What next?

I’ve been happier this summer than I have been for a long time. I can’t even put into words how much fun I had learning all of these different skills: soldering electronics, machining, engineering software,design, programming…the list goes on and on. Not to mention how much I’ve learned about grad school and how to best succeed and be happy there. I didn’t get to finish what i wanted to do with my project, but Im going to work in the lab for another month before school starts, so i hope to finish Gathering the data that i want. I’m so grateful to have met my mentor Ishai and my advisor Dr. Lubin, as well as everyone else involved in the INSET program, this experience has definitely hanged my life for the better. 

One problem for me right now is that I want to change my major from astrophysics to computer engineering. Over the summer I fell in love with both electronics and programming, and found out that I can combine both hardware and software studies with this major. I still love astrophysics an want to do it as a minor, but the process of using physics to design and create real life systems has taken over my interest, and I like the fact that I would actually have jobs available for me after I graduated. The problem with this is that I no longer feel that attending the school I have accepted (UC Santa Cruz) is the right choice. UCSC was great for astrophysics, but UCSB is much better for engineering, so I am actually considering spending one more year in community college; both to save 8000 dollars of debt for taking classes at Santa Cruz for engineering that I could take at a CC, and because I want the chance to apply to UC Santa Barbara. I’ve completely fallen in love with this school, and really cant imagine going anywhere else. It’s scary to think about rejecting admission to a UC when I’ve worked so hard to transfer, but it really wouldn’t be a step backwards when you consider all of the benefits. I’m still undecided though. 

Advice to future interns: ask questions, as many as possible; the more you know about your project, the more you will enjoy your work. I never thought I would ever care about building a giant thermos, but I’m having a blast! Also don’t close your eyes to any doors or opportunities, keep your mind and future as open as possible. I wish I could go back on time and take my own advice. In closing, thank you to all the wonderful people who made this possible, I appreciate this experience more than words can say! 

-Britt Christy

Outro

The internship is over and I wrapped up all my work this summer. It has been a challenge and though there is much work to be done I am content with the amount of work that I accomplished this summer. It had definitely changed my perspective of what research consists of. There were times where I felt overwhelmed with the amount of science that is involved in simple experiments like visible spectroscopy; nevertheless, you have to dig deep and persevere. Since I had never been involved in any research or internships I really did not know what I was getting myself into. So this was such a great opportunity for me to see what graduate work is all about. From the different experiences I herd from the other interns I soon found out that everyone experience was quite unique. Some had excellent relationships with their mentors and faculty advisers, such as myself, others not so good. Some were assigned projects where they were on their own and others worked to advance the research of their mentors, such as myself. So there are many different things you can take out of this experience. Personally I could not have had a better experience, it has really been a wonderful summer regardless of the frustrations I encountered along the way. I would absolutely recommend anyone considering applying to INSET, it is a great opportunity to learn and be aware of what graduate life is like.

Looking back and looking forward

My mentor asked me today how I felt about the summer looking back. I told him I felt pretty worthless and the general consensus amongst my lab group was that research does that to you. You just need to love feeling worthless.

My summer wasn’t entirely worthless though. I expected things to progress more quickly, but that’s where patience comes in. Patience is important in research. Patience and a love for feeling worthless sometimes. I did get a considerable amount done this summer though. I ended with a design for a novel apparatus as well as a few successful experiments. I also learned a ton about interfaces and surface tension. It’s incredible how often you notice phenomena that result from things like surface tension once you’re aware of it. I’m glad that I got to spend some time in the machine shop too. I didn’t end the summer with a physical prototype, but I did get familiar with the milling machine and I think that’s more important.

The only advice that I have for future interns is to come with an open mind and be ready for things to take longer than you expect. Experiments are always more difficult than you would think and they can be really tedious. So be patient. Did I say that before? Patience is important.

