On Monday, December 19, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Chan, scientist at the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory. She uses computer simulations based on quantum physics and artificial intelligence (AI) to study materials at the level of atoms. She is particularly interested in understanding and improving materials for solar cells and batteries. In addition, she works with scientists who use strong x-ray beams and electron microscopes to find out details about where the atoms are and how electrons are distributed in materials. She is originally from Hong Kong, and received a Bachelor’s degree in Physics and Applied Math from UCLA, and a doctorate in physics from MIT.
How did Dr. Chan get here?
Dr. Chan didn’t always know she wanted to be a nanoscientist; she had considered being a teacher, and she had initially begun work on supergravity.
Dr. Chan knew she wanted to be a physicist from when she was just a teenager, so when she went to college, she studied physics and applied math. After an internship, Dr. Chan realized that she deeply enjoys computational work. Thus, she specialized in theoretical physics in graduate school.
However, Dr. Chan soon realized that the topic of her theoretical physics studies was “too removed from reality for [her] taste,” so she began to search for other research opportunities. This led Dr. Chan to the work of her PhD advisor, who was working in material science. Dr. Chan wasn’t “explicitly doing nanoscience” for her PhD, but her expertise made her a natural fit to be a nanoscientist at Argonne.
Why is nanoscience so relevant?
For Dr. Chan, the applications of nanoscience are all around us; even to carry around a cell phone or to drive electric cars are very real applications of this type of research. Both touch screens on phones and NASA reaching the moon have been, at least partially, due to research in material science.
Solar power being a mainstream form of energy production, for example, was once “considered a pipe dream,” and yet it has now become critical to energy production in some countries and states in the US.
What does Dr. Chan do in a day?
Dr. Chan emphasizes that one of the biggest parts of being a scientist is working with others. Recently, she estimates that she has consistently collaborated with over 200 people per month. Research is largely about communicating ideas between groups of people in order to create progress, and Dr. Chan is often spending time in meetings with others to discuss projects or managing her team.
Dr. Chan estimates spending around twenty to thirty hours per week in meetings with others, going over results or brainstorming new ideas. Much of her day is spent reading reports and working on writing papers. While certain roles may require more individual work, Dr. Chan believes that this is not how the majority of scientific jobs function.
One of the things that Dr. Chan finds differentiates research from school and college is the way problems may not necessarily have known answers. In school, if given a question to solve, it is likely that the teacher knows the answer, yet in research, it’s a process of discovery.
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