Carol Eidt's 2012 Presentation in the UC Davis Physics Alumni Seminar Series

My Journey:UC Davis and Beyond

A Brief Personal HistoryGraduated from UC Davis in 1977 with a BS in PhysicsSang lead & played keyboards with a “cover” band 1977

to 1981Returned to school in 1981 – MS in EECS from Berkeley in

1983Worked at HP for 22 years doing Instruction Set

Architecture and CompilersBecame HP’s first female Fellow

Took early retirement from HP in 2005 and joined Microsoft

My Original Plan

BSNutrition Science

MDOb-Gyn

UC DavisMed School

My Journey

My Journey

Nutrition Science

isn’t for me

My Journey

MaybeBio-Chem?

My Journey

Physics is really

fascinating!… and Physics majors have a

high acceptance rate to Med

School!

My Journey

… hmm …maybe

Medicine Isn’t right for me

Yay!Done with O-ChemI hate memorization

Lesson #1You’re more likely to succeed at what you enjoyMemorization was really not my forte!

While I could manage an A in Organic Chemistry, the idea of many more years of memorization was quite depressing

Having good recall for details is actually an important skill for a doctor in practice – and I didn’t have it

Physics was appealing because it is so grounded in conceptsI really enjoy

Understanding the “big picture” Solving problems

It turns out that computer science has some similaritiesConcepts, logical thinking

BUT … it took me awhile to figure all of this out

My Journey

BS in Physics:

What Next?

Lesson #2:Experience isn’t always the best teacherA Tale of Two Summer Jobs at HP: 1975 and 19761975: Thin Film group (printers for calculators)

Hired to run test equipment, but it didn’t arrive in time Spent the summer programming and absolutely loved it

The work day flew by – I’d never experienced that!1976: Optoelectronics Division (LEDs)

Rigorous, exhausting technical interview No definite assignments or responsibilities

Did a little programming (calibration, simulation) Finished the summer feeling like a failure

But they told me I’d done a great jobWhat I thought I learned: optoelectronics, and therefore applied physics in

general, was not the path for me In retrospect – maybe it wasn’t, but the real problem was the lack of guidance on the

job

My Journey

BS in Physics:

What Next?Music!

Lesson #3:Sometimes a detour is a good thing3½ years in a band taught me

How to pretend that you’re confident even when you’re not And that it’s really OK to pretend

How to walk up to total strangers and strike up a conversation

Some measure of poise and presence in front of an audience

These are all extremely valuable skills in both work and personal life!

My Journey

Time for a change:

CS at UCB

My Journey

HP:A New

Architecture!

Lesson #4: Luck helpsMy father worked for HP, which helped me get a job

thereGetting hired into HP Labs to work on the design of a new

computer was a real stroke of luck & timingI left HP briefly in 1992 and came back just in time to

work on the next new architectureHaving left & returned I had no obligations to keep me from

diving right in

Lesson #5:Shape your own destiny, even on the jobMany employers will hire you without precise deliverables

& expectationsAsk for clarityAlways look for new ways to contribute

If you want a different job, start doing itFind a way to do a little bit of the work you really want to be

doing, while still fulfilling your current responsibilitiesAt HP Labs, I was hired into the architecture team, but

really wanted to do compilersI offered to do some of the “grunt work” in the compiler, and

eventually moved to that team

Lesson #6:Identify solutions not problemsLearned from one of my early managers at HP

“If you don’t have a solution, don’t complain about the problem”

Start on a positive noteIf you start with what’s wrong, people will tune you out“Wouldn’t it be great if we … and that would take care of

this problem …”If you don’t have a solution, at least offer to help find one

Ask for suggestions

My Journey

HP Fellow, Early

Retirement

Lesson #7:You can live a balanced life and be successfulWhen my first child was born, I resolved to work a 40

hour weekI was certain that this would mean reduced career potentialInstead, that’s about the time my career took off

When you have a time limit, you work more productivelyI became more organizedI prioritized & didn’t waste time on things that weren’t

importantOf course, you have to work for a company that values

work-life balance

My Journey

Microsoft

My Journey

Who Knows What’s Next!

Lessons I Learned1. You’re more likely to succeed at what you enjoy2. Experience isn’t always the best teacher3. Sometimes a detour is a good thing4. Luck helps5. Shape your own destiny, even on the job6. Identify solutions not problems7. You can live a balanced life and be successful

What I Would ChangeNot much!

Get a PhDWorry less, focus more on doing the things I really enjoy

Microsoft & PhysicistsMicrosoft is a software company at heartBut, it invests in numerous research and product

development projects that go beyond softwareNew technologies for interacting with computers and each

other Kinect Surface …

Novel processor architecturesPhysics makes a great foundation, but for many jobs in

industry, you’ll need complementary education as well

Advice in ClosingFollow your passion

What energizes you? What “sucks you in”?If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, you’re not likely to be

truly successful