Jesus Perez, 2018 NIST Research Intern

Biography

SPS Chapter: California State University-San Marcos

Born and raised in the small town of San Marcos California it has been an incredible journey attending university in my backyard. Choosing to major in physics was not my original plan. I figured I would be able to transfer over to engineering. However, after visiting the career center I learned that with a physics degree I would be able to do anything I wanted. So then I figured okay, “I’ll major in physics, but work in engineering”. Then after my second year in college I received an internship to conduct undergraduate research at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. That was the life changing experience I needed. After a successful semester in Princeton I returned to my home university and immediately asked a professor to join his lab. In the span of a couple months I went from shadowing the senior student to carrying my own weight and working on my own project. Since conducting research, I have presented my work at local and national conferences. My research experience spans plasma physics, condense matter physics, and physics education. Upon graduating I plan to pursue a PhD in plasma physics or condensed matter. My research mentors have influenced my career path from wanting to work in industry to now wanting to stay in academia and be an educator just like them.

Physics without a doubt is my greatest passion, but I know there is more to life. If I ever have the time I try to stay busy with either hiking, running, mountain biking, cycling, or training boxing and jiujitsu. I also really enjoy exploring new recipes and traveling to new places. I enjoy reading books and watching movies as well and I love when I can sleep in on a Saturday morning and wake up to breakfast on the grass outside. I would say I have too many hobbies that I cannot commit to all of them, but I always seek to place myself in new experiences and places, that way I constantly continue to learn

Internship

Host: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Project

Abstract

In this presentation, I will discuss the application of RLGC models to extract the electrical(RLGC) properties of modeled pathogens in the context of Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs). HAIs can occur from antibiotic-resistant pathogen contaminants in either the medical procedures, devices, or from the overall hospital circumstance. It is known that exposure to UV light can prevent bacteria from reproducing. However, there is no reasonable quick-turn metrology for evaluating the efficacy of such treatments. Thus, our project is aimed at providing a module for acquiring the electrical properties of pertinent materials to help quantify the amount or intensity of UV light required kill bacteria. In our study, we investigated the changes in the capacitance and resistance of pertinent thin films in response to broad-band UV light irradiation. The results from this study demonstrate the feasibility of using our RLGC model to interpret the radio frequencies’ response of biological systems.

Final Presentation

Internship Blog

SPS NIST Internship 2018

The first week here at NIST was a blast. I had a regular first day where I met my PI, met people of the lab, the lab itself and took care of the safety training. I was given a rundown of what my specific project would be and an idea of what the next ten weeks would look like. The majority of the work this week was reading papers to familiarize myself with the physics and experiments of the lab. My project will consist of debugging and finalizing a code that takes the theory of scattering parameters for radio frequencies, and uses it to extract that the characteristics of dielectric materials. At first I was definitely nervous about whether or not I was suppose to and should be here. However the atmosphere around NIST and from my PI have made me realize that I have nothing to worry about. We are all in a similar boat of not knowing somethings. So I am really excited to be here and see what I can do in these remaining nine weeks!

Aside from work itself, life in D.C has been a blast. I really enjoy the location of where I am staying because Whole foods is a block away. I also am enjoying the metro ride to and from work. It allows me time to think about and contemplate life. I also signed up for the gym at nist so I love the daily routine of waking up early, going to the gym, having breakfast and checking emails and then getting to work. Unfortunately I only have clearance to be there until 7pm but I’ll take what I can get.

I do miss San Diego, but I like the break that I am getting from it. I do miss the weather from back home though. Forget this humidity. Anyways, that’s it for now. Oh I attached a pic of my NIST mug that I got myself. Offically part of the team!

SPS NIST Internship 2018

Whoo! The second week at NIST has been a lot of fun. I’ve been exploring my project more and I have really gotten into the groove of things. Everyday I wake at 5am and proceed to make a quick breakfast. It has varied from avocado toast, apples and Bananas or an Acai smoothie. Then I walk over to Dupont circle, which takes 20 minutes, and catch the redline to Shady grove. Then I hang around while I wait for the 6:45 NIST shuttle. I get to NIST at 7am and hit the gym right away. I will usually work out for about 45 minutes to an hour. Then I am usually at my desk enjoying my overnight oats and working on emails till about 9am. Then I get to the nitty gritty of my work, which has so far been familiarizing myself with transmission theory. My mentor handed me a graduate electrical engineering book and multiple papers to read. It has been a challenge trying to learn a new subject this quickly but I am surprised as to how fast things move.

