1. CRA-W Career Mentoring Workshop “Getting Started in the Lab: Tips for Surviving the First Two Years” (L-track) June 4-5, 2011, San Jose, California A.J. Brush, Microsoft Research Evi Dube, Lawrence Livermore National Lab Raquel Romano, Google

2. You bring a solid foundation to build skills and experience Utilize this foundation as you begin to build the layers of your career University Connections Post Doc Experience Industry Collaborations Industry Collaborations New/Fresh Perspective

3. Think in terms of building blocks for success Get a mentor Learn about your environment Network Deliver Understand Stakeholders Give Talks Publish Deliver

4. Prioritize based on the long term view Use the building blocks as guides Deliver high quality work You are the Champion of your work Largest % time …..... Smallest % time

5. A.J. Brush Software Developer at Tripos 1998 - 1999 Senior Researcher, Microsoft Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) 2004 - present B.A. in Computer Science from Williams 1992- 1996 Ph.D. in computer science from UW 1996 – 1998, 1999 – 2002 PostDoc, UrbanSim project at UW 2002 - 2004 I thrive on finding ways for computers to help people solve everyday problems

6. Microsoft Research Established in 1991 More than 850 researchers, 55 areas of research To advance the state of the art in computing through a combination of basic and applied research. MSR is a small part of Microsoft ( < 1% of employees) A.J. Brush

7. How do I spend my time? We are evaluated on: Research impact Product impact Patents Changes week to week Things I do: Research Projects Go to meetings/answer email Consult to product groups Service (Internal/External) A.J. Brush

8. How do I spend my time? A.J. Brush

9. I develop tools for people to extract useful information from massive amounts of data BA, Math, Harvard, 1992 MS/PhD, MIT, 1995/2002 Postdoc, Computing Research Divison, 2004-2007 Software Engineer, OCR/Crisis Response (2007-present) Raquel Romano

10. Google & Google Research Raquel Romano

11. How do I spend my time? LBNL: investigate application of machine learning to scientific data analysis Google OCR Team: research, build, & train scalable text detection and multi- language recognition systems Google Crisis Response: find accurate, relevant information from many data sources during emergency events Raquel Romano

12. I juggle several diverse projects in two key roles Technical LeadershipProject Management Energy Prog. Models HPCS ISCR Deputy Ops Manager Evi Dube

13. LLNL Researchers use HPC to answer difficult problems High performance computing accelerates innovation American Competitiveness Energy Manufacturing Science Evi Dube

14. LIFE AT LABS

15. Life at a Government Lab Basic or applied research Soft money, block grants, budgeted funds Flexibility: can set your own hours Managed environment  May be harder to develop your own research program vs. working on an existing program Taxpayer money: limit on daily perks!

16. Applied Research Team projects  Junior researchers are generally members of a team  Team will most likely have some goals/deliverables that are not exclusively research  The research will frequently be a team effort as well Setting research agenda  Usually requires some time at lab  Must be relevant to lab’s strategic mission

17. Industry Labs Wide range of opportunities  PARC, Microsoft, IBM, AT&T, Nokia, Motorola, Google, Amazon, Intel …. Dimensions they differ  Research flexibility: Do you choose your own projects or get direction from product groups?  Funding models (e.g. separate division, sponsored by product teams)  Participation in research community (e.g. publishing)  Team/Research group structure

18. Pro’s/Risks Pro’s:  Funding “taken” care of  Typically well-resourced (travel, etc.)  Ability to have direct impact on products/people  Relatively easy to adjust research direction/try new areas Risks:  Labs can change (e.g. Intel Research labs closed spring 2011)  Companies sensitive to economic climate

19. STEPS TO SUCCESS

20. Starting Out: Mentors Find mentors  You may or may not have a formal mentor  Different mentors for different activities (research, program activities, lab politics, etc.).  Include someone outside your reporting chain!  “1/2 hour of your time”  Ask for advice, tips, introductions, stories. Participate in research community  Labs can be insular  Go to conferences, give talks

21. Starting Out: Visibility Working in many different areas can have benefits  But do not become so fragmented you can’t do your best on each task. Establish a reputation at your lab. Be visible. Establish your area of expertise and find your community. Find what conferences you want to publish in. Community service (program committees, reviewing) are not rewarded as much as in academia, but necessary for your growth as researcher.

22. Starting Out: Publish “Publish or perish” is not just for academic researchers Some non-academic institutions may not put much emphasis on publishing, but research community as a whole does. Career options are severely limited if publications stop.

23. Getting Known Inside the Lab Produce great work and make it known  Write papers/technical reports  Give talks within the lab. If your lab has an education or outreach office, get to know them.  Your manager(s) should be praising you to others. Make it easy for them by providing updates, slides, demos.  Share appropriate credit with your collaborators.  Seek collaborators.  Start reading groups and invite colleagues. May find future collaborators. External recognition will usually come before internal recognition  Make sure management hears about it!

24. Getting Known Outside the Lab Write workshop papers and posters, in addition to conference and journal articles. Talk tours  Self-invitation (“I’ll be in the area”) Proposal review panels, journal refereeing, conference program committees: volunteer yourself. Invite others to visit and give talks.

25. How do you decide what to work on? You may be assigned to a project initially If you’re free to choose, think about your criteria for choosing a project, e.g.,  one best aligned with your research interests?  one that will teach you the most?  one best aligned with the lab mission?  one led by a PI you want to work under?  one with a team you would enjoy working with? Initial project: you are on probation, so make a good impression

26. Research Independence When is the right time to take the initiative, to launch new projects, or to take on a leadership role?  Senior collaborators see opportunities and give you leads  Acquire your own funding  Visibility and accomplishments give you the necessary credibility

27. LESSONS FROM OUR EXPERIENCE

28. Things I’m glad I did Internally:  Worked on projects with different people  Learned the culture  Got mentors for specific situations  Organized the MSR Women’s group with Lucy Vanderwende, intern talk series Externally:  Publishing/Workshops/Visibility/Networking  “Volunteer” for Program Committees  SIGCHI VP for Membership  Picked some smaller conference to “focus on” A.J. Brush

29. Things I wish I had done Meet and greet with lots of people right after I started A little bit more coherence/plan with projects around clear theme Valued my time, weighed opportunities, killed things sooner Figured out sooner when to say “No”  (I’m getting better at this ) Aggressively avoid meetings A.J. Brush

30. Things I’m glad I did Pursued my intellectual and personal passions, both during and after graduate school. Changed course when the time was right in spite of uncertainty. Used each new experience as a learning opportunity for the next. Found a way to network without “networking” via social groups and volunteer activities at work Raquel Romano

31. Things I wish I had done Shared work in progress before it was complete or polished, e.g. at team weeklies or with people outside my immediate group. Joined team projects rather than working too independently. Figured out when to shift gears on a project earlier rather than later. Found and used more mentors. Raquel Romano

32. Things I’m glad I did Took risks to go into new areas not typical for computer scientists Delivered in everything asked to do Active in assignments Spent some time in Washington D.C. on assignment” Pursued the Ph.D. and the PMP Evi Dube

33. Things I wish I had done Understood the value of a mentor for myself earlier in my career Learned to listen to others with a more open mind earlier in my career Aggressively avoid meetings Evi Dube