My  name is Barbara Monsma and in 1990 I started my first year of a degree in Applied Science majoring in Physics. During my final year(1993) one of my lecturers (Dr John Bell) asked me to apply for a Research Assistant position  that he had on offer, so after an 8 week vacation scholarship I was offered  a job with the Electrochromic windows project. In 1996 I was the first student  at UTS to do honours as a separate year. I found that I was much more disciplined  towards my studies because I had worked for a couple of years. I finished  with first class honours and I received the Australian Institute of Physics  award for the highest average mark in my last two semesters. I was pretty  happy with that. I then proceeded to be on the dole, or should I say "New  Start Allowance" and this was not much fun at all. But I realised that  this was not due to my lack of ability but because of a lack of research funding  in pure and applied physics. Currently I am working at The Australian National  University in Canberra as a Research Assistant. I deposit and characterise  SiO2 and Si3N4 thin films. During my contract I have attended two conferences  and a training course in TEM. My colleagues are great and there is a strong  possibility that my contract will be renewed. But best of all I love the ducks  that roam around the campus.

From a personal point  of view : I am a musician and I was one of the original members of the UTS  choir (MUSCUTS) along with Dr Tony Fischer-Cripps and Dr Bob Cheary, with  Mrs Suzanne Hogg conducting. I have been having singing lessons on and off  for about 4 years and this year I will be doing my 4th grade flute exam. I  also enjoy hand crafts and I am an avid cross-stitcher. My Applied Physics  degree from UTS gave me a sound understanding of the concepts of physics and  good analytical and problem solving skills. My advice to any new student is  be open minded to the job opportunities available outside of pure science.

Barbara  updated us in July '99....

Canberra is cold.. really  really cold.. it was -1 when I was driving to work at 8.30am this morning  and I was far from impressed. I originally moved to Canberra to take up a  position at the Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering at the  Australian National University. I was employed by ANUTECH (the commercial  arm of ANU) and when the contract ran out last year in mid November that was  the end of that. I then spent 3 weeks in the Solomon Islands working as a  cook for a mission team from my church. We built a house for some missionaries  and had a really good time. Before I went overseas I applied for another position  with ANUTECH in the Faculty of Engineering. They were so impressed with my  resume that they held the job open for me till I came back from the Solomons.  After a brief interview they offered me the job on the spot and at the beginning  of the year I started with making solar cells with Dr Andrew Blakers. Last  year I decided that doing a PhD was something that I never want to do... so  I have decided to become a school teacher. I am studying part-time by correspondence  through Charles Sturt University. It is a lot of hard work and I still have  another 18 months of part-time study till I finish.. if that doesn't kill  me then no amount of hyperactive 12 year olds can possibly do any further  damage.

Linda  Macks

My name is Linda Macks  and I completed the Applied Physics degree at UTS in 1992. I went on to post-graduate study at UNSW and am now employed as a post-doctoral research associate at  the University of Cambridge where I study quantum effects in low-dimensional  electronic structures. I was originally drawn to physics for the challenges  it presented in understanding the physical world and applying this knowledge  to the way we live. At undergraduate level however, the challenges of physics often reduce to getting through the next lot of exams! As a post-graduate student, I enjoyed being able to concentrate on semiconductor physics and study problems that were only just beginning to be understood. It is really exciting to get papers published and to know that you are making a real contribution  to fundamental physics. As a post-doctoral research associate, my responsibilities  also include the supervision of students which I find very rewarding. I thoroughly  enjoy the opportunities for travel (both conference trips and research visits  to different labs around the world) offered by a research career, and appreciate  the social and dynamic work environment provided by universities. I have found  my background in applied physics to be highly appropriate as science funding  is so limited nowadays that it is increasingly important for research to be  justified by commercially viable output.

Dominic  Fitzgibbon

I, Dominic Fitzgibbon  graduated in 1993 and have been continuously employed over the last 5 years  and worked with 2 different companies. I am 28 and generally interested in  anything technical or computer orientated. I like to be able to be "hands  on" and will work on anything from cars to household applications. My current job fulfils my requirements for the electrical and electronic so I  leave that for the weekdays. Getting outdoors and going bush complements the  times that I'm a bum on the weekends! My first company I worked for was Comalco  Aluminium Supply as an internal technical sales representative. My job was  primarily sales orientated with a bend to the architectural sales area. Selling  aluminium is not technically hard but at times it helps to have a decent technical  background. I was employed for just under 3 years. I am currently employed  at Yokogawa Australia and am a Sales Engineer with the responsibility for  sales of Test and Measurement, Recorders and Controllers product groups, within  the southern side of Sydney and southern country NSW. I have been doing this  current job for 14 months, and before that I did technical sales and support  for a year. I am very happy with Yokogawa as they are a forward looking multi-national  company which is expanding globally. My job is enjoyable yet challenging as  there is always new products being released, a large market and a fair bit  of competition. My degree has given me a wide range of knowledge and provided  me with the capability of understanding many new applications that I come  across during my day-to-day work, and in the test and measurement field there  can be many. The Applied Physics degree gives an overall advanced education  that can be applied to any technical, research or engineering field, and then  gives one the ability to hone their skills to that particular field. Remember,  if you're looking for scopes or recorders or T&M gear then I'm your man!!!!

