Rachel Schafer Conference Summary
Rachel Schafer
Ph.D. Candidate
Biomedical Engineering GIDP
Conference Summary
SPIE Photonics West (BIOS) Conference
San Francisco CA
February 7-12, 2015
My attendance at the SPIE Photonics West conference was beneficial to my professional development and future endeavors. The conference is quite largely attended, allowing me to touch base with a number of previous colleagues, and members of the community with whom I have previously networked.
One of the highlights of the conference was the Hot Topics session, where the leading experts of the field present the latest advancements in the actively growing and cutting edge areas of biomedical imaging. I enjoyed hearing about the advances in imaging chromatin clumping using partial wave spectroscopic microscopy and how they foresee using the technology as a screening tool for cancer in the future. During the course of the conference, I attended a number of talks on oxygenation assessment using both photoacoustic imaging and diffuse optical tomography techniques to expand my understanding of alternative approaches for assessing oxygenation related to my own research endeavors.
In addition to the technical talks and personal networking, I made an effort to participate in activities geared toward the next phase of my career. I attended a short course on Resumes and Interviews lead by two recruiters for optics based companies. Through the course I gained some useful knowledge on the HR process of selecting candidates and was given examples of the style of interview questions most companies are tending to utilize. They were kind enough to provide feedback on my resume and tips for cover letter writing as well. In addition to the course, I visited the job fair on site as part of the conference exhibition. While only a few of the companies participating in the job fair had a medically or biologically focused division, I was nevertheless able to practice conversing and presenting myself, my experience, and skills to the companies represented. Another motivating event was a Women in Optics Panel discussion on women in leadership. It was encouraging to hear from women who have moved towards the top of their companies. They encouraged all of us to seek out mentors and to not be afraid to do self-promotion of your accomplishments.