad to participate in the exercise, not only to show off my lazerz but also because I knew there wouldn't be very many females in the video otherwise. Which is the subject of a whole other post. <i>Ladies.</i><br />
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I wrote about laser diodes, so <a href="http://laserboyfriend.blogspot.com/2012/12/if-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-laser.html">go read that post if you want to know more.</a><br />
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<b>Here's the rest of the UCTV video series:</b><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://www.uctv.tv/shows/Lights-in-the-Darkness-Lighting-the-World-Ep-1-24738">Part 1</a> - The LED to improve education in the developing world.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.uctv.tv/shows/Journey-to-a-Brilliant-Discovery-Lighting-the-World-Ep-2-24739">Part 2</a> - Shuji Nakamura and development of the white LED</li>
<li><a href="http://www.uctv.tv/shows/Unleashing-the-Light-Lighting-the-World-Ep-3-24740">Part 3</a> - The breakthrough that creates the white-light emitting LED</li>
<li><a href="http://www.uctv.tv/shows/The-Future-of-Light-Lighting-the-World-Ep-4-24926">Part 4</a> - Research into the future of lighting and energy use.</li>
</ul>
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-32357758459817549872013-02-28T13:59:00.000-08:002013-02-28T22:29:31.145-08:00Experiments with light.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This week I stumbled upon <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/1veritasium?feature=watch">Veritasium</a>, a video blog featuring experiments and explanations about various topics in science and nature. The host and creator <a href="https://twitter.com/veritasium">Derek Muller</a>, who has a Ph.D. in Engineering Physics, aims to communicate sometimes abstract scientific concepts to the public in an interactive and easy to understand way.<br />
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This is a GREAT video he put together demonstrating Thomas <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-slit_experiment">Young's double-slit experiment</a>. When <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Young_(scientist)#Wave_theory_of_light">Young</a> first presented his results of his experiments to the Royal Society of London in 1803, he explained: <b>"...(it) may be repeated with great ease, whenever the sun shines, and without any other apparatus than is at hand to every one."</b><br />
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The property of light that this experiment so elegantly demonstrates is it's distinctly wave-like. It has properties of waves, such as a wavelength (or color) and it can constructively and destructively interfere with itself, like ripples in a pond. In the early 1800's, this idea was very revolutionary, as it was commonly believed that light behaved more like individual particles, thanks to pioneering work by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton#Optics">Isaac Newton</a> in the 1600's. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFXM9AOo6XvRzv_pB5yjOXj01p-EMhgnDv6v0ctR0Y7rmsMubL09fiicCUKljCLaLiymCyJjxphXNrQc8BAair9o_EBccvOH21jsJXEO0XCSvRTZ2ABfmdbj40TorqirWfHxBQdJsMuQsU/s1600/Fig_37-3_Two_Slit_Experiment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFXM9AOo6XvRzv_pB5yjOXj01p-EMhgnDv6v0ctR0Y7rmsMubL09fiicCUKljCLaLiymCyJjxphXNrQc8BAair9o_EBccvOH21jsJXEO0XCSvRTZ2ABfmdbj40TorqirWfHxBQdJsMuQsU/s1600/Fig_37-3_Two_Slit_Experiment.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #666666;">Double slit experiment showing small particles, such as individual electrons or photons, passing through two slits will cause an interference pattern, a property of waves. Isn't that crazy? Yes. It is. Because quantum mechanics is totally bonkers, but that's why it's so interesting.</span></i></td></tr>
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Turns out Young and Newton were both right. As <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein#Photons_and_energy_quanta">Albert Einstein</a> discovered 100 years later in the early 1900's, light can behave both like a wave <i>and</i> a particle, and this particle can only have only a discrete set of energies, or quantized energies. Today, we call these discrete quanta of energies <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photon">photons</a></i>. Einstein's work describing the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photoelectric_effect">photoelectric effect</a> -- in which you can shine light at a metal and get it to conduct electricity -- won him the Nobel prize in 1921.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUVdPEoPCP0S0cxPuu17l1kARpzGLNQ-vHW4cZ0JcXw4MEFwmbRAfwsnWB9W3V3c-X56iWjvvZuH17fmuEh600uBDk1kYmI5qdbdHdzTzzbAcZNvvf8hxXp_8VvSWCvHzWznxkF0X83SO-/s1600/photoelectric_effect.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUVdPEoPCP0S0cxPuu17l1kARpzGLNQ-vHW4cZ0JcXw4MEFwmbRAfwsnWB9W3V3c-X56iWjvvZuH17fmuEh600uBDk1kYmI5qdbdHdzTzzbAcZNvvf8hxXp_8VvSWCvHzWznxkF0X83SO-/s1600/photoelectric_effect.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #666666;">The photoelectric effect: If you shine light, made up of photons of specific energies, at a metal material, the light will excite the electrons in the metal and cause them to eject from the surface. The idea of photon-electron interaction is an important piece of the quantum mechanics puzzle. </span></i></td></tr>
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The so-called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave%E2%80%93particle_duality">wave-particle duality</a> is one of the main concepts of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mechanics">quantum mechanics</a> and is essential in understanding how semiconductors and solid-state light emitters work. Of course, quantum mechanics gets very dense and abstract very quickly, and details of it are still <a href="http://www.livescience.com/24509-light-wave-particle-duality-experiment.html">being discovered</a> to this day. Still, it's fascinating to think about how simple experiments like sunlight passing through a double-slit were so influential in developing our understanding of light and matter.</div>
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5655808063028959801.post-73943001529287020332013-02-23T23:35:00.001-08:002013-02-25T11:39:35.289-08:00Oh, the sometimes mindless drudgeries of experimental research<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My research has taken on several interesting developments lately. As exciting as this is, the downside is it requires generating a lot of samples, and painstaking measurements on a lot of samples, which has been very time and energy consuming. On top of paper writing and all my other postdoctoral responsibilities, I'm swamped with work. I've recently recruited a graduate student to help me out on the measurement side, thankfully, as I'm not sure how I would manage otherwise.<br />
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As tough as it is, I know my project is (finally) building up to something interesting (and publishable). I remind myself that many scientific discoveries are likely not serendipitous eureka moments, but probably required a lot of planning, time and effort. And measurements. Long, slow, mind-numbingly boring measurements...<br />
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In experimental research, sometimes you can't avoid what feels like mindless drudgeries. This is why patience and dedication is such an important <a href="http://laserboyfriend.blogspot.com/2012/12/my-laser-boyfriends-grad-school.html">skill</a> in graduate school. Also coffee. Also lab computers with internet access.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMn3k3prUNpKM6Jby217VWZC4OUxqAyUsH6dmtxr0mDpx-vnxzW05-ql9PVKuglqXo62GJtOWC2e3zpL2oPDLcrrEBenL1WiPcVlTkbnb9pq1HXfanIt3QOn53s9KtMwVbNYJrP0orRWXd/s1600/cute-rabbit-falling-asleep.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMn3k3prUNpKM6Jby217VWZC4OUxqAyUsH6dmtxr0mDpx-vnxzW05-ql9PVKuglqXo62GJtOWC2e3zpL2oPDLcrrEBenL1WiPcVlTkbnb9pq1HXfanIt3QOn53s9KtMwVbNYJrP0orRWXd/s320/cute-rabbit-falling-asleep.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Thank you, <a href="http://wheninacademia.tumblr.com/post/42382279720/when-you-run-out-of-coffee">When In Academia</a>)</span></div>
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KK PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06795886665073117363noreply@blogger.com0