Sunday, July 22, 2018
By:
During the world cup, it seemed like that was all we talked about at NIST. So this week felt funny realizing there was nothing to be talked about in regards to soccer. Last weekend was the world cup finale and we all watched it here in the apartment. Last weekend was also a fun biking all over D.C again. I hurt my foot on friday and so I spent the weekend recovering and taking it easy. My roommates and I found a place in Virginia that does free yoga so we checked it out and got more than we signed up for! It was supposed to be a class outside but because it was raining they moved us inside. There was a lot of people and so the room got hot real quick!. Still it was an awesome workout and really got to loosen up some muscles! I can’t wait to go back!
This week at NIST was quick! It seems that I have finished a good majority of my main project. In a nutshell the goal was to create a module that can take raw data from transmitted and reflected radio signals through a device or material, and output the electrical properties like resistance, capacitance, and inductance of the material. I have created a module that can do such task and so we have been testing its abilities this week. We measured empty wave guides, then added different amounts of a lipid solution, and also measured some old semiconductor wafers. We were able to see how the capacitance and resistance of the samples changed with different amount of exposure to UV light. So if I wasn’t down in the lab measuring these samples I was upstairs analyzing the data and discussing it with my PI.
I also had the opportunity to have lunch and dinner with colleagues from NIST this week. It was nice to explore new places to eat. I went to this place called The Little Beet. I built an awesome bowl of rice, quinoa, veggies, beet falafel, and some creamy tahini sauce. It was delicious. Aside from that this week has been filled with alot of reading, watching films, and writing essays for my summer class. I am taking Latin American politics and it has been a blast seeing how the origins of Latin America guided its politics for the centuries to come.
I am truly sad we only have 3 weeks left in this program. I have caught myself missing home. I definitely miss my car and the freedom that comes with it. I have realized that I am a year away from graduate school and then I really will be farther detached from home. So that has opened my mind to making sure I make all the moments in this upcoming year count. I also wish I wouldn’t have been as busy as I was this summer. Still I am grateful for the friendships I have made with the people here.
* Oh also one of the pictures attached is from my pitaya tree that I have growing back home!
Jesus Perez