Alumni Relations
Faculty Highlights
Q & A with Stan Williams, featured alum
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When did you know you wanted to be a scientist?
I knew I wanted to be a scientist the day that the
Sputnik satellite was launched. The only thing is, I had no idea what
a scientist was—I thought I was going to be Buck Rogers.
What event led you into research?
My research career began when I met Robert Curl at
Rice University (where Williams received his B.S. degree). He hired me
as a freshman and immediately put me in front of a microwave spectrometer
to collect data and perform experiments. He also started to teach me quantum
mechanics using the Heisenberg approach before I knew what a partial differential
equation was.
Why did you decide to come to Berkeley for graduate school?
Bob Curl and several other Rice professors were Berkeley
alums. They told me I had to go to Berkeley, which pushed me out here.
I interviewed at [several universities], and I chose Berkeley because
the professors seemed to have the most fun toys to play with. I wound
up working for Dave Shirley doing photoemission, which at the time was
one of the most equipment-intensive experiments.
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Stan Williams is an HP Senior
Fellow at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories and founding Director (since
1995) of the HP Quantum Science Research (QSR) group. After receiving
his chemistry Ph.D. from Berkeley in 1978, Williams spent fifteen
years as a faculty member at UCLA, where he maintains adjunct professor
status. His primary scientific research during the past twenty-five
years has been in the areas of solid-state chemistry and physics,
and their applications to technology. His work has evolved into
the areas of nanostructures and
chemically-assembled materials, with an emphasis on the thermodynamics of size and shape. Most recently, he has examined the fundamental limits of information and computing, which has led to his current research in molecular electronics. He has won numerous awards for his scientific achievement, including the Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, the Sloan Foundation Fellowship, the Julius Springer Award for Applied Physics and the Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology. |
What were some of your favorite memories from
Cal?
Frankly, it was primarily my research work. I found
learning about the physical world amazing—I would work until I was
about to drop, get some rest, and start up again.
How often do you get to visit Berkeley and interact
with the department?
I only get over to Berkeley a couple of times per
year, unfortunately. I am on the advisory board for the College of Chemistry,
and there are always local workshops or symposia in which I participate.
What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
My most significant scientific achievement is building
a team at Hewlett-Packard Labs to perform strategic research in the physical
sciences. This team comprises experts in areas such as computer architecture,
electrical engineering, materials science, experimental physics of electron
transport, theoretical physics, physical chemistry, polymer chemistry,
electro-chemistry, and optical physics. As a team, we have
introduced many new concepts into the scientific community that no individual
or team from one discipline could have conceived.
What has been your best experiment?
My best experiment was the analysis of germanium
growth on silicon surfaces using Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, performed
shortly after I joined HP Labs. I do get into the labs, but no longer
to perform experiments myself. I am a great believer in the HP tradition
of “management by walking around,” so I wander through the labs
several times a week so that I can see what everyone is doing, and perhaps
help out with suggestions or by providing a sympathetic ear when people
are having problems getting their experiments to work.
How about your best theory?
I have done low levels of theory during my entire
career, ranging from quantum mechanics, thermodynamics, and even classical
kinematics. My most complete and original theoretical contribution (done
while I was on sabbatical leave in 1987 in Japan, and thus had a lot of
time to devote to it) was a new approach to calculate ion scattering distributions
from multiple atoms on or near a solid surface. This approach has been
adopted by a fairly substantial community, and is the basis for all of
the surface structure analysis done by ion scattering in Japan and other
places as well.
How has the teaching of science changed since
you were a graduate student?
There is a greater emphasis on slick presentations
using Powerpoint, etc., rather than the struggle of using blackboards
and chalk, and one-on-one mentoring. I think this means less participation
in the learning process by the students.
Where do you hope to see science education go?
I would like to see a significant level of science
taught to every high school student in the U.S. The world is becoming
increasingly technical, and it is more important to have educated consumers
and voters.
A lot of press has been given to the molecular
electronics research at HP.
Molecular electronics is really a code term for what
is now being called post-CMOS nano-electronics. The area has enormous
potential from scientific, technical and economic perspectives. We hope
that our work will be the beginning of a new electronics revolution, in
the same way that the invention of the transistor created the electronics
revolution that has been going on for the past forty years. The applications
will be to make everything that is currently electronic more capable while
consuming less electrical power. I am not smart enough to predict what
new applications will come of it, but in the end they will be more important
than those that we can predict. The major challenges ahead are primarily
scientific—really understanding the physical and chemical nature
of nanometer-scale materials, their interfaces, and how electrons and
photons interact with them.
Anything else you would like to volunteer about
your work and research?
To borrow a line from a song: “What a long strange
trip it’s been!” I’ve had a lot of ups and downs, but in
the end all that matters is that I have one more up than down. I think
that I have surprised almost everyone, especially myself, with how far
I have gone in my chosen profession. There are so many new ideas to learn,
new phenomena to discover, new tools to invent, and new experiences to
live.
