材料科学研究人员计划成功
Required courses focused on careers are helping doctoral student Allen Wood choose a professional path.
When Allen Wood was a boy growing up in Winston-Salem, 北卡罗莱纳, 他的心事适合年纪大得多的人. 8岁的时候, he absorbed the contents of a book by Richard Feynman on quantum theory given to him by his grandfather.
At 11, 伍德把家里的电脑拆开了, spreading its components throughout the living room floor, resulting in a gentle rebuke from his father that the computer had better work when he put it back together.
At 15, 在附近骑自行车的时候, he wondered how he could stay upright on two spinning wheels. The thought prompted a fascination with a fundamental concept in physics called angular momentum, which describes the rotational motion of an object around an axis and explains the stability of a bicycle in motion.
“When I observe something and it seems counterintuitive, 我的第一个问题是“这里有什么物理原理在起作用？?’”伍德说。.
Wood graduated with honors with a bachelor’s degree in physics from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2021. 第二年, he entered the materials science doctoral program in the 文理学院’ applied physical sciences department.
Now in the third year of his five-year program, Wood is working in the lab of 劲松黄路易·D. 鲁宾小. Distinguished Professor in the applied physical sciences department and adjunct professor in the chemistry department.
Wood’s re博彩平台 involves improving the performance of radiation detectors using perovskite, a special chemical compound that increases the efficiency and reliability of solar cells. 去年, he received the Best Oral Presentation Award for his work from the Consortium for Enabling Technologies and 创新.
The career paths for such a talented student are seemingly limitless — an academic appointment, 在国家实验室做研究, 行业研究. 在考虑他面前的选择时, Wood received guidance through two required applied physical sciences courses.
mtsc710：资源成功在你的博士学位.D. Program exposes students to re博彩平台 and key resources and skills outside of course work that they will need to be successful in the doctoral program and beyond. MTSC 711: Developing Your Plan for Success helps students create an individual development plan that entails a critical self-assessment, 揭示哪些职业适合他们.
The individual development plan isn’t a static document, 雷诺·洛佩兹说, a professor and director of graduate studies in the applied physical sciences department. Students articulate their values and aspirations through a series of prompts and are encouraged to revisit the plan annually with their re博彩平台 adviser.
“We know that successful careers usually don’t happen without some planning and conscious effort,他说. “Taking ownership of their path and tailoring the plan to their interests is the single most important element that makes a graduate student successful.”
When drawing up his own individual development plan, Wood discovered that he likes conducting basic re博彩平台, working in a collaborative environment and teaching graduate students the concepts he has learned. But he doesn’t like grading, which deemphasizes subjectivity in favor of a rubric.
“The MTSC 710 and 711 courses were invaluable because they made me think about what motivates me,伍德说. “I’m clear now on the things I like to do day to day, 但我还没有决定我的职业道路, which I like to view as being given a lot of unopened Christmas presents. 想到未来可能发生的事情是令人兴奋的.”
