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Career
Profiles - Darren Williams
- What do you do?
I am a physicist at Penn State.
- Describe your field.
I am mainly interested in astronomy,
and particularly in physical processes
that form planets and moons about stars.
Some questions which I am attempting
to answer are how planets grow, how
they begin to spin, and how planets
like Earth develop life.
- How did you become interested
in this field?
When I was 8 my father pointed out Mars
to me in the night sky. I thought it
was very very neat.
- How much education did you need
and what degrees?
It took 4 years to get my bachelors
degree in physics and 6 years at Penn
State to get my Ph.D. in astronomy and
astrophysics.
- What were your favorite school
subjects and activities?
In order of importance - Physics &
Mathematics, Astronomy & Earth Science,
Chemistry & Meteorology
- What do you do at work everyday?
I spend a lot of my researching time
in front of a computer writing programs
to make complex calculations quickly
and efficiently. I also use the computer
to make graphs and illustrations, building
web pages, and writing research papers.
- How do you balance a family and
a career?
Finding enough time for everything and
everyone is not easy; it is very important.
I spend around 25% of my day working
and the rest of it enjoying myself or
my family. My family supports me and
gives me a great deal of happiness.
- What's the coolest thing about
your job?
I think the coolest thing about my career
is watching people getting excited about
discoveries or ideas that I thought
of. The next coolest thing is being
around other people making interesting
discoveries.
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