Summer in the Bay

This past summer, I had the amazing opportunity to do research in a condensed matter physics lab at UC Berkeley. To write a comprehensive blog post of my experience there would be too long, I could almost write a book. So I’ve decided to keep this post somewhat short and sweet by telling my story through pictures! You know what they say – a picture’s worth 1,000 words… well here’s 14,000!

UC Berkeley: Day 1

Arriving on campus was somewhat overwhelming! I didn’t know the details of my lab project, and I had yet to meet my PI I’d be working for, Dr. Alex Zettl. Luckily I got to sit down and talk with him, as well as my graduate student mentor (Gabe), later in the week.

Learning how to use the Atomic Force Microscope

A great deal of my project required imaging single molecules of DNA with an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). I spent a good amount of time in lab learning to use the AFM. Mastering the AFM is tricky, but once I got it down I had an amazing tool at my fingertips for taking images of very small molecules – down to nanometers!

 

Taking a break from lab: My first baseball game!

My summer wasn’t spent working all the time! I managed to have some fun, too. My internship (UC LEADS/UC Berkeley’s SROP) took all the interns to a San Francisco Giants game at AT&T park in San Francisco. Here I am at the game with my friend Julianne, an environmental engineering major and fellow UC LEADS intern from UCR. This was my first baseball game. The Giants played the St. Louis Cardinals that night and won. They later went on to win the 2014 World Series… Go Giants!

 

Straightening DNA

The overall goal of my research project is to image DNA using a polarization light microscopy technique. In order to do this, the DNA must first be straightened (DNA in its natural state is very tightly coiled and tangled). One way to straighten DNA is by spinning a droplet of it very quickly – unwinding it from its tangled state. When this didn’t work, my mentor and I came up with a different way to straighten the DNA – by dragging a droplet of it with a pipette tip (shown above)!

Happy 4th of July!

I was so excited to spend the 4th of July in San Francisco. Don’t get me wrong, 4th of July is pretty cool in Santa Barbara, but being in The City was something else – the fireworks glowed through the classic mist and fog of the bay. It was magical! This is a picture of the fireworks over Fisherman’s Wharf.

Taking that data

Now that we had a new way to straighten the DNA, it was a matter of getting a good image of the DNA to confirm that we indeed had straightened DNA. Here I am one evening in the basement of Birge Hall (one of 3 physics buildings at UCB), taking images with the AFM.

[vimeo 111386690 w=500 h=500]

 

Biking over Golden Gate Bridge

One of the coolest experiences I had in the bay was acting like a complete tourist and biking over Golden Gate Bridge. I was surprised at how windy it was on the bridge! You can probably tell by the video (and the wind makes biking 10x more difficult!). I went with a group of interns from my research program. We posed for a picture after successfully making it across the bridge.

Success! Straightened DNA

After many weeks of unclear images… I finally got a nice image of straightened DNA. In the picture above, you can see three strands of DNA. This was the first of many AFM images of straightened DNA that I took! We later went on to try optically imaging the DNA.

Hiking at Muir Woods

Before I knew it, my time in the bay was almost over. For my last weekend there, my friend and I went Hiking at Muir Woods. It was absolutely beautiful there. Standing under the very tall, majestic Redwood Trees was breathtaking. After many hours of hiking, we made it to the top! Here I am overlooking Marin County (and part of San Francisco). Check out the multitude of fluffy clouds behind/below me! That view at the top was exhilarating.

One Huge Birthday Party!

Who says physicists don’t like to have a little fun and party? While I was in Berkeley, the entire physics department celebrated the 99th birthday of Charles Townes, the man who invented the laser! The picture above is the huge “party” the department put on for Dr. Townes… complete with cake and balloons!

The Final Presentation

My final presentation was the culmination of my research work over the past 8 weeks. I was excited to share my work with the other interns, grad students, faculty, and friends!

Last but not Least, My Mentor: Gabe Dunn

My summer research experience at UC Berkeley would have been very different if it were not for my graduate student mentor, Gabe. He was always willing to answer any questions I had – about research, applying to grad school, grad school experiences, and much more. I learned so much from him – I am very lucky to have had such a great, kind, and helpful mentor. Here we are on the last day of my internship. But the story doesn’t end here… there was still more research to do and I actually went back to UCB in September to continue working on my project. But alas, that story is for another blog post!