Dale  Bailey

My name is Dale Bailey.  I am a scientist with the Medical Research Council (MRC) of Great Britain, based in London. and my interests are tennis, hiking, and contemporary classical  music. Since I graduated in 1983, I have had a post-graduate post at the Harvard  Medical School in Boston in Nuclear Medicine, and returned to a job as a hospital scientist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, again in the Dept of  Nuclear Medicine. I completed an MSc in Applied Physics at UTS in 1986 and  a PhD at the University of Surrey in 1996. In this period I spent 2 years  from 1989-91 in London in the MRC Cyclotron Unit working on hardware and software  developments and algorithms for image reconstruction for positron emission  tomography (PET) scanners. I was awarded an Australian Academy of Science/Royal  Society travelling scholar award in 1993 to continue my work in London. I  returned to London full-time in 1994 where I work in the areas of physics,  computing and physiological data analysis with PET scanners. In my current  position, I am responsible for design and development of hardware and software  for new-generation PET scanners. I also have a strong involvement in work  studying the neurotranmsitter dopamine in Parkinson's Disease, and the effects  of new drugs for arresting the decline that most patients' experience with  this degenerative process. I enjoy the work very much because it is an area  that combines physics, computing, mathematics, physiology, medicine and chemistry  into one discipline. The Applied Physics degree gave me a solid basis in making  measurements, as this is what we do in humans with our scanners, and analysing  data and associated errors.

Adrian  Rinks

My name is Adrian Rinks  and I work as a Medical Physicist specialising in Radiation Oncology Physics.  I commenced my Applied Physics degree, part-time, in 1988 whilst employed  as Technical Officer in the Medical Physics department of a major teaching hospital. I graduated in 1995 and commenced employment with a company providing Radiation Oncology physics services to a number of private Radiation Oncology practices. In 1996 after a series of exams, both theoretical and practical,  I was awarded accreditation in Radiotherapy Equipment Commissioning and Quality  Assurance by the Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers  in Medicine. This accreditation is the major criteria in the college’s definition of a qualified Radiation Oncology physicist. Since March 1998 I have been appointed Chief Physicist of a private practice group which is comprised  of 2 centres in Sydney and 1 in Gosford. In my current position I have a number  of physicists working with me to provide the physics services to the practice.  These services include:

• Commissioning and quality  assurance of all major equipment used in the practice eg. Linear accelerators  used for cancer treatment, x-ray units, computer systems used to calculate  radiation dosages.

• Treatments involving  radioactive sources such as Ir-192, Sr-90 and I-125.

• Radiation dosimetry.

• Radiation safety and  protection issues.

• Lecturing to Doctors  and Radiation Therapists in training.

I enjoy my job and find  it challenging. The applied physics degree gave me certain skills and knowledge  which are essential in my job. These include analytical and experimental skills,  computing, mathematics and physics theory. I had a background in Radiation  Oncology before I started my Physics degree, which helped me to obtain a senior  position a few years after graduating. A new graduate would start as a junior  physicist and would be expected to enrol in a post graduate masters degree  in Medical Physics to obtain knowledge in Anatomy, Physiology, medical instrumentation  etc. They would also specialise in an aspect of Medical Physics such as Radiation  Oncology, Imaging or Nuclear Medicine.

Joe  Masterson

My name is Joe Masterson,  since I graduated from the UTS Applied Science(Physics) degree course I have been working with CSIRO Telecommunications & Industrial Physics. As part  of a team designing and building high frequency semiconductor based ciruits  and systems for radiotelescopes, radar systems, and communications, my job  involves the design and construction of measurement apparatus and systems including software control. The nature of the work is varied and it also allows  me the freedom to pursue my interests outside of work, such as my music, bushwalking,  camping and hiking in the company of good friends. The degree course material  hasn't always been neccessary to my work, but the overall approach to applied  science taken by UTS, and the Industrial Experience I gained during the course  has given me enough general scientific knowledge and research skills to apply  whenever I need them, in any field that I enter.

Joe Masterson

 Millimetre-wave Circuits and Systems Discipline

 CSIRO Telecommunications and Industrial Physics

Steve  Meikle

My name is Steve Meikle  and I am a Principal Scientific Officer in the PET and Nuclear Medicine Department  at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPAH) in Sydney. Since I graduated in 1988,  I have worked as a Physicist at RPAH, as a Visiting Research Associate at  the Division of Nuclear Medicine and Biophysics, UCLA School of Medicine (1991-2)  and as a post doctoral Physicist at the MRC Cyclotron Unit, Hammersmith Hospital,  London (1995-6) after completing my PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University  of NSW. In my current position, I am responsible for the development of methodology  and software for imaging with positron emission tomography (PET). Our Department  has the only dedicated PET scanner in NSW which is used for diagnosing cancer, neurological disorders and heart disease. I also conduct research aimed at improving the accuracy and clinical utility of functional imaging techniques.  I am currently developing a tomograph which will be used to evaluate new radiotracers  in small animals prior to their clinical use in humans. I enjoy my work very  much as it gives me the opportunity to do applied physics research (with the  security of a salaried position rather than being employed on "soft"  money) and I see the practical benefits of that research when applied in clinical  medicine. Also, nuclear medicine is a very multi-disciplinary field which  gives me the opportunity to work alongside physicians, chemists, technologists  and other basic scientists. Although there are relatively few opportunities  for nuclear medicine physicists in Australia, if you are willing to travel  I recommend it very highly as a rewarding career for an applied physicist.

Steve Meikle, Ph.D. steve@nucmed.rpa.cs.nsw.gov.au

 PET & Nuclear Medicine Dept

 Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

 Sydney, Australia