Spring Break

We finally made it to Spring Break! After a slightly less than 100 mile drive across the Cascades, we found our way to Oceanside and the little apartment we rented there. It even came with several level 2 EV chargers alleviating any range anxiety we may have had. (Even though we could have made the full trip without recharging until back home again, it did put our minds at ease. Charging was free, too - even better!) 

We figure it must have been more than a decade since we've been in Oceanside - time flies! 

We all enjoyed the beach, of course, and engaged in some much needed rest and relaxation; be it walks on the beach, through town, or board games and Lego during the inevitable rain showers this time of year.

Behold the largest Spruce in Oregon: 144 feet tall, more than 15 feet in diameter - the photo doesn't do it justice without a puny human next to it for scale...in contrast, Cape Meare's lighthouse is - at 38 feet - the shortest of Oregon...

Views were breathtaking all around, internet connectivity notoriously poor, which made for a great little getaway!

Photonics West 2023

One more indicator that COVID is moving from pandemic to endemic: I attended Photonics West in San Francisco in person for the first time since 2020. With more than 22,000 attendees and north of 1,400 exhibitors it felt - almost - like pre-pandemic times.

As in 2020 I couldn't stay with family or friends (though that may change again in 2024!), but as I was part of the MKS contingent, I got to a room at the Marriott Marquis just a few minutes from Moscone Center which turned out to be exceedingly convenient.

Program was packed as usual, and I didn't get around to taking a lot of pictures. After checking into the conference and attending the University of Rochester Alumni reception Sunday evening at the Marquis, Monday followed with a full day of talks from morning to evening, followed by the PW reception in the evening. SPIE hired a professional event manager for these and other occasions several years ago and since then they have been transformed into remarkable occasions. This year was Star Wars themed complete with a (small) light saber for every attendee, actors in full costumes and backgrounds for photo ops and a live band riffing off Star Wars themed music all evening. You can see Rey and Chewbacca in the background here.

Tuesday was another day packed with talks from morning to late afternoon, a working lunch with the LASE conference chairs - which gave me an interesting glimpse deeper into the structure and organization behind LASE - and the evening was occupied by the poster session, where I had to judge student posters. Through an interesting confluence of effects that I won't go in here, every single poster  I had to judge was presented by a Japanese student. This created a rocky start, but translation apps on our phones ultimately came to the rescue.

Wednesday - you guessed it - more talks. After a working lunch with one of my academic collaborators, I headed to the student reception in the afternoon sponsored by MKS. (Can you spot me in the picture?) And Thorlabs brought 'Paws for a Break' to Photonics West; given Thorlab's logo this is doubly genius! We finished the day with the announcement of the best student talk and best student poster.

On Thursday, after my by now almost traditional PW Thursday morning coffee with Bob, the Director of Science & Technology for SPIE (and my former boss), I finally got to walk through the exhibition for the rest of the day, check out what's new, forge some new connections, and catch up with a lot of people whom I hadn't run into during the technical sessions and hadn't seen in years. Seeing my old friends from Rochester was a particular treat, of course:

White Christmas and a Happy New Year

 We made it through 2022! After what felt like crawling to the finish line during December, we were greeted with a little bit of snow, just in time for Christmas, which - without the need for any more commuting - we very much enjoyed. 

Our family Christmas photo-shoot went better than most years, what do you think? And Rayne's new favorite spot turned out to be under the Christmas tree guarding the presents (or considering herself the prime gift of 2022 to us?).

After our - always tasty - Christmas eve dinner, we enjoyed Christmas Day with a morning walk in Champoeg State Park and the following days playing with our new toys!

And - after several missed years - I finally got to greet the New Year from Mt. Hood again, with  beautiful sunshine and great snow. Let's take it as a promising sign for a good 2023!

Trip to Germany

 It's been quite a while since I had been on a plane - Photonics West in San Francisco in February of 2020 to be exact, and even longer since I had travelled internationally (Seoul in April and Munich in June of 2019). But, after two and a half years worth of pandemic misery and travel restrictions, it looked like case counts were low enough on both sides of the Atlantic to restart - occasional - travel. MKS had acquired Atotech in the summer and it was time to meet my new colleagues in Berlin in 3D.

After a pit-stop on the way in to Gruenstadt to visit my parents - and enjoy some lovely roulades - it was off to Berlin via ICE train, carrying some freshly harvested figs for my sister.

Berlin was a whirlwind tour of talks, discussions, and lab tours, while enjoying my sister's family's generous hospitality in the early mornings and late (sometimes very late) evenings. On Friday evening we even squeezed in a visit to the Brandenburger Tor during the 'festival of lights' as well as some awesome Dosas, before heading back home: again via ICE train to Mannheim, a lovely dinner with my parents and an early flight back to Portland via Vancouver, BC. It's been a full week!

Late summer...

 It's been a while, time for some catching up!

Michaela had gotten me a lovely Lego set for my birthday, which we finally finished in early August:

The Lego collection keeps growing and we finally decided to split it into two rooms. I now have a Lego streetscape in 'my office', too!

Windsurfing season was in full swing and I tried to make it count. I usually take exactly one picture when I arrive and that's it...there is a certain regularity in the theme: 

Note that last picture: unlike the others, which were taken on weekends, this one was on a Friday afternoon, straight from the office, still wearing a shirt. It would be the final session of the year and one of the best - well worth leaving the office early!

At the end of August we revisited Sauvie Island for the first time in way too many years (a decade?!?) - good times were had.

Meanwhile we also got a new roof. Admittedly not terribly exciting, but it needed to get done eventually: