Thinking Processes By Marvi Matos

College of Engineering, UPR BS, Chem E My background

Carnegie Mellon PhD, Chem E Post Doc, NIST Lecturer, UW The path is difficult to predict, however one step will direct you to the next one…

Research and Life Paths Working on research is analogous to choosing a life path – Define a goal – Investigate your choices Research analogy is Literature Search – Choose a route and experience it – Analyze your choice Has your choice helped you to pursue your goal? – Conclude Were your expectations satisfied? What do these steps remind you?

What about science? Predictions and the scientific method Scientific method*: – Define the question, Define the idea – Search the literature, formulate statement – Form hypothesis – Develop methodology – Develop proposal – Test hypothesis Perform experiment and collect data – Analyze and interpret data – Draw Conclusions – Publish results * Crawford S, Stucki L (1990), "Peer review and the changing research record", "J Am Soc Info Science", vol. 41, pp

The real laboratory experience – Define the question – Literature search – Form hypothesis – Develop Methodology – Test hypothesis (collect data) – Analyze data Is your data reproducible? – Interpret data and draw conclusions – Publish results You know the goal, however the justification for the research might not be so clear Sometimes difficult to find and sometimes conflicting Could influence data analysis, could drive a biased analysis Need to choose and unbiased method The method of analysis will influence your interpretation Your idea might or might not work Peer review

Decreasing the time scale (my approach to be efficient) What do you think is the most important step in order to do improve efficiency? Think about research… All steps are relevant, but… One step will help you on decreasing the time spent on making measurements or observations

Information You have defined your goal, question or problem Next step  Literature Search What is a Literature Search – Broad concept which basically mean to go back to previously published work (scientific journals), books, etc. Advantage – It fills you with ideas – It provides a theoretical background to support your hypothesis, experimental design and analysis – It helps you on NOT re-discovering the wheel

How do you search the literature? Personal steps to acquire knowledge For principles, general equations and established concepts  BOOKS – It is really tempting to visit the web solely, it’s easy and fast. – However, in general, websites are not peer reviewed references which makes them not reliable. – When using web tools, you need to find the original references, if you cannot find them, then the material publish is simply unreliable. For scientific findings on specific topics, new experimental methods, new materials or any other possibilities  Scientific JOURNALS – Peer reviewed articles are the base of the scientific community

Finding the right reference While it is not trivial to find the right reference, here are some useful guidelines: – Are they: Peer reviewed Obtainable if other people search them – Do they help you on: The definition of your goals Developing a hypothesis Narrowing down possible experimental routes

A personal encounter with the literature Post Doctoral Studies – Systematic steps that help on proposal writing – Proposal accepted, now what? Define idea Review Literature What have people done? Is my idea actually novel? Design PLAN Back to Background review Design Experiment Perform Experiment Analyze data Conclude Are your results reproducible, novel and a real proof? ? Find Collaborators

Application of learned concepts How do you apply what you have learned? Tips on the application of old concepts to new problems. Memory is useful, but not limiting – It is more useful to learn how to find an equation than to memorize the equation Understanding a physical principle is more important than knowing specific details Not knowing the answer  not a final answer, ASK Collaborations with people from different backgrounds will enrich your experiences The “answer” to your problem might be in another field (be interdisciplinary)

The Engineering Route A technical journey In general Engineers are “Problem Solvers” – Our focus is on the application of science principles to develop new processes, materials or tools in order to SOLVE a PROBLEM… We are experiencing now BIG (in fact global) challenges related to: – Energy – Sustainability – Food – Health … We need efficient and knowledgeable people that work transparently… Are you up to the challenge?