Progress

I had a very big moment at work this afternoon. I didn't see the import of the event until I starting thinking about it earlier this evening. The low key nature of the exchange denied the event of a dramatic flavor, but the mundane nature of the exchange doesn't change the fact that 20 minutes in a colleague's cubicle justified an approach to laboratory problems that I have been promoting for three years. I have spent a good deal of my time the last couple of years digging into the details of some developmental data. I've read (or skimmed) dozens of research papers, spent hours trying to get data to fit equations, and expended a considerable amount of cognitive surplus to understand how the data and the equations all fit together. Some people would probably consider this wasted time as it was time not spent advancing a project toward a well-defined goal. I justified the time by arguing that understanding the process in this prototype will help us understand the data when we apply similar formulation strategies to other prototypes.

I looked at some data from a similar system this afternoon and was able to provide an explanation for some contradictory trends by applying the insights that I gained during my struggles with my developmental data. I predicted that a certain analysis would yield a straight line for one compound and a curved line for the other. My prediction was accurate. I have to promote my accomplishment, but the fact that I was able to apply something that I learned by using the research literature is immensely satisfying. This small incident proves (to me at least) that taking the time to understand some data rather than simply rushing on to the next stage of a development project can facilitate future development projects. My vision of a successful research lab is partially based on this premise. It is very nice to see that it has some validity.