Congrats, Feng!

Today, our senior graduate student Feng defended his dissertation and earned his doctorate degree!

WOOHOO!

For those who are unfamiliar with the terminology, a dissertation is the culmination of a graduate student's research - a lengthy essay that explains the methodology, results, and significance of his work.  The graduate student's "defense" is a presentation of that work in front of a committee that is familiar with his field of study.

My lab mates and I sat in to watch Feng's public presentation before his closed Q&A session with the committee. I thought he did a wonderful job. Feng has done some great work here at UH, and he is definitely an example to me of dedication to your work and how much it pays off in the end!

Afterwards, we threw him a surprise party to celebrate his new Ph.D.

My cupcakes melted a little on the commute in to campus.

Feng will stay with us for two more months, and then he's off to Stanford for his post-doc! Can't wait to hear about all the great work he'll be doing there. I know all of us so are excited for him :)