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Derek Thomas recently worked on a materials science research project in Dortmund, Germany.
The idea of leaving school for a month in the middle of the very last semester of your undergraduate career to conduct research abroad can be somewhat daunting if not downright stressful.
But that’s exactly what Derek Thomas (Aero ’08) did during the Spring 2008 semester to work on a collaborative research project with the Institute for Analytical Sciences in Dortmund, Germany, thanks to a National Science Foundation travel grant.
His project is part of Materials Science and Engineering Associate Professor Leonid Zhigilei’s research and it explored and modeled the heating, melting and crystallization properties of bi-metal surfaces irradiated with short laser pulses to create alloys with unique characteristics.
While in Germany, Thomas had to work overtime to keep up with his studies. However, the opportunity to travel and examine some of the country’s beautiful gardens and amazing architecture more than made up for it.
But by far the biggest payoff of the trip for Thomas was his learning to work with international researchers — something he has long valued. “I started to notice that your culture can influence how you go about doing a project and what your techniques are,” he said.
This awareness is particularly valuable in the materials science field, in which many leading researchers work in Germany, France, Great Britain, China and Japan, and in which language and cultural barriers for data sharing and joint experimentation can be significant. As such, “It’s important for students to get exposure to international research collaboration,” said Zhigilei, who himself hails from Russia.
For Thomas, collaboration translated into working side-by-side with German graduate students, conversing with top researchers around the world and developing connections with other students visiting the institute.
“Even though we come from different countries and we may have different perspectives on things, we worked together to push forward and do this pioneering investigative work,” Thomas said.
One of Thomas’ most notable strengths is his ability to create robust simulation models, which came in handy when he needed to quickly convert his research model to match up with the German team’s to allow them to meaningfully compare results.
Now back in Virginia, Thomas is finalizing the research with Zhigilei and plans to publish the findings and present them at a conference in Japan in September. But it won’t be his last round of international work.
In the fall, he will attend the University of Tokyo’s Mechanical, Electrical and Engineering Materials International Graduate Program, where he hopes to contribute his understanding of molecular dynamics and his mathematical modeling skills to the school’s scanning probe microscopy simulation research.
Wherever else Thomas’ work takes him, one thing seems clear: The international research experience he had as an undergraduate will prove invaluable to him as he progresses through his career.
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