© 2016 JUSTIN SU. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

A Home Away from Home

When a power outage occurs in Isla Vista and the library closes at 2 AM, there is only one option left for me – the lab. That actually happened. I did not sleep there, of course, though I desperately needed power, warmth, and speakers that can blast me awake. Interestingly enough, I was not alone. One of the graduate students working in my lab was also there. It simply felt like home, where that oh dark hundred became one of the most productive I have been in all summer.

© 2016 JUSTIN SU. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

This world also contains a direct view to the ocean and the freshman dorms!

Working in Dr. Zach Ma’s lab opened a new world for me, one that I would not have expected to be in a year ago. A world that contains one of the purest, sterile water on campus, countless bags of pipette tips, and some laboratory equipment that cost more than most luxury cars. Though a chemistry major, I have always found the field of biology intriguing, and joining a cell biology lab before even taking general biology is quite a challenge and a reward. Learning biochemical techniques and operating laboratory equipment these past months were all fascinating fun, yet the reiterated realization of the difference between doing and thinking was a defining moment of this summer. Acknowledging the fact of doing from memorizing was extremely difficult until problems began to arise sporadically. Every experiment has their own situations. Doing based on understanding the scientific concepts and their rationales adapts to those situations, and would have optimized the ideal circumstances for each experiment I ran. Boy, would that help me in organic chemistry.

© 2016 JUSTIN SU. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

A year ago, I did not know that it was possible for a freshman to get involved in research, especially cutting-edge research. Though in research, one thing to hone in on is resiliency. No matter if your hypothesis was horrendously wrong, you go back to the drawing board and patiently and logically crank it out. As a part of a research group, I have a family that is willing to come to my aid and motivate me. I can even go to other families around campus and find ways to collaborate, whether they be ideas or equipment. Simply put, we are a family, and this is my home, where I will be making life-defining memories (and scientific discoveries, hopefully) for the years to come.

EUREKA  Posted by 29 Nov 2016 / 0 comments
© 2016 JUSTIN SU. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Summer Research Declassified

EUREKA!.2016.S01E01.Summer.Research.Declassified.1080p.BluRay.DD5.1.H264-UCSB

↳ Subtitles.txt

COLD OPEN

FADE IN:

Bill Nye: “EUREKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Beck Bennett: Gets an adrenaline rush. Parties hard until rush dissipates. Drafts. Publishes. Spams published paper. Gets invitations. Accepts invitations. Presents in conferences. Gets nominated. Wins nomination. Becomes a Nobel laureate. Finally, SLEEP.

*transition swish*

Morgan Freeman: Clinching a Nobel Prize is one of the lengthiest and arduous attempts. This may take many a lifetime, or a cleverly few, coming in clutch, with one expedited shot at the prize. Space, time, and life itself. The secrets of the cosmos lie through the wormhole.

Neil deGrasse Tyson: Though the timeline to be the most prestigious in the science realm is enticing, saying “EUREKA!” is by no means easy. It all must start with research, and research requires resiliency, critical thinking, perseverance, concentration, self-motivation, and a great deal of time. That is why summer is the best time to get started, where Justin is on the hunt to declassify summer research in this episode of EUREKA!

END OF COLD OPEN
ACT ONE

Justin: Summer is the opportune time to grow as an undergraduate researcher. Not only does one experience the breadth of undergraduate research that UCSB offers, but one can also take the opportunities to communicate one’s research to the public.

As an EUREKA! scholar, I, Justin Su, have been tasked to declassify summer research here at UC Santa Barbara. Conducting research, though crucial for scientific discoveries, is meaningless when the research itself is neither shared nor critiqued by the scientific community. While I am currently working in a cell biology lab to develop my biochemical techniques, EUREKA! is equipping me with the necessary presentation skills for my future conference talks.

Presenting in front of an audience is of the arts that one must master to become a highly acclaimed scientist. It is undoubtedly frightening, especially when the faces of your audience remain expressionless as you begin. Even if you envision the ideal flow of your presentation, the detrimental “noises” in your presentation environment may majorly allocate the audience’s attention bandwidth. I and many presenters must therefore combat these “noises,” especially the personally induced ones. Continuous practice is a harsh, yet imperative, prerequisite to control these noises. Simplification and visualization of information is also essential in retaining the audience’s attention. Additionally, verbal intonation, vocal stability, and bodily expressions will assist in honing the presentation to its ideal and natural form. In the end, you get the fame, the food, the drinks, and the connections, basically all for brief moments on a stage.

Behind the scenes, conducting a personal research project is of the sciences that surprisingly encompasses the execution of many personal values and virtues. In my case, the field of cell biology is extremely logically structured that requires rigorous critical thinking sessions. The virtues of patience, resilience, and open-mindedness are vital when pondering the rationales behind specific mechanisms and pathways. Experimentally, the amount of attention to detail can make or break your experiments, setting off a good or bad domino effect. Whenever it comes to doing Western Blot, immunofluorescent staining, and even mammalian cell culture, I concentrate on being accurate and precise among all my actions to ensure quality and effective data. Despite the time reserved for the experiments, your mind would be like Einstein’s, and it is so worth it (i.e. learning upper-division biology concepts as a freshman). Gradually, however, one will begin to appreciate the science behind these biochemical techniques and analytical skills. By applying your mind, skills, and values to the cutting edge research done here at UCSB, you will be on your way to saying “EUREKA!” in no time.

With the fusion of art and science behind research, the ample space, time, and life that summer at UCSB provides is the epitome for undergraduate researchers to fulfill their potential in becoming groundbreaking, world-renowned scientists in their fields. With a laid-back, sunny Isla Vista during the summer, I could go on runs, film and edit videos, play beach volleyball, chill with my friends, and not worry about weekly exams. Although I am halfway through my first summer research experience, there is so much that I cannot wait to do in my next three years. Until next time, this is EUREKA!’s Summer Research Declassified.

FADE OUT:

END ACT ONE

TL;DR: Be cool like us and do summer research – It’s really lit, fam!

EUREKA  Posted by 01 Sep 2016 / 0 comments

A New Research Experience as a Freshman Mechanical Engineer

I have been asked how I got into research so early in my undergraduate career, so I’ll break it down.

Summer 2015: The Summer Institute of Mathematics and Science

The summer before my Freshman year I got an email inviting me to apply to the Summer Institute of Mathematics and science (SIMS). I didn’t know it when I applied, but SIMS was a two week intensive program that introduced research and introductory classes in a condensed and fast-paced way. These short few weeks was my first research experience. Working with Ryan Need and other SIMS students, I melted together iron and germanium to make crystals that have a square shape in their lattice structure. These exhibit a phenomenon called skirmions, which may one day lead to a more efficient way of storing data. What does any of that mean and how do you communicate it in a way that other people can understand? Welcome to research.

Fall 2016: Finding Another Opportunity for Research

I knew after SIMS that I wanted to continue down the research path, but I wasn’t sure what to do next. I went to a couple of seminars that had been advertised, and learned a bit about what research others were doing. I found a couple of projects that I was interested in and emailed the professors. Unfortunately I did not have the experience that they were looking for (understandably). After some other attempts, I emailed Sumita Pennathur essentially asking if I could sit in a corner of lab to observe. She kindly replied that I could attend the weekly group meetings. Yay, I got an in! And after the first few minutes of the first meeting I attended, where one of the lab members presented on their research, I realized that I knew very little as a freshman. All the more reason to pay attention and learn what I could.

Winter 2015-Summer 2016: Gorman Scholar Internship

In winter quarter, the SIMS alumni were recommended to apply to the EUREKA! program, which rewards a stipend to students during 8 weeks of research–in a lab of your choice–over the summer. What a great deal! I applied and got in, actually as a Gorman Scholar, which is a similar program that differs a little when it comes to funding. I emailed my acceptance to Sumita and she was happy to make me an offical part of the lab. So here I am now, a Gorman Scholar Intern, working in Sumita Pennathur’s lab, with Mike Garcia as my graduate student mentor.

The morale of the story is keep trying. Keep emailing professors and graduate students and go to showcases and seminars. Put yourself out there and grow out of your comfort zone. Keep persevering and you’ll make it.

 

Gorman  Posted by 09 Aug 2016 / 0 comments