A vs C

There is an old Chinese saying that goes something like this: To achieve effectiveness you have to sharpen your tools first. D has a very good sense about this and therefore our group has the 3 commercial programs that are best in the field. So I am the one working on two of these three different programs trying to figure out which one is better.

W was here for a few days and I have been working closely with him on the comparison and validation of A and C. Both of these programs had pros and cons. Apparently, for me it is not easy to switch to a second program when I’ve already get used to one. I have a feeling that W will be a good instructor (as he has got the fat offer from BC), because he clearly explained several physics concepts to me and then chose to stop before it get to classified stuff.

The Toyota guy dropped by today and it seemed that he is also interested in C. Well, that’s fair enough, since A is far more expensive then C.

I like the way our desks are placed in my office. Often times, we would turn around from our desk to face each other and carry out conversations. One of the topics today was about future plans. Ironically enough, none of us are sure but all of us have big questions marks placed towards a career in academia. J said he is glad to know that he is not the only one. A and I share the same feelings. We all agreed that D is a nice guy, which is the positive side.

a new postdoc fellow

H, who just finished his Ph.D. in Spain, is joining our group. Now our office has a nice representation of nationalities, and I love that! He seems to be a nice guy, and to some extent, seems to be very much like A. I started to wonder whether all European guys are similar in some way. H has done research on Metamaterials and I look forward to his talk on this Friday's group meeting. H needs help with all aspects of settling down and getting around. Surprisingly, I seems to have already forgot how hard things were for me when I first got here. J and A were both very nice and offered lot’s of help.

"the next generation"

R, a new incoming student, got into contact with me. It seems like he has a strong background in metamaterials research. So I got to learn some terminologies.
evanescent wave amplification
chiral metamaterial
unusual energy transmission
double refraction

partial focus

Today D came up with an experiment setup to achieve partial focus that HP wanted. He seemed to be excited and called in me and A to talk about the idea. I can't believe this is a Saturday afternoon. But nothing is more important than a new research idea, I guess.

Maybe taking a week off wasn't the greatest idea, 'cause I now need to catch up with all the work. We got visitors coming and it's going to be a busy week.

group meeting with D2 presenting

The name of Eistein always makes things exciting. Today I again practiced my appreciation to basic concepts in physics.

Rayspan visit

MIMO and other telecommunication stuff... "the last frontier", pretty interesting. It sounds like physicists and engineers will make great partnership.

jelly fish

antenna project

Today D gave me a book titled Phased array antenna handbook. He had the idea of apply metamaterials to the design of phased antenna arrays and thought it might be a good thesis project for me. Although I think it would be best for me to decide a project ASAP, I plan to do some background research before I decide whether to take it.

boeing sample

Yesterday we received boeing sample. The sample looks very nice under the microscope. A simple try out showed it's actually working! B is going to do more experiment with it. I'm really glad that something I simulated now works great and gives a huge media ratio of ~120!