Fall 2020 Virtual Physics Careers Seminar Series Continues Oct. 23 With Dr. Mindy Rak

The Fall 2020 Virtual Physics Careers Seminar series continues on Friday, Oct. 23 with a talk by alumna Dr. Mindy Rak from Wheaton College, who will talk about "Wearing Many Different Hats: Working as a Lab Associate at a Liberal Arts College" at 12:00 noon. Details of Dr. Rak's seminar are given below.

Time: 12:00 noon on Friday, October 23, 2020

Location: Virtual Event. The Zoom link will be forwarded to the Illinois Physics Grad Student email list. For a copy of the link, please contact Lance Cooper (slcooper@illinois.edu).

Title: Wearing Many Different Hats: Working as a Lab Associate at a Liberal Arts College

Speaker: Dr. Mindy Rak, Physics and Engineering Lab Supervisor, Wheaton College

Abstract: Do you find a job in academia appealing, but are not sure if you want to pursue a tenure-track faculty position? Asking myself the same question as a grad student led me to explore nontraditional, academic job options. In my talk, I hope to show you how working as a Lab Associate at a small, liberal arts college allows me to use the assortment of skills I developed during grad school in fun and unique ways. As a Lab Associate, I support the introductory physics labs, the engineering design lab, and the science division machine shop. If you enjoy interacting with undergraduate students, teaching labs, mentoring TA’s, and tinkering with equipment, then you may also enjoy a job like this!

Bio: Mindy Rak completed her PhD in Physics at the University of Illinois where she studied collective excitations using electron spectroscopy under Peter Abbamonte. After graduating in August 2019, she returned to her undergraduate institution of Wheaton College to work as the Physics & Engineering Lab Associate. Outside of work, Mindy enjoys spending time with her husband, going on walks, and visiting National Parks.

You can see the rest of the Fall 2020 Virtual Physics Careers Seminar series here: http://physics.illinois.edu/calendar/careers/