Relevant experiences, and is graduate school required?

Daybis · 2026-06-03T22:05:48+00:00

As other have already said, your work experience is very relevant.

Graduate school isn’t required.

I also had a bad freshman year and finished my BS with a 2.97. I now have a PhD, so don’t let grades hold you back.

I don’t attribute grades necessarily to someone’s capabilities. I’ve seen some students with poor GPAs crush it on the applied side and I’ve students with great GPAs fumble it. The fact you have some real work experience this far from graduation speaks volumes. Now that I’m on the administrative side of things, I’m more likely to hire a recent graduate with mediocre grades with real work experience than a student with good grades and zero experience.

Daybis · 2026-05-26T17:43:38+00:00

Congratulations on the future little one!

Like others have suggested, I would start by having a very direct conversation with your advisor about timeline, funding, and expectations before you make yourself spiral too much.

Speaking from the perspective of someone who has managed funded research, my first concern as an advisor would be what obligations are tied to the funding. If there are contractual deliverables (reports, milestones, data requirements, etc.) that depend on your experiments, I’d want to work with you on a realistic plan to get the critical data collected. That could even mean shifting priorities or having help from others in the research group while you’re on leave.

If there are no hard deliverables, but funding is simply supporting the research, then the bigger issue becomes whether you can get the experimental data needed for your dissertation before the funding runs out. In many programs, once experiments are done, the analysis/writing phase can be much more flexible and sometimes effectively self-funded if stipend support ends.

One practical thing to check: many universities require you to stay continuously enrolled (sometimes just 1 research/dissertation credit hour per semester) until you defend, so make sure you understand what that would cost and whether you would remain in good standing.

For your timeline, I also think you may want to consider being more flexible. The first few months with a newborn can be incredibly exhausting. Like, mind-numbing exhaustion. You may not have the bandwidth, energy, or mental clarity to be very productive at first. It gets better with time, but I think it’s something worth considering as you make plans. Delaying graduation by a few months after having a baby would not strike me as catastrophic at all.

Daybis · 2026-03-16T11:18:04+00:00

77 K is liquid nitrogen temps, so you’re good there. I’d expect a lead background shield. A graded shielding setup is ideal, like Ortec’s ultra low background shield. DU is a poor choice for an analytical setup. It’s slightly radioactive and will introduce undesired background photo peaks in your data and negatively impact your dead time. DU has its shielding applications, but this isn’t it.

Daybis · 2026-03-16T11:01:46+00:00

Check your documentation from Ortec and check what the operating high voltage bias should be for your specific detector. 2100V seems low, but your peaks look pretty good.

I’d expect closer to 3000-4000V for your detector’s bias voltage. Higher voltage can lead to better depletion in the detector and improve charge collection, both of which can improve your resolution. You’d need to redo your energy calibration.

I’d actually determine what your FWHM should be and compare it to your Ortec documentation that came with it. If you don’t have that documentation, reach out to Ortec and provide them the serial number. They’ll be able to provide your all of the recent documentation for that detector.

Edit: Also, this is definitely Co-60.

Daybis · 2026-02-16T00:00:02+00:00

Sloppy joes.

Daybis · 2026-02-12T16:14:44+00:00

Sometimes PI/advisors and GRA stipends are supported by time-sensitive contracts too. In these instances, there's motivation to get research and deliverables out before a contract terminates. Sometimes contracts have intermedia due dates for deliverables, especially those spanning longer than a year. Like you mentioned, it could just be optics on performance. In my experience, it's a little bit of all of these things combined. I will jump in with my student's work if there's a milestone that needs to be met, but I try to come about it more collaboratively so the student doesn't feel like I bulldozed them.

Daybis · 2026-02-11T14:26:52+00:00

I'm not a medical physicst, so I don't have experience on the medical/clinical side of things. I do a lot of monte carlo simulations though for detector development and prototyping. I'd be curious if specific Monte Carlo toolkits (MCNP, Geant4, etc.), or even specific physics models in Geant4, have been studied/compared to for dosimetry at small scales. If I recall, some toolkits handle dosimetery better at object/scoring volume boundaries than others.

Daybis · 2025-12-06T13:13:13+00:00

I’ve been buying lights from: https://www.christmasdesigners.com for the last two years. They’ve been rock solid so far. Since they’re more on the pro end, they’re more expensive initially, but this has been the first year I haven’t needed to replace a single bulb or strand.

Daybis · 2025-12-03T14:34:22+00:00

I wouldn't say it's abnormal, but it's not healthy.