I plan to do internships every summer until I graduate. This internship definitely gave me a new perspective on grad school and careers. I want my next internship to be in industry. I feel like there’s no way for me to know whether I want to go to grad school or not until I see if I like the working world. Before this summer I was considering grad school as a possibility, but I really didn’t know anything about it. Now I feel like I know a little about it and it’s less of a possibility in my mind. I’ll bet that I would be successful in grad school and what not, but I don’t think it’s necessary and I’m way too impatient to spend 4-7 years doing research. Especially considering how little grad students make.

Now I’ve got one more semester of pre-reqs at SBCC before I can transfer. I’m taking some cool classes though. Circuits should be fun. Electricity and Magnetism too. I’m going to study abroad in the spring so I’m really looking forward to that. After that I’ll be transferring to UCSB for computer engineering. There’s no way I can go to another school after this summer. I like UCSB too much.

Thanks for reading whoever you are.

The Last Post

We talked today about the rest of our lives
Where we’re gonna be when we turn 25
I keep thinking times will never change
Keep on thinking things will always be the same
But when we leave this summer we won’t be coming back
No more hanging out cause we’re on a different track
And if you got something that you need to say
You better say it right now cause you don’t have another day
Cause we’re moving on and we can’t slow down
These memories are playing like a film without sound
And this is how it feels

As we go on
We remember
All the times we
Had together
And as our lives change
From whatever
We will still be
Friends Forever

So if we get the big jobs
And we make the big money
When we look back now
Will our jokes still be funny?
Will we still remember everything we learned in school?
Still be trying to break every single rule
Will little brainy Daniel be the stockbroker man?
Can Britt find a job that won’t interfere with her tan?
I keep, keep thinking that it’s not goodbye
Keep on thinking it’s a time to fly
And this is how it feels

La, la, la, la:
Yeah, yeah, yeah
La, la, la, la:
We will still be friends forever

Will we think about tomorrow like we think about now?
Can we survive it out there?
Can we make it somehow?
I guess I thought that this would never end
And suddenly it’s like we’re women and men
Will the past be a shadow that will follow us ’round?
Will these memories fade when I leave this town
I keep, keep thinking that it’s not goodbye
Keep on thinking it’s a time to fly

But INSET cant last all year long

And after tomorrow it’ll all be gone

The time I’ve had has opened my eyes

I look out now and see blue skies!

End of the Line :(

It has been one of the best summers I have ever had and I would definitely recommended others to do it. I also hope to come back again and do another internship. My advice for those coming in next summer, is to enjoy your time here. Enjoy the research you do, but get out, go have fun and live. Don’t let the summer pass you by why your here.

I see myself still in school working towards my bachelors and by ten years I hope to have my doctorate in math or something I really love and be teaching or working in a job I can not wait to get to every day.

The fall I am transferring to UCSD. I will still working on my undergraduate and hopefully double majoring in math and maybe engineering or computer science . Next summer I hope to be doing another research program here at UCSB, UCSD or some other institution.

Hope every one has a great summer and that every one does extremely well where ever they go. So I’ll see you all when I see you.

Last day of INSET…

Well, I guess this is my last day of INSET. I can’t believe it’s over! WoW!! This feels strange…..I was super busy throughout these eight weeks slaving away in my lab, so now it is hard to realize that I’m through with my internship. I feel super sentimental…..boo-hoo 😥 I almost want to burst into tears. I’ll miss my awesome “whelk whisperer” roommate and my super quite ninja roommate…..aaaa!!! I don’t want to think about it!!! I’ll miss ALL of my INSET family! Even though my other awesome roommate and I are staying here for another month just to (hopefully) finish our projects, it’s not going to be the same.
This internship was definitely a wonderful way to spend summer. I’ve learned so much, and I’ve met so many people with great personalities, great sense of humor, just good people in general! I have no idea how does INSET program screen its applicants but they are definitely doing a great job!
So, what are my plans for the upcoming year? I am staying here at UCSB for another month, and I will try to finish my project. Then I am going to UCLA. I will definitely seek an intern position at one of the labs there during the academic year, and since INSET was such a wonderful experience, I am planning to apply for other summer internships.
Oh, and I’m looking forward to our little INSET reunion in November (during the NC conference) YAY!!!

