I've been at Beckman really since I came to the University of Illinois
Which is about 18 years ago now
And it's been the perfect place for me
I guess my role in life is to bring ideas from other places into Neurophysiology
And the whole raison d'etre of my work really is multidisciplinary
So it's been natural for me to be at Beckman
This is a center of excellence at the University of Illinois
and it brings people from different expertise
at the same place and forces them to interact.
And I think this is extremely useful and very important for
the new development of scientific technology.
Being in the Beckman forces me...
to stop having little thoughts.
I think my natural tendency is to just think of little things
and being in the Beckman has forced me to think of big things.
I think the Beckman Institute has set the gold standard for interdisciplinary research
both in the US and Worldwide.
It was probably the first major institute
dedicated and completely structured to enhance interdisciplinary research.
It means being part of a really top notch institute where the facilities are fantastic.
There's a microscope suite that we have access to
that has all kinds of electron microscopes.
The Beckman Institute is of all the units at the University of Illinois
the one that is at the leading edge of
the movement towards interdisciplinary science in the 21st Century.
People at the Beckman Institute showing this tremendous interest in collaborating
and its very easy to pursue the ideas rather than just let the idea fly away
The Beckman Institute provides a critical link between art and design and the sciences
and being on the faculty here at the Beckman is a wonderful opportunity
to collaborate, to mix, to be exposed to some of the leading research this country has to offer
It has also a very strong reputation abroad
And we also have a lot of visitors coming for this reason
Many of the discoveries that have come out of the Beckman
Have started out as casual conversations in the cafeteria, in the hallways
Things that wouldn't happen if, you know
Just by a lack of proximity in a normal setting
The Beckman Institute resonates with people outside the science community
I came in March of 1989 and it had just opened
It opened really in December of 1988
My favorite memory from the past 15 years of working at the Beckman Institute
Was when I had the chance to actually meet Arnold Beckman
And tell him about the six-legged robotic project that I was working on
And I just wanted to thank him for providing such a great environment
Where I was able to work with entymologists, neurophysiologists and engineers from around campus
On that interdisciplinary project
My favorite thing about Beckman is the Bugscope program
Which I've been a part of for the past almost five years
And it's given me- I'm an entymology graduate student
And it's given me a lot of insight into how the rest of the world thinks about insects
Especially how children think about insects
As a writer, coming to Beckman was the best thing that ever happened to me
I think that the research here is amazing- the building is beautiful
But for me the best part has been working with the faculty
One of the things that I remember fondly about the Beckman is
Having lunch with people who have wonderful, kind of crazy ideas
I think everything from the administrative structure, the cost sharing
To the fact that the grad students in all the 40 different departments share common office spaces
All of that goes to break down barriers between disciplines
In many cases we know we're doing the same things but we speak different languages
My students now know how to talk with chemists and materials scientists and other engineers
And they can communicate effectively because they work together on a daily basis
Well it's of course very honorable to be part of such a great institute and the University of Illinois
I feel really fortunate that I can be a part of the Beckman Insitute
Beckman Insitute has such nice and prestigious stature and reputation in the field
When I first walked into the Beckman Institute building I was like "Whoa, I'm finally a part of it!"
The Beckman is a great place for meetings.
They have a wonderful cafe- a lovely energy and spirit
It's a place where you literally bump into experts
The exciting thing at the Beckman Institute is really when the ideas all of a sudden emerge from discussing
At the dining table or the hallway and all of a sudden the ideas gel to form into some concrete seed in our thinking
How can we make progress in solving difficult medical issues like Fragile X syndrome?
How can we use exercise as a way of promoting brain health and psychological health?
The reputation of the Institute outside of this university is huge
Whenever I go to conferences and say I work at the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois
Those are two things: Beckman and Illinois that really have impact to the external world
It's great for me- it's really great for the students who are about to begin their careers
They can go out and doors will open very easily because of their affiliation with the Beckman Institute
It's difficult to do multidisciplinary research because it's hard to break disciplinary boundaries
For me it's been a great advantage to be in an institution that supports and facilitates interdisciplinary research
It's greatly enhanced my research program and in some ways even made it possible where it wouldn't have been otherwise
We're working on a digital- being able to take an MRI image of a mouse brain
And use a similar technique that we use in humans with MRI images
And being able to get the similar kind of data in a mouse brain
And the reason why this is very valuable is because mice, we can look in more detail at what's going on
And what are causing the changes
So it's a very important- its sort of the spirit of the Beckman Institute in the sense that it's
Bridging the gap- bridging disciplines from bioengineers, physicists who are working on the MRI
To the biologists and neuroscientists- the mouse people and the human cognitive psychologists
It's fun to be here. It's fun to do things with colleagues that you may not interact with on a daily basis
And I like to practice what I preach. I tell my graduate students that you should try to have fun while you're in graduate school
Because therein will come your creativity
I probably want to stay here and hopefully the rest of my life
And really enjoy and be part of it