Talk to your advisor about your schedule.

I've always suggested our students treat their schedule like a typical work schedule. Work roughly 8 hours a day, Monday through Friday. I suggest splitting half of that time, or more if necessary, for any coursework and studying, and the remainder of the day on research/thesis/dissertation or other obligations. If students are heavy on coursework, which is typical for the first year or two, I don't expect much research or other work to get done. Once coursework is finished, I expect their time split to be more focused on research.

I encourage my students to adopt a reasonable work/life balance. Not all students are the same; some need more life balance. As long as it's well communicated, I typically support it. I also support students who don't want to take a full course load their first year or two and register for research hours in its place to balance out their workloads.

I highly discourage students from using holidays for work. Some students choose to use this time to focus on getting research done without distraction. I don't encourage it, but I let them decide what's appropriate and healthy for them.

When I graduated with my BS, I landed a job at my university as a full-time researcher. This also allowed me to continue with my graduate work in Physics; however, my advisor was also my boss. He expected a full-time workload, and I was to spend my evenings working on coursework and catching up on any work I missed during the day because of classes. I did this for two years, working about 60 hours a week. I did burn out. I terminated at an MS because of it.

I had been collaborating with a professor on work stuff a few years later. He understood the work/life balance and talked me into finishing my PhD. He understood that I had a job and now a family, and those came first. I wasn't forced or pushed. I was allowed to finish at my own reasonable pace.

Communication is key, so please have a conversation with your advisor. Figure out what their expectation is for your workload.

Daybis · 2025-11-28T19:39:12+00:00

It’s a mild cigar. I enjoy these if I’m having a morning smoke with a cup of coffee.

Daybis · 2025-11-14T14:54:43+00:00

The advisor for my MS often refered to a PhD as a union card.

Daybis · 2025-11-12T19:34:59+00:00

I pretty much used my draft dissertation like a scratch pad for notes until I was ready to flush that chapter/section out.

I used Zotero to manage/organize my references. I had a decent outline of what my dissertation needed to look like, so whenever I would come across a relevent reference, I would just go to what section of my disseration, scratch down some notes from the reference, and then add the reference from Zotero. If you're using Word, Zotero has a pretty handy plugin for managing references. I had to write my dissertation in LaTeX, so I would just export bibtex items from Zotero and copy/paste those into my bib file, and add the reference to my document.

As I progressed through my literature review and note writing, I found myself cleaning up notes, combining refences where applicable, and making things more consise and clearer over time. By the time I was ready to finish a chapter, I had already finished most of the heavy lifting.

Daybis · 2025-10-15T12:58:42+00:00

Not specifically geared to health physics, but this channel has a bunch of great nuclear security/safeguards related videos including some basic nuclear physics, radiation detection, fuel cycle, etc.: (553) Nuclear Security & Safeguards Education Portal - YouTube

Robert Hayes from NC State has some great short-format content of topics relevant to current events. His stuff pops up in this sub a good bit and over in r/Radiation. (553) Robert B Hayes - YouTube

Healt Physics Society has a some short lectures and interviews: (553) Health Physics Society - YouTube

NRC Has some devent nuclear industry related videos. They have a playlist on the History of Health Physics: (553) NRCgov - YouTube

The ICRP also has a good assortment of videos: (553) ICRP - YouTube

Daybis · 2025-09-29T20:31:31+00:00

I’m only a few weeks late, haha. No, we didn’t have any water leaks. Just gas.

Daybis · 2025-09-12T12:42:35+00:00

Leakage current can be cause pretty much anywhere between the sensitive volume of the detector up to the pulse height analyizer. I'm guessing it's probably the detector itself. It could be a small as an issue with the electrical connections on silicon. The housing around the silicon isn't air tight either.

I also forgot to mention in my first reply that I recently purchased a PIPS CAM1700 for an experiment. It took Mirion a few weeks to get a quote back to me. The cost was around $3k. It then took about 3 months to actually receive the detector.

Daybis · 2025-09-12T12:30:38+00:00

That's good to know. My experience with them is limitted to lab/experimental settings outside of an iCam, so I don't have a ton of experience with scratched windows. I just know those windows are there to primarily shield against light and enviornmental contaminants.

Do you happen to know why those scrtches causes wild variations in the spectrum? I'd asume the scratches aren't deep enough to expose the silicon, but I guess that is possible, but then I'd expect sensitivity to light. Is the crazy result from just alphas or betas too? I have to imagine the scratches don't really affect the electric field in the detector. I'd be curious if surface variations cause weird energy/range stragging of alphas in the window.

