“Learn from frustrations and turn them into your opportunities for progress”
In our series #WomeninScience, we will hear from the female scientific staff working on fastMOT, telling us about their roles in our project and their experiences of finding their career in science.
Meet today’s guest, Hui Wang, PhD student at Delft University of Technology.
Please tell us about yourself. What are you working on?
My name is Hui Wang. After completing my bachelor’s degree in optical engineering in China, I decided to join a master’s programme in Photonics at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Germany. Now I am a PhD student at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.
My main research focus is on advancing multi-pixel SNSPD (Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors) arrays. These detectors hold significant promise for various applications, such as optical communication, quantum optics, and biomedical imaging. In collaboration with talented colleagues, I am dedicated to exploring the potential of SNSPD arrays, aiming to enhance its scalability and ensuring a high detection efficiency.
Over the past year and a half here in Delft, I have gained a lot of experience and scientific knowledge from my colleagues and my supervisor, and I have found my decision to be extremely worthwhile.
How did you find out what your path was?
During my undergraduate studies, I started to learn about the fundamental physics of light and its various applications, including gratings, imaging, and nanooptics. I was always eager to learn about new developments in optics and found myself deeply immersed in the subject. In my master’s programme, I further clarified my interest in continuing to explore scientific topics after finishing a few short-term research projects. Thus I made up my mind to pursue a PhD in optics. Over the past year and a half here in Delft, I have gained a lot of experience and scientific knowledge from my colleagues and my supervisor, and I have found my decision to be extremely worthwhile.
What would you recommend young talents who want to step into tech?
Follow your interests and don’t be afraid to give it a go when the opportunity presents itself. This may be the best time in our lives, because the future holds endless possibilities.
Communication is always important, no matter what kind of career or life one is pursuing.
What has been your most important learning in your career?
Communication is always important, no matter what kind of career or life one is pursuing. I’d like to share a sentence I read earlier: Science is a collaborative enterprise that spans generations. We can learn about the past from a variety of sources, such as books, but let’s not miss the opportunity to communicate and collaborate with others working in the same field right now.
What has been your biggest challenge of working in science so far?
I think dealing with failure has been one of the biggest challenges since I started working as a PhD. Distractions or frustrations are inevitable in scientific work. Experiments may fail; instruments may be broken; or results may not match with your expectations. Don’t lose your motivation and your confidence. Instead, learn from these situations and turn them into your opportunities for progress.
Thank you for the interview, Hui!
___
Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to learn more about our work at fastMOT and the team behind it, and stay updated on our advances!
