Summer 2001 -- Vol. 18, No. 2

FACES OF PENN STATE

Nitin Samarth
Associate Professor of Physics

Physicist Nitin Samarth understands the importance of patience in regard to his research. More often that not, a few hours that produce important results require the investment of thousands of hours of preparation.

In part because of his profession as an experimental materials scientist, and in part because of his personal life as the father of two young boys, Nitin Samarth knows the value of patience and persistence.

“Conducting an experiment is somewhat like raising a child, you cannot do everything on a set schedule and you never know when the surprises are going to come along,” Samarth says.

In his science, which focuses on the development of a fundamental understanding of electronic spin phenomena in semiconductor nanostructures, with an eye toward potential applications in spin electronics and quantum computation, patience and persistence play an important role.

For example, Samarth knows quantum computers might not become a reality soon, and perhaps not in his lifetime, but he also knows it takes time to fully understand the principles involved in the process.

Each time he and his collaborators—among them Peter Schiffer, associate professor of physics at Penn State, and a group of colleagues at the University of California at Santa Barbara—take another significant step, Samarth’s enthusiasm grows.

“It’s the same feeling of experimentation and joy that got me interested in science as a boy when my father bought me an electronics kit,” Samarth says. “You really never lose that feeling.”

Such enthusiasm enables Samarth to pass along a good perspective to his students. In his laboratory, graduate and undergraduate students get hands-on experience with cutting-edge science. For many, the lessons of patience come quickly.

“It’s hard for anyone to appreciate the ratio of work time to payoff time,” Samarth says. “My background was much more classroom-based as a student and did not include much laboratory work. So, just like some of my students, it was a learning curve for me to realize that you often invest thousands of hours and only a small few produce tangible results—and you never know when those will occur.”

Still, those potential surprises and the potential impacts of his work drive Samarth. He enjoys probing the connection between physics and technology and points out that seemingly common devices such as compact-disc players and traffic lights with light-emitting diodes operate on basic quantum-mechanical principles. In addition to his research, Samarth often teaches a large freshman physics class—and that provides another test of his patience and persistence.

“You learn quickly that you cannot just stand in front of an audience of 300 and lecture,” Samarth says. “My lectures mix a lot of interaction with more conventional techniques. Sometimes I feel like a talk-show host as I run up and down the aisle with a microphone. It’s all about getting students to understand basic physics, and because you have a diverse audience you have to make the class engaging.”

-- By Steve Sampsell

Back to Science Journal Summer 2001 Index

Penn State Home Page | Eberly College of Science | Find a Person | Locate a Building | Search | Site Index

Students | Alumni | Visitors | Researchers | Faculty and Staff | Postdoctoral Fellows | Corporate Interests
Academic Programs | Research | Dean's Office | Development and Alumni Relations | News and Events | Directory

This page was last updated on 27 July 2001

If you would like to communicate with the keepers of the Eberly College of Science Web server, send electronic mail to: science-web@thunder.science.psu.edu
Technology Webmaster: Joseph K. Carlson < jkc3@psu.edu >
Content Webmaster: Barbara Kennedy < science@psu.edu >