CUE Home >> Departments >> Student Profile: Brian Schwartz

CUE 2004

ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
Student Profile: Brian Schwartz

Brian Schwartz

As a child, Brian Schwartz was drawn to hands-on experiments with physical phenomena both in and out of the classroom, such as toying with balloon-propelled rockets or a magnifying glass on a sunny day. In high school, his curiosity and interest in sports guided his science fair projects, such as one study of Astroturf for which his father drove him around Philadelphia to test the hardness of different athletic fields. "There's a puzzle or a game aspect in these things that makes them fun," he says.

So it wasn"t a surprise when Schwartz chose to major in physics at Swarthmore College. After graduation, he was hired by New Focus, a photonics company in the Silicon Valley, where he worked for two years before deciding to go to graduate school.

He then enrolled in the Optical Sciences and Engineering Program at CU-Boulder, an interdisciplinary program recommended by his former employer. The program has allowed him to work in three different laboratories before deciding where to focus his own research. Now he enjoys designing nano-materials with new types of optical properties and analyzing theoretical concepts to try to push science and engineering further.

"Working on a PhD is not just about ability—it's also about motivation and perseverance," he says. He isn"t sure exactly where the future will lead. "I would like to contribute in a way that is unique to my skill set, that combines my science background with my interest in policy."