 

Overall the experience I had at UC Berkeley this summer was fantastic – I learned invaluable research skills that will help me succeed when I become a graduate student in physics. I made great connections and relationships with the people in my lab, and got to talk to other physics professors who are doing ground-breaking research in other realms of physics. In addition to all of this, I got to explore one of the coolest, most dynamic, diverse, and beautiful places in the US – the Bay Area.

 

 

 

A Glimpse into Winter Quarter

Another quarter, another full work load.

This quarter I am taking a variety of physics and biology classes, mixed in with a couple exercise classes (if you work hard, you’ve got to play hard!). With all these classes I have learned a lot, and I’m pleased to be able to share it with all of you. So, if you’ve always wanted to take quantum but couldn’t find the time, no worries, I’ll give you the main idea behind it all. Or maybe you’ve always wanted to be a gymnast but never had the opportunity to pursue that dream. Well, with my beginner’s experience, I can give you a few pointers.* Here is a glimpse of what I’ve learned this winter quarter:

1) Quantum Mechanics: A physicist’s first method of attack for solving a differential equation is using something called separation of variables (now you can solve the Schrodinger Equation!**)

2) Advanced Mechanics: Almost all of those physics problems you solved in an introductory physics class (remember the classic block sliding down an incline plane, or those lovely masses attached to a string on a pulley?) can be solved in an arguably easier and more beautiful way, without directly using Newton’s Laws. You can thank a couple guys named Lagrange and Hamilton for what’s called Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics (no disrespect, Sir Isaac Newton).

3) Complex Variables: A lot of those ugly integrals you thought you couldn’t do without  Wolfram Alpha*** can be solved relatively easily by hand using something called contour integration in the complex plane.

4) Thermodynamics/Statistical Mechanics: I will never forget that the Boltzmann Probability is proportional to exp(-βEi )  (where β is a constant based on temperature and E is the energy of the i-th state of a particle in a system of particles). This probably has no meaning to you, but if you ever take stat. mech. almost everything comes down to this.

5) Biochemistry: DO NOT cut out carbs completely from your diet, contrary to whatever any of the latest fad diets say.

6) Beginning Tumbling:  Don’t attempt a gymnastics move if you are afraid, otherwise you’ll chicken-out mid-air and hurt yourself when you try to stick the landing.

7) Weight Training: Feel the burn, be proud of the burn.

With all of these classes you may be wondering whether I’ve had time for my research. The answer is yes – my research is very important to me! I’ve made some very exciting progress on my project, and I’ve begun writing a paper! I’d love to say more, but alas, that is for another blog post!

*Nothing in this blog post should be used in lieu of taking an actual class. What I’ve written is only the tip of the iceberg for each of these classes!

**”Solving” the Schrodinger Equation entails a little more than this.

***I do not condone the use of Wolfram Alpha in place of doing an integral by hand.

The Balancing Act

I take a step forward, but then quickly retract my step. I look left, then right. My palms are sweaty. It’s 9:55AM. “I’m going to be late,” I think to myself. Panic sets in. “Do I make a run for it, or play it safe and wait it out?” I can feel my heart beating through my chest. “No, I can longer let fear control me,” I tell myself. “I’ve made my decision. It’s go time.” I then quickly dart across the heavily congested bike path. And now I am well on my way to Quantum Mechanics lecture.

Welcome to a day in the life.

While successfully crossing those bike paths around campus during rush hour can be an art, and something that gets my adrenaline running once in a while, there is of course much, much more to my day! My junior year is in full swing, and here are the highlights:

Classes, Classes, and More Classes

Life as a double major in physics and biology makes me one busy bee! This quarter I am taking 5 classes, ranging from quantum mechanics to genetics! I have already learned so much in the last two weeks. Studying both physics and biology is challenging but intriguing and of course, rewarding. One minute I’m learning about Schrödinger’s equation and infinite quantum wells, then literally an hour later I am learning about sickle-cell disease! I know, there really isn’t too much overlap in physics and biology, but both fields are growing in research and are very interesting in their own unique way. Through all the homework sets and reading, I enjoy learning in both fields.

