WORKING at Sharp - real lives
Marcelo - Advanced Optical Devices
I chose to study Physics at university out of a desire to understand how the world works. I was not to be disappointed, as during my four years as an undergraduate at Imperial College London I not only learned of quarks and tensors but also befriended people from all over the world, worked abroad and learned new languages.
During my final year I began to give serious thought to the very real question of what to do after an undergraduate degree in Physics. I was certain that I wanted to use my newfound knowledge in a research environment. Whilst many of my like-minded friends chose to continue at Imperial in PhD positions, however, I felt uncomfortable committing to a specific research field without having had much previous practical experience in it. I therefore started to look for positions in corporate laboratories which would allow me to gain first-hand practical research experience in a range of different scientific areas.
The newly established Graduate Scheme at Sharp caught my eye as it offered me just such an opportunity, and I joined in September 2007. I spent the first 10 months rotating around the 5 different research groups in the lab, working on projects ranging from optoelectronics to circuit design to EM modelling. Each group also introduced their various other projects to me, giving me an excellent overall view of what was going on at SLE. At the end of the first year . after discussions with colleagues and managers . I chose to settle in the advanced optoelectronics group and work on novel photovoltaics, a research topic which I find truly motivating.
I really enjoy my day-to-day work as I get to keep abreast of the latest scientific advances . which are frequently abstract and academic . whilst simultaneously following the latest real-world technological and social developments. Conferences and papers on cutting-edge solid state physics are as relevant as news reports on new EU photovoltaic policies. It.s exciting to think that the solar cells which I.m fabricating and testing in the lab could easily end up on someone.s roof in the near future.
At the risk of using a clichéwhat impresses me most about the lab is the friendly atmosphere. So many people .who are often experts in their fields . have freely given hours of their time to explain to me what they.re doing or listen very patiently as I fire off questions which to them must seem trivial. Having worked in every group also means that I know just about everyone in lab, so there.s always someone with whom to discuss the merits of coffee or how to get your latest experiment to work!
