Spring 2023 Newsletter

Spring 2023 Newsletter

View Full Newsletter

New APS Fellows elected by FIAP

Each year FIAP has the privilege of choosing new APS Fellows from the outstanding candidates nominated by our members. Here is a list of those elected in September 2022. They were recognized at the FIAP Business Meeting at the March Meeting in Las Vegas. Congratulations to all these new APS Fellows!

Mona Jarrahi University of California, Los Angeles

Citation: For pioneering research, development, and commercialization of plasmonic terahertz optoelectronics, enabling high-sensitivity, high-throughput terahertz sensing, and imaging systems.

Michael B Johnston University of Oxford

Citation: For the development of a new platform for terahertz photonics based on semiconductor nanowires.

Zetian Mi University of Michigan

Citation: For contributions to the development of III-nitride quantum nanostructures and their applications in ultraviolet optoelectronics and clean energy.

Eric Pop Stanford University

Citation: For contributions to the physics of electrical and thermal transport in one- and two-dimensional materials, and their applications to transistors and data storage.

Siddharth Ramachandran Boston University

Citation: For foundational contributions to the study of structured and singular light and their applications.

Matthew C. Thompson Zap Energy

Citation: For exceptional contributions to the support and advancement of industrial and applied physics through the leadership of corporate technology programs and related professional society initiatives.

Donnell Walton Corning West Technology Center

Citation: For pioneering contributions to the research, development, and commercial adoption of novel glass applications, including extending the Gorilla Glass value proposition to form factors larger than handheld devices and for mentoring numerous minoritized physicists in industry and academia.

Daniel Worledge IBM Research

Citation: For contributions to the science and technology of magnetic tunnel junctions and their use in magnetic memory.

The deadline for nominations for 2023 APS Fellows is June 1, 2023. You can find the link to submit a nomination here.

That website includes a link to all previous FIAP Fellows. You can also find there a link to the criteria that FIAP has established for those working in the private sector whose accomplishments are often different from academic credentials such as publications and awards.

Top

FIAP Career Lectureship Award (FCLA)

This year the Career Lectureship Award winner is Qiuzi Li from the ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Company. She was recognized for developing models to explain electrical impedance measurements of geologic strata. Using data from model systems she and her collaborators obtained quantitative agreement between experiment and theory, not just for characteristic frequencies and amplitudes but for the entire spectral shape of the phase angle between the electric field and current density. Qiuzi was recognized at the March Meeting and gave a talk on her work. Please see her abstract for additional details and this link for a brief biography.

This award is administered by FIAP and the Committee on Careers and Professional Development. You can find more information about the award including a link to nominate someone by June 1 on this webpage. Note:This award was previously called the APS Distinguished Lectureship Award on the Applications of Physics

Top

Ken Hass Outstanding Student Paper Award

This award recognizes an outstanding student paper presented at the March Meeting addressing the subject of industrial applications of physics. There are two winners this year:

Ruinan Zhou University of California, Berkeley Advisor: Professor Frances Hellman
T34.13 Role of hydrogen in amorphous silicon – new mechanism of suppressing photon absorption

Lucas L. Enright National Institute of Standards and Technology Advisor: Nathan D. Orloff
N34.10 Developing a standard reference material for mmWave dielectrics

Our thanks for the many people who submitted student papers for consideration. More information about this award can be found on this webpage.

Top

Pake Prize awarded every two years by FIAP

This prize recognizes outstanding work by physicists combining original research accomplishments with leadership in the management of research or development in industry. The prize consists of $10,000, a certificate, and registration waiver to attend the APS meeting at which the prize will be presented. It will be presented biennially in even-numbered years. More information on the Pake Prize Website.

Nominations are now open until June 1, 2023.

Top

March Meeting overview

FIAP showed a strong presence at the March Meeting in Las Vegas with eight invited sessions sponsored or co-sponsored by FIAP. This year’s Industry Day program was organized by Anne Matsuura, ably assisted by a Program Committee made up of other Executive Committee members. APS Staff Members Stephanie Hervey and Rachel Paulin also provided excellent support. The theme for Industry Day was “New Ways of Seeing” and the invited sessions included presentations from physicists working in industry, national labs, and academia. FIAP members also assisted with the Q&A at the Careers Panel Lunch (Session 9B.01), and hosted four tables at the Lunch with Experts on Tuesday (Session 13G.01). The Industry Day Reception on Thursday evening was very well attended and formed a celebratory ending to an excellent program. Look for similar events at next year’s March Meeting and get acquainted with some of your FIAP colleagues.