The people at NIST are really cool. There are about 120 other summer interns that came through a different program and I have made some friends. I have to say the lunch special at NIST makes up for the long commute. After 2pm the food its 50% off!! It’s a super great deal that also excuses you for a break at 2pm ;). Then I usually catch the last shuttle from NIST at 6:15 and arrive back to my apartment around 7:30pm.

So far this week has been busy. After work I’ve had to work on GRE prep, statement of purpose for grad school applications, SPS chapter report and also editing some of my colleagues statement of purpose. I can’t wait to sleep in on the weekend and make some pancakes. I also plan to check out the used bicycle sale this saturday at Dupont circle. It’ll come in handy if I can get a bike. It’ll allow me to stay that last hour at NIST.

SPS NIST Internship 2018

Week 3 has gone by a little too quick. I am starting to worry that time is going to fly by. However it makes sense since this week has been very productive. My mentor is out of the country for the next two weeks so I have been working on getting him the results he asked for and more. Monday I worked right through lunch. Before I knew it it was 2pm. I was in the zone working on one of the modules for my project. Then around 3pm I hit a wall because I was reading one of the papers and it turned out that the theory did not hold true for high frequencies. However there were some intermediate steps that I implemented to try and bypass that wall so we’ll see ‘off’ the results turn out. Then Monday night was one of the interns birthday so we had a dinner and played some board games. It was fun to hang out with the other interns. I’ve been working a lot on studying for the GRE and preparing some things for graduate school applications, so it was nice to take a break.

The first two weeks were spent reading up on the theory and applications of transmission theory which was helpful in trying to develop a code to for my project. Tuesday was spent completing my first code for my project. It took a while to decompose and understand the previous postdocs code. He is long gone so unfortunately I had to figure it out on my own which is only a bad thing since his code was not labeled that well. Then wednesday was spent debugging my code and constructing a ‘reference and explanation’ document to go along with all the files for the next person who might use it.

Then on thursday I finished up another code that took a different approach which yielded some values that seemed off. So I edited and debugged it on friday. Thursday was a short day since on thursday we had our SPS cruise dinner. Which was a blast! A really great stress reliever and break from work.

Oh last saturday I was able to buy a used bike at flea market. So I have been able to use it in my commute. I don’t have to worry about missing the NIST shuttle anymore. I also was able to ride for a bit on the weekend. I ended up riding into Virginia and around the North side of D.C. where they had some beautiful roads and trails next to rivers and alot of trees.

SPS NIST Internship 2018

So we are officially more than ⅓ of the way through the internship and it has flown by. This past weekend was spent riding my bike all through DC. Then astronomy at the mall was a lot of fun. It was long and I lost my voice however it is always a great experience to explain some physical phenomena to people.

Life at NIST has been fun. This week consisted of me wrapping up some codes and plotting all the data and organizing it for when my PI comes back on Monday. There are over 50 possible plots, so it has been a challenge narrowing them down / organizing them to effectively look over all the data. I also got to learn how one of the devices down in the lab works. One of the students who has been here a while gave me a brief rundown and so that will come in handy next week when I start measuring things.

Aside from working on NIST I have continued to work on practicing for the GRE and working on my CV and graduate school list. I am also preparing for my summer class which starts in a little over a week. I ordered my book, so I am ready to go. This week on Wednesday we had a dinner with the CEO of AIP at the fancy restaurant Sette Osteria. It was a very nice dinner and relaxing break. Then on today on friday we had a soccer tournament.(Side note; since the world cup is on, you can find people all across the place streaming games and watching them in conference rooms).

Okay so this Friday NIST had its annual summer soccer tournament. It is open to the summer undergrads, guest researchers, post docs, and anyone who wanted to. We played at NIST’s picnic area and it was not what I expected. The flyer said for friendly games on Friday. I showed up and everyone was there and wanted to win. So it was more competitive when I was expecting, but that’s a good thing! However, because I figured it would’ve been more friendly, I was only expecting to play a couple games... My team and I ended up playing 7 games since we made it to the finals. We played from 1-5pm. We were dead, it was 90+ degrees outside, and crazy humid. Still it was an awesome experience that I’ll never forget. I got play with postdocs and researchers from all across the world. Now, unfortunately we lost the finals and came in second place, but like I said we had fun just playing. (I was barely able to make it home with so many blisters )

