ABOUT
cOMPUTATIONAL pHYSICS pOST-gRAD & r&d eNGINEER
I’ve found my home in STEM — even though this wasn’t my childhood dream. 7 year-old me would have said I’d grow up to be a writer or a veterinarian (though with starting a blog and having 2 dogs, a turtle, a tortoise, and chickens, I don’t think I was totally wrong about myself). Yet, I found my passion in physics and engineering and continue to fall in love with its challenges daily.
What drew me into this field was hearing science communicated in a manner similar to reading a page-turning novel. Science and mathematics were often taught as if someone was ruining the illusion of a magic trick. There was more emphasis on memorizing facts and equations than exploring the depth of our world.
As you continue to remove the illusions we have of our reality, the questions and peculiarities don’t stop. The inner workings of our world are poetic, dramatic, and often counter our intuition; as you go deeper, it only gets weirder.
I hope to share my small contribution to the fields I work in and inspire others to never stop asking “why”.
Feel free to drop me a line, and thanks for visiting.
— Mack
my work
Due to the nature of working in a competitive industry, I can’t share much about the work I do as an engineer. What I can share: I work in Research and Development as (officially) a Sustaining Engineer, but I also have a split role in New Product Development. I was able to transition from intern to engineer at my current workplace.
My Education
I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Physics in 2017 from the University of Memphis. I wanted industry experience so I found a position as an engineering intern post-graduation. I returned for my Master’s in Computational Physics at my alma mater in 2019. Due to balancing a full-time position, I pursue my Master’s as a part-time student.
My Research
I study ferroelectrics as a member of a Computational Condensed Matter research group. Basically, I use computers to simulate materials and calculate their electronic and structural properties. We know the properties of only a small percentage of compounds, running simulations allows us to discover and map out materials that can advance our technology.