Textbooks Galore: Here are my textbooks for the quarter (from top to bottom): Thermodynamics, Quantum Mechanics, Biochemistry, and Genetics (not pictured: Mechanics). This amounts to a grand total of 20 units!

Let there be Light!

…Or not. My research project entails creating an absorber that absorbs a certain frequency of light. Simply put, it is my job to make a compact, affordable absorber that absorbs scattered light from my lab’s experiments (you can read more about my lab – the Sherwin Group in the UCSB Physics Department – and our experiments, here). Why is my job important? The current absorbers we have cost $2000 a piece, and are too bulky for our set-up! Without absorbers, scattered light interferes with our data. You can see a comparison of the cone absorber (black “witch’s hat”) to my plastic absorber below. I’ve managed to increase the absorption of my absorber 100-fold in the last week; I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am about this! With a little more fine-tuning, maybe I’ll be able to put the guys who make the black cones out of business…

One Big Expensive Witch’s Hat: The plastic absorber I made (left) vs. the commercial cone absorber (right) currently used. With a little more work, my plastic absorber will be ready for use in the lab!

Work Hard, Play Hard

With everything going on academically and on the research front, it seems that there is little time for relaxing or having fun. This is true a lot of the time, but not always! Just this past weekend I took Saturday off and went to the Santa Barbara Harbor Festival. It was a gorgeous, warm day, perfect for relaxing and trying all sorts of seafood. While I didn’t try the really exotic seafood, I munched on fried calamari and sipped on cherry coke, all while overlooking the SB harbor. As I walked back home with my friends, taking in the views of the calm, deep blue waters, palm trees, and grand, majestic mountains, I thought to myself, “this is the life.” (Very cliché, but hey, it’s true!). Yes, things may get busy, hectic, and stressful with everything going on, but life is all about balance!* Balancing school, work, research, you name it. Sometimes I feel like I’m tipping the scale, but then I remember that I’m studying and doing what ultimately makes me happy. And here and there, I can take some time to relax and enjoy myself!

*Life is also about making decisions (like deciding when to cross the bike path)… but that is for another blog post!

California Dreamin’: My view as I walked back from the Santa Barbara Harbor Festival.

Playing with Lasers! (sort of)

Hard hats, particle accelerators, electron guns, lasers, orange goggles, and a PhD thesis…So much has happened these last few weeks in the Sherwin lab! Here is a brief play-by-play of the most recent exciting events in my lab this summer:

The Chronicles of the Free Electron Laser:

The very powerful Free Electron Laser (FEL) we use for various experiments in terahertz spectroscopy had a little hiccup. Simply put, the particle accelerator had to be opened and serviced by our FEL “master” and mechanic, Dave. In order to do this, the entire accelerator must first be drained of the sulfur hexafluoride gas that fills it. Once the accelerator cavity is cleared, people can safely go inside. Dave kindly gave me and a couple of my lab-mates an up-close and personal tour of the all-powerful FEL. Here is the hole in which I bravely crawled through to get inside:

IMG_4578

Upon entering, the floor on which you stand also serves as an elevator shaft, taking you up or down based on what section of the accelerator you wish to see. Here is what looking up the accelerator from the inside looks like:

IMG_4573

Simply put, the key components of transporting and “accelerating” electrons lies within this center structure. Within this structure is something called an electron gun, which essentially shoots out an electron beam. Here is the electron gun (located at the top of the accelerator):

IMG_4575

After learning an incredible amount about how the main components within this structure work, one by one everyone in the accelerator crawled out. Here I am with one of the grad students in the Sherwin lab, Jessica. We were both so thrilled to have been inside such an amazing part of the FEL!