SPS NIST Internship 2018

Sadly we are halfway through the summer internship. However this week was really productive. My mentor came back from being away for two weeks. Monday we had a nice long meeting to go over everything I had been working on. I am super happy to report that he was very pleased! It felt awesome that he realized I was able to handle myself and keep myself busy without him here. Still, now that he has come back we have been very busy. This week we spent some time in the lab calibrating our system. Now what that entails is, is finding a waveguide/transmission line to serve as our standard reference model. Now all a transmission or waveguide really is a 1 dimensional conductive path for microwave signals to travel through. I also spent some time utilizing the Vector network analyzer, which is the apparatus that generates and receives signals. That process took up about a day in total and so after that I processed some of the data and we looked over some of the trends.

There are a couple of other interns here in the lab and they are biology students, but it turns out our projects are connected. They are looking at certain lipids and molecules, while I analyze the data that returns the RLGC values of the given material. It has been really awesome to find out that my project has various applications. That being said, I have been working on a code to look at multiple data files at once since there is a lot of old data to look at and a lot of new data to come. So to make the analysis smoother, I am working on a code that automates much of the “boring stuff”, like inputting and outputting things manually. Believe it or not that took up the majority of the day friday. However I was able to get it to work right around 6pm before catching the last metro! Come Monday morning I will just clean it up a bit.

Aside from NIST, life outside work has been hot. Very very hot and humid. Sunday was an adventure, making our way to ALDI. My roommate and I took the metro and walked a couple of miles to buy cauliflower for less than two dollars.(Definitely make the trip with your roommate.) But in all honesty ALDI is a grocery store where you can buy twice the food for half the price.

Also we were able to celebrate some birthdays and a before leaving we also catched some time at the pool. We got the 4th of July off and so we all got to sleep in and have lunch with Brad that day. This upcoming weekend I will be watching some of the world cup games and taking the GRE on Saturday. Hopefully I can also catch a movie.

(Pictures to be uploaded soon)

Week six

It is interesting to think how 6 weeks ago I landed here in D.C a few days before the internship began and I was able to run around and explore. The days before moving into the dorms I remember imagining what the summer would look like. I pictured myself living in D.C, making the commute, and working at NIST. Now that vision has manifested itself into reality and for the most part things have panned out according to plan. I am enjoying my living situation and love working at NIST. I am really glad I was able to get a bike, it makes the commute fun and adds to my morning workouts. I will definitely miss biking down some of the busy streets of D.C, as they are some fun adrenaline filled adventures that remind me of riding my bike through Manhattan.

This week was a little bit different. We had the OSA (Optical Society) and Capitol Hill tour. The OSA tour was paired up with a career workshop which was very helpful. We went over what a resume and CV is, how to construct them, and practiced applying for jobs. Afterwards we toured the building and had dinner on the roof where we got to relax. (The pizza was really good). Then we had a tour of the Capitol on Thursday We were able to see some of the offices of some senators and we also got the chance to meet Bill Foster, a physicist and U.S representative. I never knew the capitol had so much to offer the public. I figured it was mainly for political use with light tours, but we were able to experience much of it and see all sorts of things in what is essentially a museum.

This week at NIST I spent a good portion down in the lab taking some measurements and collecting more data. I had several meetings with my PI this week and we were able to take some old data and run it through my code. The code allows us to look deeper into the data. Since there is a lot of old data and a lot of new data coming in we purchased two large hard drives(a couple of TB) to store and backup the files. I also began working on my presentation and abstract for my presentation

I feel like I have to be very careful these next four weeks. In many ways. Work wise, school wise, commute-wise, working out wise. Food wise. I have to make sure I make it call count. My fear when I first got here was that my poster/presentation would tell the story of “you tried...”, but now I wish we had more time because I want to keep exploring this area of research. The days pass by real quickly now. I am shocked at the amount of things I have learned this summer.

Week 7

During the world cup, it seemed like that was all we talked about at NIST. So this week felt funny realizing there was nothing to be talked about in regards to soccer. Last weekend was the world cup finale and we all watched it here in the apartment. Last weekend was also a fun biking all over D.C again. I hurt my foot on friday and so I spent the weekend recovering and taking it easy. My roommates and I found a place in Virginia that does free yoga so we checked it out and got more than we signed up for! It was supposed to be a class outside but because it was raining they moved us inside. There was a lot of people and so the room got hot real quick!. Still it was an awesome workout and really got to loosen up some muscles! I can’t wait to go back!