We’d like to thank Anne and all those who participated as speakers and session chairs for helping to make Industry Day successful. You can find a flyer describing the FIAP invited sessions at this link:
Need to post Flyer and include that link

FIAP Sessions were well attended. This photo is from N51- Commercial Applications of Quantum Computing

Top

FIAP Annual Election results

An email was sent on March 3 with the results of the FIAP annual election. Repeating that information here and including new officer bio’s from the election information:

Vice Chair: Abram Falk IBM TJ Watson Research Center
I am a research staff member at IBM’s T. J. Watson Research center in Yorktown Heights, NY studying how quantum photonics devices can be employed to network superconducting quantum computers. After growing up in Portland, OR, I went Swarthmore College for my B.A. in Physics and then Harvard University for my Ph.D. in Physics. Following that, I was a postdoctoral fellow at University of California Santa Barbara, where I was awarded the Elings Prize in Experimental Science, and then then joined IBM Research in 2014. My current research focus is engineering nonlinear optical devices that can facilitate quantum networks. By confining light to ultra-high quality-factor optical resonators comprising electro-optic materials like silicon germanium, these devices provide an interface between superconducting quantum computers and infrared telecom light, which can transmit data over long distances. In the long run, they could be a foundation for quantum networks of quantum computers.

Secretary/Treasurer: Lauren Aycock Ball Aerospace & Tech Corp
Lauren Aycock is a Payload Systems Engineer at Ball Aerospace, where she is the section lead for calibration of space-based sensors. Dr. Aycock earned her BS in Physics from the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign and her PhD in Physics from Cornell University in 2017. Her doctoral work focused on creating topological phases of matter with ultracold atoms in collaboration with the Joint Quantum Institute and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In addition to her experimental physics research, she also studied the educational environment in physics and measured the prevalance of sexual harassment in a sample of undergraduate women in physics using a nation-wide survey. She was the 2017-2018 American Physical Society's (APS)/AAAS Congressional Science Fellow in Senator Richard J. Durbin's (IL) office. From 2018-2020, she was an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration in the Office of Cost Estimating and Program Evaluation.
Dr. Aycock serves on the APS Congressional Science Fellows Review and Selection Committee. She also served on APS Physics Policy Committee (PPC) in 2019 and APS Panel on Public Affairs (POPA) in 2020. She is a mentor in the APS IMPact program and mentors students at University of Colorado Boulder through the “Ball Sisters” program at Ball Aerospace.

Member-at-Large: Sufi Zafar IBM TJ Watson Research Center
Sufi Zafar is a Research Staff Member at IBM TJ Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY, since 2001. She is a physicist with extensive interdisciplinary research experience in materials and devices. One of her key contributions was in the high permittivity field effect transistor (FET) research, thus contributing to the successful development of advanced CMOS technology. While working on this project, she recognized the transformative potential of CMOS technology in advancing healthcare and life sciences. She initiated a project to demonstrate CMOS-compatible innovative biosensing devices with a rapid path for commercialization. This project has resulted in a technology transfer and licensing contract for commercialization with a biomedical company. Her research efforts have resulted in 79 journal publications, 112 granted/pending patents, technology transfers, invited talks, and invitations to serve on technical committees. These research efforts have resulted in prestigious awards and honors, including the IBM Research Division Award (2005), IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement Awards (2013, 2018), IBM Master Inventor Award (2017), IBM Outstanding Innovation Award (2020), American Physical Society Fellow (2009), APS Distinguished Lectureship Award on the Applications of Physics (2022), and IEEE Fellow (2023). Additionally, she is committed to mentoring next generation of physics students and postdocs. Sufi’s LinkedIn profile

Member-at-Large: Deniz Ertaş Exxon Mobil Corporation
Deniz Ertaş is Distinguished Research Associate at ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Company, Energy Sciences Division. He has two decades of technical team lead experience in a broad range of research projects aimed at scientific breakthroughs, including geophysical methods for hydrocarbon exploration, unconventional resources, drilling and completion technologies, diagenesis of carbonate rocks, rheology of granular systems, and petroleum expulsion from source rocks. He has over 40 peer-reviewed publications, holds 24 patents and is a two-time recipient of the Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award. Deniz earned his PhD in Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics from MIT in 1995 and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University prior to joining Exxon’s Corporate Research Laboratories in 1997.

You can find a listing of all the members of the FIAP Executive Committee at this link.

Top

IMPact – connect with physicists working in industry

The APS IMPact program connects students with physicists who work in industry for short-term mentoring. Visits can be virtual or in-person, with a recommendation of four conversations over three months. Signing up is simple and takes only a few minutes at IMPact.aps.org You’ll need to sign in with your APS credentials. Students can then search for mentors by geography, work place, industry, or many other parameters. New mentors are always welcome, and signing up is easy if you’d like to share your experiences with students.

Top

Careers advice and useful links at APS.org/careers

APS wants to help students find their first job, or experienced workers to make a job change. There is a wealth of information on the APS Careers Website including:

  • Link to the APS Job Board listing opportunities in academia, industry, and National Labs

  • Professional Guidebook with detailed information about the steps to find a job in the private sector

  • Careers 2023 Guide which includes profiles of places that are hiring physicists

  • More than 50 profiles of physicists who work in various sectors

  • Overviews of various career paths possible for physicists

  • Link to Webinars including one about understanding the US work visa process

Top

Students, looking for a summer internship?

A summer internship is a great way to gain experience, learn about a different work environment, and usually earn some money. The most recent edition of APS News included a helpful article by Liz Boatman reporting on a panel discussion at the 2023 Conferences for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP). This workshop on exploring summer internships included great advice on looking for a summer internship. You can find the article at this link.

