A World of Endless Possibilities in the Field of Math, Physics, and Data Science
Words by: Monica G. Gill Singh
On March 29, Wednesday at the Labrador Hall, three guest speakers with impressive backgrounds in Applied Physics and Mathematics gave lectures to the UST Senior High School and Junior High School students, evoking their interest and curiosity in choosing their career path, particularly in the following fields.
The main event began with Sir Kristan Simbulan, a former alumni of UST and current teacher in UST SHS and Department of Physics, discussing the physics of two-dimensional materials and their unique characteristics compared to their 3D counterparts. In his talk, Sir Simbulan mentioned the size of a nanoscale in which as our technologies improve, our devices become smaller and gain more features, citing the old big phones that they had in the past in contrast to the smaller yet more high-tech smartphones that we have in the present. In addition, he also discussed their research about graphene, in which physics is able to transcend and take part in different fields such as in biomedical, energy, electronics, and many more. Despite some students still unsure of their future programs, Sir Simbulan also shared working in the computer programming field in the past, making physics a relatively flexible career path that provides the basic concepts in other similar programs, such as mechanical engineering. Sir Simbulan ended his talk by emphasizing that the beauty of curiosity in mixing and matching can be found in physics as, aside from the financial incentives, one is able to uncover new discoveries and contribute to the body of knowledge as well.
To acquire insights from a Thomasian student’s perspective, Ms. Shamira Liao, a graduating student from BS Applied Mathematics Major in Actuarial Science, also gave her talk focusing on her experiences with her chosen program and organizations. To start, Ms. Liao began her interest in the field of actuarial science through watching cartoons such as Kim Possible and doing her research about it on the web. Contrary to what others believe, Ms. Liao shared that math is not as intimidating as its sounds so long as one is interested in the field. With the help of applying to different internships during practicum as well as volunteering in various organizations, Ms. Liao mentioned that she was able to appreciate and see the importance and applications of mathematics. At the end of her talk, Ms. Liao highlighted that many are in need of mathematicians and, despite their small batch, applied mathematics is an in demand course with many opportunities available outside the four corners of the school, be it in banking and finance, data science, entrepreneurial, risk management, research, and even medicine.
For the lecture’s final speaker, Ms. Alyssa Umpar, a graduating student of BS Applied Physics Major in Instrumentation, also shared her trials and learning experiences with her program. Ms. Umpar started by mentioning that physics is very challenging yet is also in demand around the world. Despite being a relatively new program, being a physics graduate provides a very promising career path as some usually become part of the academe, proceed with graduate studies, or do scientific research. At the end of her talk, Ms. Umpar imparted a few words of encouragement, sharing that attempting, failing, crying, trying again, and succeeding makes her heart jump with happiness as she expressed the hurdles and trials of being a young Thomasian Physicist student.
The Youth Lecture was then officially closed with the awarding of the certificates followed by a quick photo opportunity of the high school students together with the invited guest speakers.