This week at NIST was quick! It seems that I have finished a good majority of my main project. In a nutshell the goal was to create a module that can take raw data from transmitted and reflected radio signals through a device or material, and output the electrical properties like resistance, capacitance, and inductance of the material. I have created a module that can do such task and so we have been testing its abilities this week. We measured empty wave guides, then added different amounts of a lipid solution, and also measured some old semiconductor wafers. We were able to see how the capacitance and resistance of the samples changed with different amount of exposure to UV light. So if I wasn’t down in the lab measuring these samples I was upstairs analyzing the data and discussing it with my PI.

I also had the opportunity to have lunch and dinner with colleagues from NIST this week. It was nice to explore new places to eat. I went to this place called The Little Beet. I built an awesome bowl of rice, quinoa, veggies, beet falafel, and some creamy tahini sauce. It was delicious. Aside from that this week has been filled with alot of reading, watching films, and writing essays for my summer class. I am taking Latin American politics and it has been a blast seeing how the origins of Latin America guided its politics for the centuries to come.

I am truly sad we only have 3 weeks left in this program. I have caught myself missing home. I definitely miss my car and the freedom that comes with it. I have realized that I am a year away from graduate school and then I really will be farther detached from home. So that has opened my mind to making sure I make all the moments in this upcoming year count. I also wish I wouldn’t have been as busy as I was this summer. Still I am grateful for the friendships I have made with the people here.

* Oh also one of the pictures attached is from my pitaya tree that I have growing back home!

Week 8

This week we had the opportunity to take a tour of NASA Goddard and NIST. For NIST, the majority of us took the metro and shuttle over. We first had a talk given my PI. He couldn’t get find a laptop so it was more of a sit down Q & A. After that we visited a electron spin resonance lab. I think a good majority of us enjoyed this section since the lab had so many amazing instruments, experiments, and materials in it. It was fun to see all my colleagues get excited about the physics in the labs. Through the rest of the day we got to see my lab, a post docs lab, the nanofab lab and were given a museum/library tour. It has been fun and entertaining being surrounded by so many physicist this summer. By the end of the tour we were all very tired. I was fortunately able to stay extra late that night since my adviser asked me to if could. We wanted to finish an experiment and collect all the data to be ready for Thursday morning. This was an awesome experience because I was happy that both my PI and I cared enough about the project to stay late. I wonder how I will be once I’m as experienced as he is . I know right now I like to stay late and dedicate much of time to my craft, but there will come a time when I’ll have a strong reason to go home at 5 from work. Still I hope the fun and excitement that I find in physics never ends.

Another thing I have found myself thinking about lately, is how balanced my life will be once I am done with graduate school and even on after that. I have chosen a life in research and academic and I know that entails much dedication, but I am also a fan of running, swimming, biking, training martial arts, soccer, hiking, yoga, etc. And that is just the things outside, I want to be able to cook, watch movies, and honestly just be able to relax on any given weeknight. The ultimate goal it to be in bed by 9 every night. (haha). But I am sure these are thoughts we all share and I’ve learned not to focus on the money, glory, or the accolades. Focus your heart and efforts on your passion and everything else will just come.

I can not believe we got two more weeks left. It feels normal living with my roommates. As if it has been longer than 8 weeks. I will miss them. They are very fascinating people who I am glad I got to meet. This is also the last week of real work for nist so I am excited to try and make these last moments count.

Week 9: This is only the beginning

I am less than a week away from being on the West Coast once more. It is truly a bittersweet feeling. I have become very fond and attached to my life here in D.C. It feels as if I have been here longer than just nine weeks. So I am saddened that I must leave here, however I am simultaneously happy to return to San Diego. I do miss my home, my family and friends, and of course my car. I am excited to return home and continue my undergraduate career. San Marcos is my comfort zone which is why this 10 week internship away for it has been great for me in many ways. I had the opportunity to learn many new things around physics, chemistry, electrical engineering, networking, and simply many things about life in general. Not to mention the people I have met throughout this journey.

This week at NIST started of a tad bit sad because I knew it was the last real week of hard work remaining. I finished up the module I was working on. I annotated and cited the code so that my mentor is able to use it in my absence. I also finished up my presentations and practiced a few times. I also visited a few more labs and spent some time with spots around NIST that meant something to me. I also took my last run around NIST. It is a large campus that a morning run around it is a great way to start the day. This week to come we have a few things to work on but I will definitly be enjoying my last days there.

