Now that it has been three weeks back on the job I have settled back in quite well. Right after I got back from my Christmas holiday in the wonderful USA, I hit the ground running. I've jumped back into the lab and started making more materials. Next task: Use a Scanning Electron Microscope to see the micro-scale structure of my material, that means I can see larger than 100,000x the power of the naked eye. Things at that scale look as extraordinary as if you were on a strange planet.

Before I get ahead of myself, I want to take a moment to discuss what the heck I am doing over here in Spain. So let me elaborate on what kind of project I work on and how I got to where I am. 

My official title is post-graduate researcher of the Nanotechnology Platform of the Scientific Park Barcelona (PCB) which is a stone's throw from Camp Nou, where the legendary FC Barcelona soccer team plays. After I earned my B.Sc. in Physics from Beloit College in 2008, I went to the University of Barcelona for my M.Sc. in Biophysics. The master's program was a great stepping stone to learn the Spanish language. It was taught in english so I could keep up with the academics well enough.

The real gift was the opportunity I had to learn the Spanish language and the Catalan culture. It was the best decision of my life at that point.


The biophysics master was a real great experience because the we combined physics and biology to develop a science able to explain how biological machinery like myosin moves by using simple physical models such as a weight on a spring. Very nerdy and uninteresting to most, but knowing the math behind it, I found that it was quite intriguing that basic physics could explain to a high degree of certainty the fundamental motions of tiny molecules and proteins in our bodies. Its pretty incredible to learn that the movements of complex protein can be described with the physical laws of a spring.

So I had a great year learning about cool stuff like that and doing a little bit of research for a hotshot pharma firm. That was from 2008 - 2009. 

After completing my master's degree, I got a job offer to work at the Nanotechnology Platform as a post-graduate researcher, which is a Ph.D. track. The idea is that after 4 years I present a thesis to a committee. And if I successfully present the theory and content as well as defend my scientific methodology, then I will be awarded a Ph.D. in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.

To climb the hierarchy to become a bona fide scientist you obtain your Bachelor's degree which then transitions your from the title of undergrad to graduate. After I passed that stage, I stepped up to the post-graduate level of the food chain upon completion of my masters. In Europe, you must complete a set amount of credits to begin Ph.D. research which is normally satisfied when you complete your master. The reason one in science would continue along the track is two-fold.

1. Job security.
2. You get more liberty to pursue and develop technologies that interest you.*
* As long as you can get funding for it. Deserving of a tip of the hat.

The big idea behind pursuing a Ph.D. is to learn how to conduct research. The road is rough and daunting, but I get to contribute to science (and to my university) in a significant way which generally means a few publications in scientific peer-reviewed journals and a thesis presented to a committee of professors who already have degrees in or near my field. Publications and patents are my ticket to jobs. The more quality research publications I can complete in my time, the more selective I can be about my next job.

 These days there are few possibilities to make quantum leaps in science as Einstein and his contemporaries did less than 100 years ago. We are at an age where technology is so advanced that individual iron atoms can be moved on a sheet gold to spell out your name. The ideas are plentiful and many are good enough to have an impact on society.

In the field of tissue engineering, the end game is to make tissue or even whole organs by starting with a few cells and some highly-engineered biomaterials and grow it in a lab until it can be transplanted into a person or your prized pet fish, Hercules. The purpose to pursue this science (at least for me): help people and make money. The industry potential is big, to understate the term. (Hint to our political leaders who want to create jobs.)

My field is biomaterials. There I am working to create a material that will help regrow injured tissue in the body. To try to explain it as basic as I can, I dabble in a little chemistry to synthesize a novel material which I then will mix with cells, culture it for a few weeks, then analyze what the cells are doing with the material to see if they are on the right track to making the new tissue that we want.

Its a high aiming goal we have, but the rewards will be big if I can further the science as much as I intend to do. I quite like my research and find it very rewarding to work on a project that will one day help trauma patients.

I like what I do on top of where I get to live while I do it. Work is coming along, and I am having quite a bit of fun here. Hopefully I can finish up here soon enough to get to Switzerland before all the snow melts. The alpine ski slopes are calling my name!

Landed Safely in Barcelona. Loved being home.

I think I've flown into Barcelona 5 or 6 times now. In order to land at the airport, all planes must fly along the coastal border, taking view of the entire cityscape. While it is a pretty city to fly into, this morning was the prettiest I have seen the city.

At dawn's light, we passed over the Pyrenees. The stretched light hitting the snowy peaks giving off a heavenly, rose glow. Once we reached the city we circled a couple of times over the Mediterranean and glided along the city's coastal front where I was able to see my neighborhood, the Gothic Quarter, with its narrow maze of streets that I know so well.

The city itself is a mosaic of whites, pinks and adobe reds beautiful to behold and hard to forget.

It feels good to be back home. This is my reality here. That's a nice thing to have a home where only my crap is strewn about exactly the way it is meant to be.

Write a song ladies and gents. My heart belongs to Barcelona.

Summertime in Spain

So I got to start getting serious about writing this beast again. To have a diary of my life that I can look back on and to have something that my friends and family can see to stay updated about my life.

So I had another blog @visitmeinbarcelona.com/typepad/blog/ that is still open but I haven't used it in a bit. I'm a bit in need to refreshing my life, so I decided that I will try out a new website as well.

The reason I stopped writing for so long is that I felt that my thoughts and feelings were too trite to publish for the world to see. I would have strung the noose myself if I had to choke through a revision of the repetitive subjects of who am I? what am I doing with my life? Just didn't have any good things to add.

Let's see if now will be different.

Quick update. I have been back in Barcelona for now five months. That means 1.5 years into my PhD research. That is a cool feeling. I feel that I've got a good handle on how to knock out the remaining 3 - 3.5 years. In all I will spend about half my time in Davos, Switzerland as well. Davos may be the most beautiful place I have ever seen, most certainly of any place I have ever lived in my short lifetime.

I like what I do. I am respected by my bosses and colleagues. My work is interesting. It may help save lives one day. I am doing all that I can to make a fulfilling life for myself. That is why I feel the necessity to keep documenting it.

Pictures to come soon. Then I can write about Budapest.