AIMing High

Earlier this year, I was looking for research opportunities in the engineering field. After multiple hours of mindlessly searching the internet, I finally came across the “AIM Photonics Undergraduate Research Internship” page and very quickly became interested. I thought it was a brilliant program that recruited undergraduate students to work in the labs with graduate students while gaining research experience. I pulled up the application and realized that it was due that day! I knew I couldn’t let this opportunity go so I quickly started writing my personal statement and sent two of my most influential professors an email requesting a letter of recommendation. I submitted my application at 11:45PM that night. I think th2at the time spent on this application was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made

So far, my research has consisted of reviewing material from modern and optical physics and practicing optical fiber alignment with tunable lasers as well as measuring resistance of photonic chips. I have collected the data and created an IV Graph as well as a spreadsheet with the resistance measurements. I am going to present my results this week to my mentor and faculty advisor. This will be a great chance for me to practice my oral communication skills for my future career as an engineer when I am expected to tell people about my research.

In the second half of my research experience, I hope to learn more lab techniques as well as the work that is going into the field of photonics. My mentor shared with me that this field is still somewhat in the beginning stages and that once enough research is done, it will change the way the world communicates for the better. It will be much faster and way more energy efficient than the current state of communication and let’s be honest, who doesn’t want that?

 

AIM  Posted by 05 Sep 2017 / 0 comments

How a Marine Bio Hopeful Found Herself Working with Parasites

I had come to UCSB with grand plans for marine biology research but flash forward one year, and I’m working in the Parasite Ecology Lab, in a field I had never even considered. In fact, when I was visiting UCSB and a student told me about the parasitology class, my answer was along the lines of, “Parasites? Gross!” And I held to that belief until about the first week of college. I was attending a seminar in the EEMB department, and I was definitely out of my depth, extremely fascinated, and somewhat in awe. While I remember these emotions perfectly, I couldn’t name a single presentation I saw that day, save one. Dr. Armand Kuris gave a talk about using the parasites found in oarfish to determine where this fish lies on the food web. By tracking the life stages of a parasite in different hosts – say oarfish and whale – you could tell which host was eating another host. I had never heard of any parasite research beyond public health, and I had never considered that it could be tied to ecology. I was so fascinated that I had to tell this professor how much I enjoyed his presentation and how exciting I found this research. Apparently, this first conversation went much better than I thought, though I didn’t have much to contribute besides, “That research seems so cool!” (hopefully in a more academic way, but I was nerding out quite a bit). A week later I was offered a position in this professor’s lab. I jumped at the opportunity and have been on that track ever since.

Sometimes I wonder what I would be doing now if I had never gone to that seminar or voiced my opinion on Armand’s research. Perhaps I would be doing something more marine bio focused, but I might also be the same person who reacted with “Parasites? Gross!”

EUREKA  Posted by 31 Aug 2017 / 0 comments

My Summer at UCSB

I’ve always had a fascination with technology, mostly driven by my video game consoles and the old family computer. I read up on how all my machines worked, sometimes tempted to take them apart (fortunately, my fear of not being able to put them back together kept me at bay). Having gone to a high school specializing in science and engineering, I was able to hone in on which disciplines I found the most interesting, specifically devices and nanofabrication, thanks to a nanotechnology course I took my junior year. That was inspiration enough for me to find research quickly upon reaching university. When I came across the opportunity to explore an entirely new coast and meet students from all over the country, I jumped on it (Thanks, internet)!

The nearly six-hour flight to California was the longest I’d ever taken, made all the more disorienting by the three-hour time difference between Santa Barbara and Miami. The first thing I noticed was how little I had prepared for the cool weather (Honestly, I was more concerned about earthquakes and forest fires). Under the impression that Santa Barbara was farther south, and that it must be just as warm as home, I’d packed more shorts than anything else. So after finding a sweatshirt, I had to deal with my next challenge—actual research. Specifically, working within the ECE department through the AIM Photonics program.

I’ve gotten the rare opportunity to familiarize myself with various tools and machines in UCSB’s nanofabrication facility, better known as the cleanroom. Yanking on a bunny suit for the first time was daunting—and a bit harder than the employees made it look. Walking in, hearing nothing but the low hum of machines and seeing white-clad researchers move quickly and quietly carrying wafers of silicon made me uneasy. As intimidating as the machinery looked be in size, with intricate arrays of switches, monitors, and dials, they seemed delicate enough to break with a single touch. And in some ways, they are. Using the equipment in the cleanroom efficiently requires a solid foundation in device physics as well as chemistry. Having only completed my first year in university, most of what I know about the phenomena that allow for nanoscale fabrication comes from high school and self-study. It’s been four weeks since I’ve begun, and already I’ve assigned myself reading—finding whatever articles and textbooks I can to understand why each step in a process must be followed to the tiniest detail. Doing my own homework has really helped make up for the skill gap and has allowed me to make educated decisions in processing (with help). And though training is mandatory in the cleanroom, I am glad to have skilled mentors who can explain the mechanics of each processing step with more clarity than high-level texts. Their advice and support is much appreciated, and this sneak-peek into the lives of graduate students is already helping to shape my future goals in research and academia.

