Without the stimulation of some new problem, I tend to whither away into a listless pile of bones and sarcasm. Yesterday, it was implementing a benchmark testing platform for one of the most advanced laser-pulse measurement techniques in the world. Today, it was getting my hands dirty in the odd world of web-mastery. Tomorrow, I may very well be submerged amid the depths of hydrodynamic theory and chaos. Whether it’s getting mechanical and greasy working on an automobile or scribbling mathematical garble on a blackboard, I just want to be confused. I want to be stumped because that’s when the magic happens. That instant is when creativity, ingenuity and intellect all come together to push the human condition to places it’s never been.
Contact me: justin [at] metricfeat.com
I’ve been following some good advice: pursue what you’re passionate about, and the money will work itself out. When I was a senior in high school, I got to start college early at KSU, and for one of my courses, I wrote a research paper on quantum computing. When I read about the incredible things these theoretical computers could do by taking advantage of the weird stuff that goes on with the smallest of things, I had visions of a new era of technological innovations across all facets of human life akin to the industrial revolution or the renaissance. A side note: I just recently found out about D-wave–a company that has created the world’s first commercial quantum computer. Anyway, quantum computing, in short, is what got me interested in physics. Of course, there is also the ever-present natural curiosity and accompanying unsettling feeling when I don’t understand how something works.
Being exposed to the breadth of physics as an undergrad, I found myself increasingly alienated, in an academic sense, from my friends who were chugging along with their engineering majors just to get a decent paying job upon graduation. I noticed, over time, that we were in school for very different reasons. After graduation, most of them went on to toil in cubes while I went on looking to feed my desire to know everything I could about how the universe works.
Unfortunately, the “prime directive” of a “good” graduate program is graduating students, so I’ve been forced to take up a narrow field of study. I love all of physics, so my decision on which field to go into was primarily influenced by who would be my advisor. That’s why I chose ultrafast optics. My advisor is well-known, he has built a company that manufactures and sells his inventions and he has a history of graduating students in a reasonable amount of time. The decision was a fairly easy one. Once I get this phd out of the way, I can continue studying whatever branches of physics catch my eye.
My philosophy is that a physicist should seek a broad understanding of the natural world and not be pigeon-holed into a particular field because that’s what his government, laboratory, university or, even, society want. For me, the study of physics goes beyond a degree or profession. It’s more of a life choice.