Summer Reflections

I didn’t know what to expect at all from this internship when I started. I came in with what seemed like no useful prior knowledge at all about the project I was assigned to work on. The amount of information I had to learn in a very short span of time was definitely overwhelming, but I got through it. I’ve gotten through more than I thought I was capable of this summer. There were definitely frustrations, and lots of mistakes made, but I learned something from each incident. I was not always happy or satisfied with everything, but I am a better person because of all of that. The presentations we all had to prepare actually went better than I had expected. Learning how to put together good power point slides and polishing up my speech skills for a clear, confident talk was the best part of the summer for me. Getting to know UC Santa Barbara was also a definite plus, since I’m transferring here in the fall. There is so much less stress involved in the transition now because I already know a lot about the environment here, and in September it will almost be like coming “home.”

Reflections

Well, the summer has come to a close. I now have one week to do as little as possible before school starts. Sitting in Elings Hall today, laughing and joking about late-night festivities with my fellow interns, I thought back to the first week, where every face was a strange one and I was absolutely terrified by the idea of research. It’s been an entire 8 weeks. And yet, only 8 weeks… At the end of this internship, I am left with a great deal of gratitude. I felt that the program was very well put together. From the workshops to the lecture series, we were exposed to many ideas, research projects, and perspectives on the world. I knew that this program would incorporate all these different aspects of learning, and thus that was not a surprise. What surprised me was the relative intensity of the program. While not quite as bad as school (due to a notable lack of schoolwork), this wasn’t easy. From creating posters to reading scientific papers to giving oral presentations, I was challenged both as a scientist and as a person. But that’s what makes us better, no? I would recommend INSET to anyone willing to challenge themselves and grow. I have a certain amount of gleeful satisfaction in knowing that this isn’t a program that you can float through. Thus finishing it means something. If you are ready to work hard, learn, and challenge yourself as a person as well as an academic, definitely go for it!

Next year I will be completing my last year at the community college level. This fall I will be submitting applications to various universities for transfer. While I’d love to go to UC Berkeley, I’d be happy with any of California’s fine institutions. I will continue my current studies, as I believe I’ve found my purpose in the pursuit of the sciences. It has always been my intention to get a bachelor’s. After doing research this summer I am seriously considering graduate studies. I was turned off by grad school just because I didn’t know what grad school was and if I could do it. But I’ve seen grad students at work. I believe I can get through a graduate student program. More importantly, I’ve seen the passion and fervor that these grad students and professors have for their areas of expertise, and that is what I want with my life: fulfillment.

Next summer I’m interning again. Once you go research, you never go back. 😀

Final week

We’ve finally reached the end of our summer adventure with the INSET program and what a summer it’s been! It’s hard to believe that eight weeks have already passed but here I am writing my final blog entry. I’ve learned so much throughout the whole summer in so many aspects; from life, science, careers, and education, INSET made it all possible. I’ve also made some great friends along the way and had the pleasure of working with one of the coolest mentors possible. I’m really going to miss everyone and of course, beautiful Santa Barbara. For all future interns for this and related programs, I suggest you take full advantage and put in as much effort as possible because it goes by extremely fast.

 

Now that the program is over, I can relax for the remainder of summer until transferring to CSUCI at the end of the month. This coming school year will present me with my greatest academic challenges to date, but I know I will be well prepared due in part to the skills I’ve learned through INSET. I hope to find another internship opportunity next summer and complete my degree in chemistry the school year following. From there, the sky’s the limit.

Week 7-8 INSET 2011

When I came here I had no idea of what to expect. It turned out to be a planned out program with many meetings and seminars. I had initially imagined I would just be doing some kind of lab work and that would be all. It has personal development seminars, research seminars, meetings to helps us put together a final presentation and the posters. So in a way, I would say it exceed all my expectations. I have learned a lot this summer, not only about the subject of research but about graduate school, how research is done, what to do in conferences, how to present your work. I even got to know UC Santa Barbara. I would definitely recommend this program to everyone I know. It is a great program and I learned so much during my stay here.

I think the only advice I can give is to work hard to make the best presentation possible and to enjoy the stay here because time will pass very fast. Eight weeks might seem like a lot of time but it is not enough to get a lot done (or what seems to be a lot). That being said, be proud of what you accomplish even if it seems small.

In a year from now I think/hope I will be in an internship in industry so I can see how industry is. Ten years from now I hope of being done with school and having a job. I know definitively that I will go to graduate school. I just have to get a few more internships before I decide for a Masters or a Ph.D. Either way, it will probably be here at UCSB.

For the coming academic year I plan to attend Cal Poly, SLO and keep working hard. Also, I plan to enjoy my stay there just as I enjoyed my stay here at UCSB. For next summer, I plan to get an internship in industry, if not, having an internship for sure.

INSET near the end

In these last few weeks, we have been very productive and have seen the project come to life. Finally we got things working out and were able to get data from our simulations. It is so gratifying to see that all that hard work is finally yielding results. There were many times that I wondered whether we would accomplish anything this summer, and I am now glad to say that we did. It feels like the pressure from the upcoming presentations made us work more creatively and be able to finish up the work.

In terms of weekends and after work stuff, I really enjoyed playing soccer at the Rec Cen, hiking, or just walking around in downtown SB. I like to exercise, and Santa Barbara has perfect weather everyday so I can really take advantage of that to go outside and enjoy the day.

Weekend before Final Presentations

Its 6:30 pm on Sunday evening, and there’s still mountains of work to be done before this presentation is finished for tomorrow. Sergio’s been here since 9 am. I don’t envy him. My project has gone through a revolution in a week, and the only thing left is the word ‘Expertise’. I’ve read 400 pages of lay deliberations, twice.

I’ve really enjoyed this program, and it’s ending wouldn’t be appropriate without a crescendo of final research ending in some kind of wild internship party. Maybe Yonk can arrange something to that effect. This program has given me the chance to be someone else again, or to be myself in a different place. Very likely both. But I can only think that this has been one of the nicest summers I’ve had.

Research takes longer than you think

I started this summer with a kind of naive optimism.  I figured that I would come in here, finish my project in a few weeks and move onto something new.  Now it’s been six weeks and I feel like I haven’t accomplished a thing.  I don’t think that a single thing has been as easy as I originally thought.

Both of the experiments that I’ve had to do are simple enough to do in a day.  I’m actually going in tomorrow to repeat them again and hopefully get some data that agrees with previous experiments and supports the ideas behind the experiment.  This will probably be the seventh time I’ve done the isotherm experiment.  The experiment is simple.  You start with a pure glass of oil on water and measure the surface tension.  Then you introduce a solution of surfactant into the water in small concentrations.  Wait.  Remeasure interface.  Repeat.  Easy right?  Yeah, but I’ve done it seven times and I’m not happy with any of the results I’ve gotten.

The flat interface removal experiment is just as easy.  Start with a contaminated oil-water interface.  Measure tension.  Stick a syringe onto the interface and suck some of it up.  Repeat.  I don’t even have to measure it every time.  The problem is that every time I’ve done the experiment the interfacial tension has started to rise as expected and then suddenly dropped to next to nothing at unexpected times during the experiment.  I figure that I must have contaminated it somehow, but I’ve been getting more and more careful and it keeps happening.  I’ll get it right tomorrow though.  I’m sure of it.  I say that every time though.