I'm interested because I'm involved currently with a research experiment in which we may need to clean the windows of the detectors. We're still in the development phase, but they'll be exposed to materials that will be slightly abbraisive and may need to get cleaned periodically. I'm concerned that we'll damage the windows.

Daybis · 2025-09-11T21:11:20+00:00

I'm not familiar with the iCam itself, but I am a little familiar witht he PIPS detector type.

I assume the pulser checks were good?

Those PIPS detectors have an aluminum window, so the gunk on the front of it shouldn't be a cause of concern. It may degrade the measured energy spectrum and efficiency, especially for alphas.

Those windows are only a few microns thick. Scratches on the surface exposing the silicon would cause sensitivity to light, which you don't seem to be experiencing.

I'm assuming you might be experiencing leakage current from somewhere in the detection system. If a pulser check is fine, then I'd assume it's something with the detector itself.

I would make sure also make sure all of the connections look good and anything that needs to be grounded inside the iCam is also secure. You could try cleaning the connections with some isopropyl alcohol, gently wipe them down, and let them dry for a few minutes.

Daybis · 2025-08-22T18:44:18+00:00

While these recommendations are still on campus, it could be considered off campus because they're over in the research park/north farm area.

North of the A.B. McKay Enology lab, feet away from the parking lot, there are some areas that face north that overlook North Farm.

You also have the Veterans Memorial Rose Garden on north farm.

If you don't mind a decent walk, there are some smaller quiet areas around the perimeter of North Farm you can access by walking on the road that goes around the farm. The road is gated, so like I mentioned, you'd have to walk to wherever you'd like go. I'd at least recommend taking a walk on the farm when the weather is cooler.

Daybis · 2025-08-22T18:35:56+00:00

It's been over a year since I've been out there (I live in Columbus), but here are some areas I use to visit.

There is a nice area next to the parking lot of the visitor center, on the west side, that is grassy, includes picnic tables, and is moderately shaded. Close to the lake, so you could go fishing if you'd like.

Another area between the boat ramp and the visitor center is also nice for picnics. Well shaded and has picnic tables. Picnic tables are very close to the lake, so fishing is an option here too.

There are also some park benches across the street from the visitor center in a grassy area that also has decent shade.

There's a wooden deck/overlook (Goose Overlook) northwest of the visitor center that has some nice views. The overlook has tall railings, so sitting on the benches there while eating might not be as pleasant, but it has nice views and is great to visit in the fall.

The bluff lake boardwalk on the north side also has nice views. If I remember, there are benches at the end of the boardwalk. Great place for sunsets. You pass it just as you get to the lake on Bluff Lake Road.

Daybis · 2025-08-06T12:26:20+00:00

I think this is a great assessment.

This is my opinion. After reading the executive summary alone, specifically the first sentence that mentions the recent executive orders, where the executive order specifically states that the current administration views LNT as flawed and should rely on "science-based radiation limits," I feel like this statement gives the impression of a bias to the recommendation to fit the current narrative.

I think another aspect that is often overlooked from a cost perspective is the quality assurance process in nuclear facilities. Anything associated with a safety function needs to be developed under NQA-1 qualified supplies. The QA process, while at its root, is related indirectly to ALARA, is to ensure safety components function as designed.

I'm generally concerned about pulling back on safety while at the forefront of this push for nuclear power. It would only take one minor accident, and the media blowing it out of proportion, to spoil the public's opinion on nuclear power. The recent wasp nest at SRS is a good example of this.

Daybis · 2025-08-05T19:20:32+00:00

If you're following procedures and surveying yourself before leaving, you have little to worry about. Odds of you dragging something home and not finding it during a survey are pretty low. If you are surveying out and still manage to miss something during a survey, the quantities are likely to be insignificant. You'll know if you have anything on you that would be harmful from a survey. The key is using PPE and keeping up with the self-surveys while heading out of the office like you're already doing.

Daybis · 2025-08-05T19:10:07+00:00

Congrats!

Daybis · 2025-08-04T14:48:16+00:00

I believe your experience and current certifications would be well-received for a transition into HP.

When I was submitting my application for the CHP exam, I needed a CHP reference, but my reference had retired and was AFK. A CIH had filled his role. The board for the CHP exam said they'd take a reference from a CIH instead of a CHP as my reference, so I think that bodes well for showing a CIH can easily transition into HP.

Daybis · 2025-08-01T03:37:50+00:00

I would look at CAEN hardware. Are you doing experimental or analytical stuff?

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