Top

Suggestions for the Newsletter

Suggestions for the Newsletter are welcome, comments too.
Please email the Newsletter Editor Steven Lambert at SELsanjose@gmail.com

Top

Resumes for That Work: Practical Advice to Physicists at all Levels

John Rumble
R&R Data Services

In this brief essay, I will try to make some practical suggestions to help you improve your resume. Perhaps the most important suggestion is the reminder that a resume is a personal statement and that my suggestions, and all similar advice, should be taken as suggestions. Use them as you are comfortable and make sure you are happy that your final resume looks as you want it. That said, here are some practical thoughts and suggestions that I hope are useful to physicists at all stages of their professional careers, with special emphasis on those seeking non-academic careers.

Purpose of A Resume: A resume has two primary purposes: To sell yourself as a candidate for a specific job and
To differentiate you from all other candidates.

A resume should show that you are the best candidate for the job for which you are applying. It is not a biography, not a history of your work experience, and not an application for a prize. It is a concise summary of your professional experience and accomplishments that show you are fully qualified for the position and that you are a better candidate than everyone else. This is Your Story.

How to Tell Your Story: Your story is that you have the skills and knowledge necessary to be outstanding in the work that is being advertised. The easiest and most effective way to demonstrate your skills and knowledge is by detailing your ACCOMPLISHMENTS. Basically, everyone has experience, whether as a student or a fifty-year employee of a company. Everyone has had responsibility. What a prospective employer wants to see is what you have accomplished. Did your work have impact? Did you save money? Save time? Created a new product? Improved a process? Showing the impact of your accomplishments is especially true for industrial jobs, where saving time and money is an important impact.

Resumes can be easily constructed to highlight accomplishments, so they are evident and impressive. Here are a few examples of transforming common resume statements into impactful accomplishments.

Responsibility

One of my projects was to discover a better way to increase the purity of material x.

Accomplishment

I led a project team that improved the purity of material x such that production rejection rate was reduced from 23% to 4% within 6 months.

Work effort

I did my thesis on modeling the interaction of gold nanoparticles with xyz cells.

Accomplishment

In my thesis work, I discovered the inadequacies of current molecular dynamics modeling techniques for interactions of gold nanoparticles with xyz cells. Instead of extending existing software, I developed a new model and accompanying software that did...

In the first example, the accomplishment shows impact. In the second, the accomplishment shows creative thinking in dealing with a problem. These types of accomplishments make impressions and are easy to construct if you take a few minutes.

Some Practical Hints

Focus on the New Position: Don’t apply for your present position. Almost every initial resume I look at is perfect for applying for the writer’s present job. You are applying for something new. Focus on what is being requested, not your old job.

Software and Human Readers: Resumes should be designed to be read by both software (common at large companies and recruiters) and humans. Software looks for words included in the job posting. Translate your words to match those in the job posting e.g., change “model building” into “model designing” if needed to match the posting. Humans like readability so use white space and formatting to make it easy to read.

The 30 Second Read: Most human resume readers make up their mind in the first 30 seconds – or just after reading the top half of the first page. Make that part of your resume impactful.

Using Job Advertisement Words: One question people often ask is should I change my resume for each different job I apply for. My answer is: If you are serious, why not invest the time and energy to do that. Does that mean rewriting your entire resume? NO. It means identifying key words, phrases, and requirements in an advertisement and making the small changes needed to include them. If they require knowing “C language programming” and you know it, make sure you mention it.

For Students Entering the Workforce: Here is one strong suggestion that differs from what most college career centers recommend. Don’t start your resume with your education! I have never met any recruiter or hiring person look for a specific college in evaluating young candidates. Maybe Goldman Sachs does for financial analysts, but no one else.

Summary at the beginning: This is the most debated part of a resume. I like people to include a summary at the top – two, three lines maximum. This is an opportunity to describe yourself as a whole person, not just an amalgam of four previous jobs. If you have been a project manager and now are ready for a position as program manager or research director, point that out and concisely summarize your qualifications. Simple examples:

I am looking for a position with strategy development responsibilities that builds on my successes with marketable products.

Senior solid-state physicist with experience leading integrated teams of modelers and experimentalists solving semiconductor-related production issues

Many companies and organizations no longer accept or want a cover letter so that avenue to describe the whole of your experience has mostly disappeared. A summary at the top of your resume gives that opportunity back to you.

Dates: Unless you have received your Ph.D. or last college degree within three years, do not include the date of award. In most cases, your job history should not go back further than 15 years or so. Age discrimination is real, and you do not have to help. Additionally, jobs that far back usually do little to demonstrate your current skills and knowledge.

Publication lists, patents, hobbies, special training, and service: Use Google Scholar to create a publication list. Tell how many patents you have, but list only the 2-3 most impactful. No Hobbies. Special training (software, etc.) only if it led to a certificate. Service – military, okay; professional societies, if you served as any elected officer.

Proofreading: A must. I have never seen a resume without an error (including in my own!)

I am glad to answer specific questions. Just email me at john.rumble@randrdata.com

 

Top

In This Issue: