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September 29, 2006 Vol. 77,
no. 7F
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| HENRY
WANG
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Shining a light on the future
A column about the engineering life penned for students, by students
Shining a light on the future is an essay written by EECS junior
Henry Wang.
I recently got an aerial view of state- of-art research by not only
helping organize, but also attending the Nano-Optoelectronic Workshop
and Summer School of Advances in Photonics, held August 13-18 on campus.
It provided me with an opportunity to gain valuable insight from some
of the amazing people in attendance.
The workshop takes place annually, organized by a team of staff and
students under the guidance of EECS professor Connie Chang-Hasnain
and researcher Hao-Lin Chen, director and executive director, respectively,
of the Center for Optoelectronic Nanostructured Semiconductor Technologies.
Speakers from Germany, Japan, China, Sweden and the United States gave
exciting presentations and offered in-depth discussions. I learned
about a new generation of optoelectronic components, such as a light-emitting
diode (LED) that will replace incandescent and fluorescent bulbs in
the near future, saving energy. Here, researchers have applied their
expertise in optoelectronics and developed innovative applications
that improve our lives, even around something as mundane as a light
bulb.
In between, I talked with several masters of their field, learned the
stories of their success and got some tips on how we, as students,
can succeed in engineering.
First and foremost, they say, it is essential to establish a solid
foundation in fundamental areas such as physics, chemistry and mathematics.
Although it’s important to choose classes based on your interests,
you shouldn’t specialize too early in your undergraduate studies.
For example, those of you who study electrical engineering might avoid
chemistry classes because you don’t see a clear correlation between
the two. However, by avoiding certain fundamental classes, you will
limit possible future fields of study. Optoelectronics, for instance,
is a multidisciplinary field that requires a wide variety of knowledge
in physics, chemistry, material science and engineering.
Tingye Li, one of the most successful and prominent leaders in the field
of fiber optics who retired from AT&T Bell Laboratories after 41
years, was at the workshop. When I asked Li about his undergraduate days,
he said he spent one-third of his study in each of these areas: mathematics,
physics and engineering. By having a strong foundation, he explained,
students gain flexibility and may have more options for future studies.
We also need to remain open-minded about how our expertise in engineering
may impact markets and applications. If you decide to join the industry
sector, keep an eye out for “killer applications,” which
replace existing technology and are characterized by low cost and high
functionality and performance. Develop such an application, and you may
be the next Bill Gates.
Altogether, the workshop was a thrilling and enjoyable experience. I
suggest you get involved or attend a conference of your own interest.
You will get an overview of the field that you can’t get by performing
specialized research alone. Plus, with a little pluck, you can gain valuable
tips from leaders in the field. I highly recommend it!
Contact Henry at henrywang41@berkeley.edu. For more information,
go to http://laser.eecs.berkeley.edu:8080.
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