Oh yeah, so my project this summer has been to design a surfactant removal system.  I’ve done a lot of designing, talking and thinking about it, I’ve even made a few parts in the machine shop, but I don’t have anything nearly completed.  Maybe I’ll finish it next week.  I say that every week though.

As you can see I’ve become pessimistic, or maybe just realistic, about research.  I still have two weeks left though.  I’ll have it all done.  Don’t worry.

2 more weeks to go…

It coming down to the wire. Though research has been fun, I will miss my roommates and all those living in Santa Ynez apartments. I’ll especially miss a lot of the food shared between neighbors. One thing besides that is the recreation center. I love going to the recreation center and using the gym their. I especially like all new equipment that was put in place by the university. I think one of the coolest parts however is that I get to work with my roommate, which can be difficult sometimes, but I enjoy the philosophical talks.

Much of my research has gone to plan. Since it is in the begging stages, most of my work has been to do a lot of data collection and cataloging. Even though my work has had some bumps along the way, my mentor and I were able to get past them and move ahead. Most of my data so far has been collected and i’m just cataloging and organizing it now.

Until next time…

William

Last Day of Fieldwork

This morning I woke up at around 1:19AM and blearily shuffled to the kitchen to prepare some variation of a caffeinated beverage. While getting up to do fieldwork is both physically and mentally challenging, I felt a little sad: today was my last official day out in the field. Unless something goes terribly wrong and I’m needed to assist again, I most likely won’t voluntarily be visiting tide-pools any earlier than 6AM for a significant amount of time. While my research has both lab and field components, and the lab components are infinitely more comfortable, there is something about being out amidst rocks, waves, and whelks in the dark of night that makes you feel alive. I fell in love with whelks, mussels, and tide-pools during those 3AM ventures, and have emerged on this side of the experience much more grateful for intertidal species than I was when I started.

As the internship is winding down to a close and we’re getting close to crunch time for presentations, posters, and abstracts, I’m starting to wrap up my experiments as well. The funny thing about watching whelks eat is that it takes time for them to grow. Basically: set up experiment, cross fingers, and let it cook for, say, a month or so. It has been very exciting taking apart the tupperware containers full of whelks and measuring them. These snails are so small and cute, and yet they can impact this ecosystem so profoundly. They haven’t grown as much as I’d like, so its hard to say which size mussel is optimal, but that’s more due to time constraints than anything. Two of my roommates are redoing their experiments this last week, trying to erase the mislabeled, bleached out dyes that they had been given (not their faults, btw). I’m just glad I have some pretty accurate numbers to put down into my waterproof notebook.

I’m currently living in the Santa Ynez apartments, and have the slight misfortune of sleeping right next to an apartment full of unruly guys that believe Tuesday nights are the perfect night to stay up late and party. I personally am not interested in the party scene, but I have taken the time to visit downtown SB with old friends, drive home and spend a weekend there, and shop with my favorite Russian. I made a terrible mistake in buying a netflix subscription, and thus have too many movies to watch, and not enough time to watch them. But I suppose that’s my fault there, isn’t it? As a quiet person that prefers a quiet life, I am very happy here at UCSB. I find a lot of satisfaction in my research work and am working with awesome fellow in terns and an amazing mentor.

Perseverance

Talking about stumbling blocks….Final two weeks are approaching quickly and I am still fighting with my nanochannels and sticky DNA, well mostly DNA. At first my samples photobleached, so I had to prepare new dilution. Once I made a new set of samples, DNA started sticking to the walls of the channels, in which I run my experiments. It wouldn’t be so bad if only I could get it off the walls but it’s pretty much impossible, therefore my nano-chips (two out of three) are ready to be tossed out leaving me with only one chip which came with some defects. I did get some data but it is definitely not what I expected to have by now. So for our final presentation next week I don’t think I’ll have much on my “data and results” slide. This is a bit frustrating. But on the bright side I did get so professional at setting up and preparing my chips for running the experiments that once I get new chip (that is actually specially coated to prevent adsorption) I will be able to generate results and data in no time at all. Although I had some tough times doing my research and our internship is almost over it’s not the end of my research since I was offered interning position in my lab for another month, pretty much till I start UCLA)))) YAY!!!!