Rodwell Interns  Posted by 30 Aug 2017 / 0 comments

Beginning in Photonics

I remember being beyond stressed about finding a summer internship. There were so many opportunities being presented by the advising department in different realms of physics, everything from biophysics to astrophysics and everything in between. It was overwhelming how many things there were to apply to, I didn’t know where to start. Everyone around me seemed so sure of what they were doing and what field they were interested in. It felt like they had their entire career figured out by day 2 of sophomore year, and I was falling behind.

Thankfully, I was accepted to the AIM Photonics Future Leaders Program, which is a program that acquaints undergraduates with the field of photonics. On the first day, I found out I was assigned to work on optimizing quantum dot lasers epitaxially grown on silicon substrate. The first time I read that project description I had a miniature heart attack: I knew what maybe two of those words meant (“dot” and “laser”). I was struck with how little I knew about what I was about to walk into and how entirely unqualified I was to be working here. I was terrified I was going to embarrass myself in front of graduate students and researchers, or even worse, ruin the experiments.

After three full weeks of running measurements, attending lab group meetings and seminars, and digesting a hefty chunk of a textbook about lasers, I can comfortably say I know what my work is about. I’ve only dropped the tiny little lasers I have to transfer from their case to the microscope stage twice, I have yet to break anything extremely expensive (knock on wood). And yet, I’m still far from comfortable in my setting. My severe case of impostor syndrome has quieted from a piercing scream to dull background noise, but I still feel my stomach tighten when my graduate mentor watches me take a measurement. People that I share lab space have seen me around enough to think I belong and will sometimes ask me questions, and I nine times out of 10 have zero clue how to answer them.

This feeling of discomfort is important to me, though. It’s how I know I’m growing as a student and a researcher. Research is what I want to do as a career, it’s what I hope to do indefinitely. If I didn’t still feel these growing pains it would mean I’m not pushing myself hard enough. Comfortable is boring, and that’s why I love physics and photonics: it’s not there to coddle you, it’s there to push you.

AIM  Posted by 29 Aug 2017 / 0 comments

Take a Hike: My Summer Research Experience

With summer in full swing, I now have more time to pursue two of my interests: hiking and research. Before I went into the lab last Saturday, my roommate and I decided to go on a short hike to 7 Falls. We kept climbing up, and before we knew it, we had gone far past what should’ve been the halfway point. We kept debating if we should turn around or “just keep hiking for another ten minutes”; after many “ten more minutes” and no end in sight, we finally decided to head back. Later that night, when I returned from lab, I googled the trails in the area. We had turned right at the wrong fork, and had we kept going, our three mile hike would’ve turned into an eleven mile one that we certainly weren’t prepared for!

In my first three weeks as a EUREKA! Intern, I’ve realized hiking and research have more in common than meets the eye. In my lab, I’m learning to create DNA nanotubes, and throughout the process, I have to ask myself “Should I turn around?”. If I make a mistake, will it ruin my progress and be a waste of time to keep going? Or, was my mistake minor enough that it won’t affect my results, and it would be a waste of resources to start over? Once, for example, we were running gel electrophoresis (a process which uses electric current to separate DNA by size through the pores of a gel) but our wells overflowed since we poured the gel too high; we decided it would be best to keep going since most of the wells contained the same type of sample. Another time, however, we realized we used the wrong type of buffer when making our nanotubes, and had to restart.

When I first started in my lab, I was as unfamiliar with the procedures as I am with the local trails in Santa Barbara. My mentor had to guide me through each step and it took us three days to complete the process of making our nanotubes. Now, as I gain more confidence and a better understanding of how the nanotubes are made, I am able to complete the process in a single day. I’m able to better judge where I made a wrong turn and how far back down the “trail” I need to go in order to get back on course. When I was imagining a sample under the microscope this Friday, I initially couldn’t see anything. I decided to remake my slide but dilute my sample less, and this time around, I was able to see the nanotubes. While this particular backtrack solved my imaging problem, the nanotubes themselves appeared extremely short, and the measurements of the concentration of DNA in this sample were much lower than normal; unfortunately, it looks like it’s time to go back to the start of the trail.

As the summer progresses, I’m looking forward to continuing to develop my understanding of how scientific research works (and also getting in a few more hikes). The more time I spend in the lab, the more I’m able to judge whether I’m on the right path or not. Hopefully I’ll soon learn to do the same with our local trails.

EUREKA  Posted by 24 Aug 2017 / 0 comments