IMG_4579

 

 

Orange Goggles:

Last week the CSEP summer internships held the annual poster session. This year another intern in my lab, Jordan, was also a part of this presentation through the INSET program. In order to more effectively convey the great, fun, exciting, and innovative research that goes on the Sherwin lab, Jordan and I teamed forces and presented our posters side-by-side. Both eager to share our most recent summer project findings, we needed to find a way to draw in a big crowd. In other words, we needed a way to hook spectators’ attention. So we grabbed a couple pairs of laser safety goggles (orange!) and wore them while standing in front of our respective posters:

IMG_4617

Summer_Poster_Session_074 Summer_Poster_Session_052

 

The glasses really complemented our posters (and they are very sleek and stylish)! In the end we had a great turnout of people – people from all fields of science, and also many who weren’t in science at all! Being able to explain my project, over and over again to a new person each time, never tires or bores me. I’m always ready and excited to talk about my work (next time you see me, don’t hesitate to ask me anything about my research!). All in all, the poster session was a great success.

 

Submitting the PhD thesis:

Okay, so I didn’t submit a PhD thesis (I’m still an undergrad!). But my mentor, Devin, just did; congratulations Devin! Devin has been my mentor for the past year – last summer, last school year, and this summer. Here we are last summer (2012), in the magnet lab:

mary-lou-bailey-02

Devin’s been an awesome mentor – always making sure I understand the fundamental concepts behind our research and encouraging me throughout the summer. He, along with Dr. Sherwin and the entire lab, has made my research experience a fun, challenging, and memorable one. An important theme I’ve learned here is that research is a collaborative effort – between PIs, post-docs, grad students, undergrads, etc. Whenever I run across a difficult problem, Devin or any of the other people in my lab are always eager and happy to help.

Even though UC LEADS is coming to an end for the summer, I will still be working in the lab. New material for the terahertz light absorbers I’m making just came in – I have a good amount of work ahead of me, and I can’t wait. This is not the end, it’s a new beginning!

 

The Inside Scoop on the Physics Machine Shop

Hi everyone,

My name is Mary Lou Bailey and this is my second summer doing research in physics! I am excited to tell you all about how much fun working in a lab can be. Of course working here, in physics faculty Dr. Mark Sherwin’s lab, requires a lot of hard work and dedication – but that is for another blog post!

My first few weeks working here under the UCLEADS program have been a blast. I started off continuing a project I had been working on over the past academic year. With more time in the summer to really focus on this project, I managed to finish it within the first two weeks of this internship! The majority of this project focused on building different parts for a mechanical line that moves a cart across our optics table, using stepper motors. In order to build these parts, I got to spend a lot of time in the physics machine shop. Let me tell you about the machine shop – it is a blast in there. The student supervisor, Guy, is a lot of fun to work with and be around. Whenever I go up to him with a question about one of the machines, before I can get one word out, he’ll look at me and jokingly say, “alright, what did you break this time?’ In case you were wondering, I haven’t broken anything… yet. Another great thing about the machine shop is the music they play in there. Yeah, the music. In my opinion, they play really interesting heavy rock/borderline metal music (?. I’m pretty mainstream when it comes to music so almost anything outside of Ryan Seacrest’s America’s Top 40 is pretty new to me). Anyway, I think this genre of music really sets the stage for a machine shop.

The machine shop is split into two parts – the student half and the high energy half. Only authorized personnel are allowed in the latter half, which brings me to my next story! One of the pieces for this mechanical line I worked on required an aluminum plate with 55 1/4-20 (screw size) tapped holes. Now, in the student shop, you would tap these holes one by one by hand. It is a very tedious task when you have to do more than 5 holes. So you can imagine my feelings towards doing 11 times that. I began on this task, twisting, untwisting, and pouring some “magic tap” fluid into these holes to help the tap pieces thread smoother. After about 2 holes, Guy came up to me and nonchalantly asked, “want to use a big-boy toy?” I immediately said yes. I followed him into the high energy shop, where many serious faces turned to look at the small but brave girl walk past them. Guy took me to a very cool looking air drill, where he attached my tap screw and turned it on. I quickly tapped through each hole, using this powerful, handy, and convenient drill. Within 5 minutes, a task that was guaranteed to take 2 hours was finished. I blew off the drill, took my tap screw and aluminum plate, and strutted out of there like a pro machinist. All in a day’s work.

And that’s some of what goes on in the physics machine shop! Tune in next week to find out the inside scoop on Free Electron Lasers!