Week 6

The days just seem to be flying by at this point. And with deadlines coming up soon, it is time to really kick things into overdrive. It was only recently that my experimental methods were precise enough to yield acceptable data, so it is unfortunate that things are coming to a close when the data is just starting to look good. This seems to be a huge underlying theme when it comes to research: practice makes perfect. Every week leading up to this has been filled with discovering critical flaws in my methods and correcting them accordingly until reaching this point. Through the difficulties I have faced in the laboratory however, I have really learned to truly appreciate the work that goes into the research process.

Trust me; if you think the INSET program is just a walk in the park, you are sorely mistaken. It is a very challenging eight weeks, but you will come out of it with a wealth of knowledge and experience difficult to attain elsewhere. Everyone I have met throughout the experience has been very down to earth and helpful, far from the intimidating figures that I first imagined before starting. It has really been such a pleasure so far; bummer that we only have two weeks left.

Almost over

Hi! So INSET has been an amazing experience so far. I’ve met a lot of really amazing people, and learned many MANY new skills. I’m a little frustrated right now though, because a computer simulation I was working on for radiative heat transfer for my project does not want to cooperate with me, and I just know that I’m doing something silly, or that there is just some syntax issue. Thankfully I’ve also been working very hard to set up and solve heat transfer equations by hand and through an amazing program called mathematica, which is looking a little more realistic at the moment. The problem with both of these calculations is that (as I just found out a couple of days ago) the geometry of my test dewer is slightly different than I thought, and changing my simulation and calculations to reflect this geometry is going to be slightly complicated. In addition, me and my mentor are working on calibrating extra temperature sensors to use in my experiment, but I have a feeling that I might not actually get any significant data in time for my final presentation. Because I love this project so much I’m actually trying to find a place to live in Santa Barbara for another month so that I can stay working in the lab and finish what I started. As for my social life, the people in my lab are amazing, and I’ve been hanging with a couple of other interns in the program who have become very good friends. Now if I can just get some significant data my life will be perfect!

-Britt

Research Progression

Looking back to the onset of INSET it is hard to gauge the progress of my research project. From the start it was hard for me to see how my project was going to take shape so I had no actual plan for going about my research. It was not until week three that I discovered what my research goals entitled and how I was to achieve those goals. I was to make organic (“plastic”) photovoltaic (OPV) films and perform optical spectroscopy measurements on my samples to provide connections between processing and structure. Making the OPV films and taking the visible spectroscopy of the films were not too difficult and I was able to attain a fairly large amount of data. I still require more data in the form of photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy to supplement my data. But, because the PL equipment was not up and running until a week ago I have not been able to analyze any PL spectra of my samples so I have not seen the entire scope of my work. As we are approaching our oral presentation due dates I grow ever concerned about the outcome of my project. The most difficult part remains, and that is to analyze, interpret, and draw conclusions from my data.

Stumbling blocks

My project has definitely had some problems to sort out. It turns out that most of the samples I had to test were labeled incorrectly before they were given to me. So, I spent many hours measuring and recording, but when my mentor and I tried to analyze the data at the second stage of the process, it didn’t make sense! We did eventually get things sorted out, but now I’ve had to ‘start over’ with my data collection. As it turns out, I won’t have very much to show on my final presentation! On the positive side, I learned more about my project because of what happened, so I can be grateful for that. I have a better understanding of what I’m doing now, and hopefully have developed a better sense of what the ‘correct’ results ought to look like, so I’ll be able to catch any future mix-ups should they happen. I was kind of depressed for a while because I thought that I was the only intern that was having problems of this sort, but I found out recently that I am not alone in this kind of frustration. So I guess the take-home lesson is that things rarely go to plan in research.