I Joined the Pearson group in 2014 as a summer research assistant after my first year of University. I was tasked with using machine learning algorithms to develop composite methods in computational chemistry. This turned out to be a two-summer project, and kick-started both my career in research and my drive for success in science.
Physics research gives me the challenge I have been searching for in my education, accompanied by the unparalleled sense of accomplishment associated with solving problems that have never been solved. Since then, I have worked with a team of mathematicians from UPEI under the supervision of Dr. Nasser Saad studying a generalized class of exactly solvable differential equations with polynomial coefficients throughout my third year of university. After my third year of studies at UPEI, I moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia for the summer to try a third area of physics research with Dr. Jeff Dahn out of Dalhousie University. This project was very different than the previous two, and involved researching the physics and chemistry of energy storage in materials. Specifically, my summer was spent testing lithium ion batteries for use in Tesla’s new electric vehicles.
During my fourth year at UPEI, I worked on an honours research project with Dr. Jason Pearson. We went back to working with machine learning learning algorithms and used neural network auto-encoders to build new molecular representations. After graduation I began working at Thinking Big in Charlottetown, PEI as a technical business analyst and hope to apply machine learning algorithms outside of the academic setting.
Throughout undergraduate education it can be difficult to figure out which area of physics you belong in, and branching out to try different areas has helped give me a broader perspective of academic and industrial research. My next step is moving to Waterloo, Ontario to begin graduate school studying quantum optics with Dr. Kevin Resch. I'm really looking forward to researching at the next level and narrowing in on a more specific field in physics.