Sunday, June 18, 2023
By:
Week 3 of this internship has a very strange feeling to it. The first week was very chaotic since nobody really knew each other, and the second week is basically just introductions to what we'll be doing for the rest of the summer. In this way, the past week was the first where all of us really knew what we were doing with clear goals. This is incredibly exciting, but also nerve wracking as we all need start taking our work very seriously. Fortunately, it seems each one of us is finding success in some way.
My week began quite smoothly. My mentor was out of town so I could work from home for two days! I started writing a paper on the work my mentor and I have done together. Now I have written lab reports before, but my mentor wants me to try and write a much more scholarly paper on our subject material. I was certainly not prepared for him to give me several dozen papers to review and reference. I'm hoping that by the end of the summer I will have a really impressive work of physics literature to possibly publish! I will keep you all updated on the progress of that paper as the summer goes on.
As for the rest of the week, my mentor decided to move our project into a new stage. He wants the post-doc he's working with and myself to combine our projects! This has been a really nice change to the previous two weeks, because I got to work with someone completely new. The post-doc I'm working with, Trey, has been really kind and helpful during this process, and I've been able to shadow him during some of his more materials intensive work. He showed me how to spin-coat materials! One of the more important practices in lithography and materials science is using a special polymer called "resist" to help with micro-material etching, shaping, separating, eroding, and many other applications. One of the ways this polymer is applied is with spin-coating, which takes advantage of centrifugal forces. Also, it may not sound like much but I was really happy with the work I did this week. One of the turbo vacuum pumps in our setup was faulty, so my mentor tasked me with dismantling it, and setting up a new one. This was definetly a lot more engineering than physics, but experimental design is a skill I wanted to improve this summer, and this work has gone a long way towards that.
This week was also packed socially. On thursday, we all got to meet members of the SPS national committee, as well as a few past interns. This was a great networking opportunity, as well as being a really fun event with awesome people and terrific food. Then on saturday, we all went to see the NOI Orchestra perform at UMD. I am obssessed with music of all kinds and music critique especially so this was a fantastic experience. We got to hear Joan Tower, one of the most incredible composers of our lifetime, speak about music and what it is to her. We got to hear one of her pieces played during the concert: 1920/2019. In addition, incredible modern interpretations of George Gershwin's music was played. That concert has easily been the highlight of my three weeks here in DC. I cannot wait for what else is in store.
P.S. - I got to see hydrogen plasma up close for the first time. It was a floating ball of purple light, and like nothing I've ever seen before!
Colin Myers