In a PhD program, it's easy to develop tunnel vision - to fix on your own specialized research area to the exclusion of others. Annette Richard is one student who keeps broadening her sphere of interest the farther she goes in her education. With that expansive view, she envisions a career path that will bridge disciplines and cultures.
Annette is this year's recipient of a Minority Pipeline fellowship, an OSU award designed to encourage students who show exceptional promise as leaders in their fields. She's in her second year of PhD studies in the chemistry department, working on a collaborative project involving the departments of chemistry, physics, and electrical engineering and computer science. Annette's research focuses on measuring the electrical and optical properties of anisotropic p-type conductors. These materials hold great potential for use in the semi-conductor industry.
Annette has followed an unusual route to her PhD program, starting with bachelor's degrees in both science and arts. She attended Alfred University, a small school with a national reputation for its ceramic engineering program, choosing that field because it opened up chances of working within a number of different sciences. To expand her options even further, she declared a second major, German.
"There's more cross-over between the two degrees than you might think," she says. "Many of the world's Nobel laureates have been German speakers, and there is still a lot of great science coming out of German-speaking countries. It really helps to be able to read those journals and texts."
For her master's program, Annette moved into materials science and engineering, a broader field combining aspects of chemistry, physics, mathematics, and engineering. She came to OSU in 2004 to pursue the work of Chemistry Professor Arthur Sleight (now emeritus), a leader in the area of crystallography that she'd studied for her master's degree.
Moving from engineering to chemistry was not as challenging as it might seem, Annette explains, because she stayed within the realm of solid state science. All scientists within that realm, whether their field is ceramic science, materials science, or chemistry, need to understand and know how to manipulate the properties of the materials they're working with. The principles are the same - it's the perspective that's different.
"As you get into PhD-level research, there's a huge overlap between engineering and science," she says. "Engineering asks the question, 'How can we get this done?' Science says, 'We can get this done, but why does it work this way?' I was ready to look at those 'why' questions."
When she finishes her work at OSU, Annette plans to look at sciences from an even broader vantage point. First, she'd like to find a policy fellowship with a federal government agency that funds university research projects: Congress, the National Science Foundation, the State Department, or the Department of Homeland Security. "Funding policy has a huge impact on the scientific community," she says. "I'd like to be on the other side for a while, to learn how research guidelines are determined, and how funding choices are made."
Then she plans to return to research, ideally in a national laboratory in a European country. A year in Germany during her undergraduate studies piqued her interest in the cultural differences that impact research, education, and industrial work environments. "I've done a lot of university research, but working at a national laboratory would give me a whole different experience," she says. "The breadth of research is so much greater at a national laboratory, you have access to excellent materials, and the quality of work that comes out is phenomenal. Getting to experience that while working abroad would help me be more creative in my response to future challenges."
