Geometrics: Meet Rebecca Zhang – Software Engineer
Rebecca’s father Jeff greatly influenced her love of science and nature, which shows not only in her work but in her hobbies as well. His background in underwater minerals exploration allowed him to teach Rebecca about earthquakes and volcanoes and other scientific phenomenon that people, especially children, find fascinating. She fondly recalls him bringing her books and interesting stones, as well as spending mornings reading some of those same scientific books together. When she studied, he studied right along with her, proving that her inquisitiveness is a hereditary condition.
In 2012 Rebecca graduated from North China University of Technology in Beijing with a Bachelor of Science in Electronic Engineering and the desire to eventually move to the United States. Before making that fortuitous move, she entered an exchange program in the UK for Electronic Design Automation. This program offered her an international perspective on the electrical and computer engineering field, and she was motivated by the advanced research and technology opportunities. After completing that program, she finally made her move in 2013 and began a Master’s program in Signal Processing at Boston University. She moved to California in 2015 to begin working at Geometrics and graduated with her Master’s degree in January of that same year. Those of you who have worked with Rebecca may remember having a piece of cake to celebrate her graduation later in 2015.
Hiking on a trail near Pacifica, California
In her current role, she is working on the software development for some of our upcoming electromagnetic instruments, the MetalMapper 2×2 and some software for our magnetometers. This is an important job, as these instruments are used in mineral and water exploration, as well as UXO exploration. We are seeing growth in these areas, and the work Rebecca is doing now may later be used to locate water in drought-stricken areas or minerals for use in electric cars.
But love for her work is only part of Rebecca’s life. On weekends you may find her volunteering at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford or hiking near Pacifica. Rebecca is also an artist. She’s also a cat person, with two very happy cats named Gibbs and Humphrey. She told me that if she were stranded on a deserted island, she’d want her cats and her computer, and I agree that those are excellent choices. She’s also at home in the kitchen, whipping up pasta sauce and other delights for her fortunate friends.
So the next time you see Rebecca, stop and say hello. She just might invite you to dinner…