Work smarter, not harder

There are times we all just want to get over with a task, which we know we will repeat, but still, prefer to do it the long way just to get the results. Below is one of my favourite pictures on this topic. It is clear that if we stop for a second, look back, and observe the situation, we can find an easier way to proceed further which we can re-use.

In the previous weeks, I conducted some experiments and was very excited to see the results and compare them with some examples in literature. The easiest way was to copy the results, paste them into excel and plot a graph of my interest. I filtered and worked on the data like this for almost 4 weeks. During these 4 weeks, every time I had to change or check something, I needed to open each excel, and remember the exact things I needed to conduct. Even though the latest version of excel and new computers are capable enough to handle thousands of lines of data, it was freezing very often that I had to close the task or give it some time to recover.

Last weekend, I was just very exhausted from going back and forth in different sheets (at home I do not have a second screen) so I decided to take the time to just write a Matlab code. I worked with Matlab for many years (in the following posts I will write about my weird relationship with Matlab) and knew that I could do what I wanted to do with some effort and few google pages. One other thing great about Matlab is that you get a free version if you are a student, and there are thousands of things that can be done with it.

It took me less than half an hour to write the code, import data, plot and filter. Yes, 30 minutes vs probably 6-8 hours (in total with re-plotting filtering, selecting relevant data etc). This was a great way to prove that I should just think about what would be the most efficient way, each time I have something to do.

What are your smarter ways to work more efficiently?

Hasselt University

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Hasselt

The University I am pursuing my PhD in, Hasselt University. It is located in Hasselt, Belgium which is a city in Eastern Belgium.

Even though I found Hasselt University in a common academic job web page, after searching about it, I found that it has some very strong research groups. The group I am a member of, call Construction Engineering Research Group is one of them.

Even though I am only enrolled for 6 months, I cannot imagine a better work and research environment. The structure of a PhD is very fulfilling. As part of the PhD program, as a student, you're involved in doctoral schools, which has certain requirements you need to fulfil within the time of PhD. Some of these requirements are non-technical skills such as ethics, communication etc, however, some are very useful practice requirements such as a min number of publication requirements, conference requirements, teaching assignments etc.

As the first female PhD student, I am working towards accomplishing my goals and providing service to the university.

Here is a link to the University vacancy page, if anyone is interested.

Volunteering in a conference in your undergrad

I remember my freshman (1st) year in bachelors. All we cared about was passing the classes and enjoying free lessons. None of us had what to do after school, and none of us cared either since we had more than 3 years.

On my sophomore (2nd) year, I was going through some family financial problems which lead me to take charge of my life and start earning. At that time, and after having a terrible site summer internship, I thought going into academia was easiest and best path for me.

My passion and hard work helped me get a position and research funding. Beside my research work my advisor encouraged me to volunteer in 1 national and 1 international conference. Here is how my experience went;

1. In the international conference, I met a professor who then became part of my MSc committee in Texas A&M.

2. All faculty from my school recognized me and I built my very first academic network. This network later helped me getting references and getting paper work done easily. Besides that, every time something national or international was going on, I was one of the first students they called to.

3. During the national conference I met many recognized researchers, and one ended up being coworker of my dad from the 90's. You can guess how it helped me stand out in crowd.

4. I learned the research technical slang before even getting bachelors degree.

5. The vision and mission of the conferences motivated me to move forward in hard time in academia.

6. Never paid to attend those conferences and during technical sessions, I could attend the ones I like.

7. Got the goodies bag along with published papers.

These being said, I highly recommend every undergraduate student to take part in such conferences. I believe all academics and graduate students should help young researchers get involved as soon as possible. I think this is the strongest way to get students get involved in research.

How to use free time wisely

Lately, I have a lot of time for myself since I am working freelance and wrapping up my life to start a new adventure. One struggle with having an unlimited time is that when you have a lot you want to do but you feel like you are not using your time effectively.

Here are some tips helping me to get through the day.

1. List down plans

It can be reading books, writing a paper, taking a test for certification or anything you've been putting off for when you'll have time. Be realistic, if you have limited amount of time off, plan accordingly to not overwhelm yourself, and also to not disappoint yourself. No matter what the reason is you have time off, take it also to enjoy your free time, life can get very tricky once you get busy.

2. Make a list of things you like to on free time

I believe this is as important as writing down your goals. If there are some books you'd like to finish or some serials you'd like watch make a list of these.

3. Define time slots

Now that you have 2 list, one for leisure and one for goals, see how you'd like to shape your day. Try to use a percentage like 40%-60%. 60 % of your time you put to your goals (min) and 40% of your time you can put into leisure.

4. Be flexible

Working throughout the day can be exhausting or you may be disrupted. Allow yourself some time to switch around.

5. Use time wisely

It is very easy to waste time when you have plenty of time. By planning right, and managing your time wisely, it could be a life building time.

Erasmus: Politechnika Krakowska (Crakow University of Technology)

Picture of me on my first day in Crakow, in front of Politechnika Krakowska

Right after writing about Erasmus program, I would like to continue with my personal experience. I went to Politechnika Krakowska for my Erasmus program. It is a technical university located in Krakow, Poland. Before I started erasmus program, I was highly recommended to join this school because it is one of the leading universities in Poland.

I went for Erasmus on my 4th (last) year of bachelor's degree, on the Spring semester. For my case it was pretty risky because I had Fulbright scholarship for 2014-2016 which was starting that fall and I had no chance to fail. And an advantage was I had to take a very few classes.

In some classes we had the pleasure of being "Erasmus Students" meaning the lecturer cared only if we enjoyed ourselves and learned a bit of what was taught. And in the other classes we were sitting with full time students of the University and taught very seriously.

Speaking about classes, a few things I really enjoyed in Politechnika Krakowska is that they had the latest technology in lab or practice classes. I remember taking building physics class which is for heat isolation (we do not have that course in bachelors in Turkey). That course was very unique to me and the theory was a bit confusing, however, after the lab classes, when they showed what was being taught in lecture, it sounded a lot better. Another standing memory I have is that in a concrete class we went for beam bending test which was very interesting to watch as an undergraduate student. Even though I knew I would be a structural engineer, one other class I had to take was transportation class and again it ended up being one of my favorite classes. The course wasn't only theory, we had to make a real life project of a small town. First we had calculated the traffic rate (inbound, outbound etc.) and afterwards started working with a software called Visum. It pretty much visualized our hand calculations.

Last but not least, I found the love of my life in Erasmus, who I call husband now. Besides him, I have bunch of friends all over the world that I am loving to meet once in awhile.

If there is one best thing that can happen to you is Erasmus. Whatever your life is about, if you get the chance, go for it, no matter what it takes. If there is anything I can guide you with please feel free to let me know.

They all failed for success

1. "I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career.  I've lost almost 300 games.  26 times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed.  I've failed over and over and over again in my life.  And that is why I succeed." [Michael Jordan]
2. "I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear." [Rosa Parks]

3. "If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint", then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced." [Vincent Van Gogh]

4. "What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality." [Plutarch]

5. "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence." [Vince Lombardi]

6. "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right." [Henry Ford]

7. "Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it." [Charles Swindoll]

8. "To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart." [Eleanor Roosevelt]

9. "Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve." [Napoleon Hill]

10. "Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value." [Albert Einstein]

Use that failure as a step to major success.