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JUI: |
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Hi,
my name is Charlie Jui. I work at the
physics department at the University
of Utah in the Cosmic Ray Physics group. |
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ASPIRE: |
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What
kind of science do you do? |
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JUI: |
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We're
in fundamental astrophysics, looking
at the origins of cosmic rays and the
nature of the acceleration mechanisms
and sources. |
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ASPIRE: |
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Is
it research, theory, or experimental? |
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JUI: |
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It's
mostly experimental. There is a great
deal of experimental interest, however,
what we do is the experimental aspect
of it. |
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ASPIRE: |
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What
makes your science important? |
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JUI: |
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We
are at the forefront of a field where
the theoretical developments are lagging
behind the experimental data coming
in and that has become a rather rare
phenomenon in physics where most other
fields, especially fundamental particle
physics theory is leading experiments
by quite a large leap. Nevertheless,
we are also looking at the few pieces
of puzzles left, unexplained in fundamental
physics and usually you are at the stage
you know you are at the threshold of
a new breakthrough of a new golden era
of physics. |
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ASPIRE: |
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What
made you decide to go into the field
you study? |
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JUI: |
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A
long time ago, I decided that I would
like to work in a field where I get
to ask questions of fundamental nature
about the universe, about the world
we live in and actually spend my days
working at, trying to answer some, at
least small aspects of these. Besides,
the job is always fun. |
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ASPIRE: |
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What
kind of education/ academic background
do you have? |
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JUI: |
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I
have a bachelor's degree in physics
from University of Onawa, Canada. I
have a PhD; actually I also have a Masters
of… Nobody ever counts that these
days. I have a Masters and PhD from
Stanford University of California. |
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ASPIRE: |
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And
how did you hear about the U of U? |
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JUI: |
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The
University of Utah has been known as
the leader in the field of Cosmic Ray
Physics for quite some time since about
the 80s. The Cosmic Ray group is actually
unique in that they pioneered and is
the only group that has a fully functional
florescence detector. They advertised
an academic position back in 1993 and
I applied to it and got it. I was lucky. |
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ASPIRE: |
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Did
you ever attend school in Utah? |
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JUI: |
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No,
actually I've never been to Utah except
for that one flight to Salt Lake City
prior to taking this job. |
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ASPIRE: |
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And
what do you like most about your job? |
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JUI: |
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I
like interacting with students. I like
working on research itself. As much
as I get to do it in my position and
every aspect in it is fun. |
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ASPIRE: |
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What
do you like least about your job? |
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JUI: |
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Well,
once in a while we have to do paper
work. |
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ASPIRE: |
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And
what hobbies do you have outside of
your field of work? |
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JUI: |
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I
used to be a music fan and I still like
to think that I'm a music fan. Used
to play some music instrument. Not anymore.
Once in a while I would go out and play
some golf, play with computers. Wife
and I watch a lot of strange movies. |
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ASPIRE: |
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And
what advice would you give to an aspiring
scientist? |
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JUI: |
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Science
is something that you must love, to
take on as a career. The fact that one
is good at it is no reason to go into
science. Engineering is probably a better
field for those who are good at science
and technology aspects. But it if you
love the idea of doing science and actually
have tried it out as an intern and you
love what you do as an intern then that's
a good reason to go into science. |
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ASPIRE: |
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Alright,
thank you for your time. |
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JUI: |
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And
thank you. |
