Making the Real Ideal

Hey readers!

Well, only 11 days until "The Final Upload" (aka the reckoning) and 12 until "The Presentation" (aka the end)... what does this mean? This means that we're touching up our papers, optimizing our PowerPoints, and rehearsing our presentations. It also means this is probably one of the last 3 entries I'll post -- it's been a great year, and I'm definitely intend on finishing strong.

This has no relevance, but I saw it when I searched "finish strong," and I'm still so shook...
In this gif, my research project is diarrhea, but it's way too fun to be that.

Last week, I went into ASU to meet with Barry Wilkens, the OG lab manager and resident RBS/PIXE guru at IBeAM, where he showed me some cool tricks with RUMP (a program used to analyze RBS data).

Here's a screenshot of the RUMP command line (requires some bare-bones coding)...
the creator in the 1980s was a troll, as you can see by the prompts (in white).

With Barry's help on the RBS and PIXE, I could obtain the percent composition for each element in the BSS Saline we analyzed... this is my final result! I compared this value to the percent compositions for elements in the characterized Saline solution (on the bottle), and we got some really new interesting results to add to my paper.

About that paper -- I'm still cutting that down, but I have been working on revamping the methods to align better with my project and not provide so much needless detail. But, I know what y'all really care about... current total: 5,800. So, getting there.

Just trust the process...

Regarding my presentation, I was pretty happy with my slides going into my meeting with Mrs. Haag, but afterward, I realized that I have a lot of work to do. One misconception I had when I made my slides was that I wanted to minimize the number of slides I had to below 30. For scientific presentations in the past, I had done this, but since the AP Research presentation (and all for that matter) should be really engaging, I scrapped this semi-arbitrary limit and made many many slides. From my practice so far, changing the slides regularly (as opposed to ~ 1 min/slide) gives me a lot of momentum and confidence, so that's nice. I have fixed this in my presentation.

Keepin' things fast-paced to keep the audience engaged is the name of the game

Moreover, another mistake I always make is trying to cram a lot onto 1 slide. With the new fast-paced approach, I can separate a lot of slides into 2. While I did have a good amount of SmartArt that made my presentation look clean and animations to make points, I increased the use of animation and reduced the plain words in my talk.

They don't want us to use animations to fulfill a purpose, so we gotta...

So -- the ideal presentation ultimately matches form to function... all animations contribute to the understanding of the material and nothing is extraneous. Moreover, words are minimized on the slides other than key points, so that key points are reinforced but the audience is not distracted from the speaker. Additionally, the pace should be quick, but the articulation of the ideas should be clear and measured. 

One example of a great slide was on Ved's presentation where he had the information we wanted to garner (the gap from the lit review) and the methods used to get that information (with arrows), so I'm lowkey (well, high key now) going to steal that slide, and use that idea throughout. Also, an ideal presentation should not jump around to save time and improve the reader's understanding. So, I decided I will split my ppt not by methods, results, and discussion, but into sections of experiments (i.e., 3LCAA and RBS). The main reason for this is that I was basically explaining lots of information twice when I talked about the method and then the results. So, now I minimize repetition, and the presentation should be easier to follow. 

So, the main takeaway is FORM --> FUNCTION... and keep related things connected.

While I used a lot of Seminar tips, I personally did not love that style of presentation, especially with my technical project. But, a purely scientific presentation with no aesthetic is also boring and not how most research presentations are, so I am finding the happy medium. A major tip I took from Seminar is using graphics and pictures effectively. My old presentations were trash, with no aesthetic and no form matching function, so I am really excited to use this presentation, especially because I am going to give a similar talk at the Materials Research Society Spring Meeting at Phx Convention Center on April 18. 

To practice for both, my plan is to do a presentation before I eat anything. This way, I can minimize the snacking I do and practice a bunch. I will at least get to practice 3 times a day, and if I am going out for lunch, I will practice before I leave. I don't want to do any more, since I would need time in between to refine my presentation and script, especially at first. 

I anticipate having ample practice, especially because my lab crew (Dr. Herbots and co) also want me to practice for them. Rehearsing is important, especially with the amount of slide changes I have to do now.

Well, that's it for this week -- stay posted! It's getting heated -- final 2 weeks! 

Major 🔑  🚨 ,

Yash

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