The two highlights of the week occured Thursday. I was able to connect with Dr. William Phillips at NIST. We had met before when he visited my university back in April. I had the opportunity to spend an hour with him. We talked about what we had been up to since April, we talked about physics and also toured on of his labs. He truly is an amazing soul to speak too. He speaks with such passion with you about the topic at hand and his description of physical phenomena is amazing. He left me with many questions to wonder about about for the semester to come. That same day I also sat down with my mentor and had a long conversation about opportunity in life. We shared some of our backgrounds and it was amazing hearing his story and connect with him on that level.

I am glad that work here at NIST doesn’t end with these ten weeks. I could not have imagined these 2 months in D.C would have such an impact on my life, but the amount of things I have learned and accomplished this summer has even surprised me. I am excited to get home and step things up a notch. It is crazy to think that last spring semester I was felt like working at my limits, but now I see how much more I can crank things up a notch. I can’t wait. These past weeks here have only been the beginning of the grander things to come.

Week 10

Now the last week at NIST was an emotional rollercoaster. We wrapped things up at work, so I cleaned my office, turned in my notebook, and spent some time with the locations at NIST that meant alot to me, like the outside courtyard with the deers and groundhogs.On tuesday, about five of us( NIST interns) talked for about two hours about the things we were going to miss and some of the things we were looking forward to doing. It is an amazing feeling knowing you have colleagues and friends all over the world doing amazing things. We agreed that our summer was something else and we couldn’t wait to see each other again whenever our paths cross.

Then on the last day at NIST we also had a division picnic so we all enjoyed lunch with our mentor. That picnic meant alot to me because the week before I had a conversation with my mentor about the benefits of a plant based diet. So I adopted a vegan diet about 3 years ago and during one of our last meetings he found this out and was very intrigued. (His wife has been trying to get him to eat healthier, so she had also wanted to try a vegan diet.) At that meeting we talked about the details, chemistry, and health benefits of a plant based diet, and I was extremely happy to see him so intrigued and open minded. He then requested all some of the papers on this and also some recipes. Anyways at the picnic I gave him my yogurt and half my sandwich and he enjoyed them and the way I know he wasn’t lying is because on the last day of the presentation he told me how replaced the dairy products in his home with almond milk and almond yogurt. This seems like a random paragraph, but I think it is interesting how it ties back to my interview. The last question on my interview for this internship was something like “If you could do one thing to change the world, what would it be?” I said I would help people learn about the benefits of plant based diet. Upon closing up the interview I remember thinking why in the world did I respond like I did. I felt it was unprofessional. However it is something thats means a lot to me and I think it is funny how my mentor was the one who took my advice. As the undergraduate intern, I thought that would be the last person I would reach. He was overjoyed when I gave him his gift, a vegan cookbook. He said his wife was going to steal it from him :)

Now the last week at the dorms was also very special. I was very busy with finishing up my assignments for my class. I had about four essays and a project due that week. So juggling that and spending some time with my fellow intern colleagues was difficult but accomplished! I knew at the beginning on of the week that it would be very important to soak in every moment. So I did exactly that. From the last bike ride for groceries to ALDI with my roommate, to hanging out with the rest of the interns at the dorms. Time went by real quick everyday, before we knew it we were all on our way to the final presentations. I can not wait until the next time I see the them.

It has truly been a blast spending the summer in D.C. Surprisingly it was the best summer I have ever had. I had originally expected to just show up to work and just grind it out in the lab, but the summer much more dynamic than that. I learned a lot more than just physics, I met new people from many different places, experienced the culture of many different cities on the East Coast, and saw many special places while riding my bike all through D.C, Maryland, and Virginia. The SPS summer internship is something I will never forget. From cleaning out my desk to cleaning out the apartment I realized how comfortable and attached I had become to my life there. The entire last week there didn’t really hit me that I was coming home, until I actually made it back to San Diego. As I write this I am back home it feels as if summer was a dream. Waking up for work, taking the metro, and riding my bike seem so distant in memory. Still I will cherish it for the fortune it was and the growth that came it out it. This summer I fell in love with D.C and I know I’ll be back in no time. Till then, lets see how my last year as an undergradute goes.

Best,

Jesus Perez