Travel – Page 2 – Research and outreach abroad

West Canadian Highlights

I’m leaving Canada and felt like I should reflect on the highlights from this first stage.

Presenting at an international conference and doing outreach there was great. Super pleased with the quality of the talks I heard and discussions I had. My talk was recorded by the Optical Society as an added bonus, although with restricted access to members.

Presenting my research at the OSA Advanced Photonics at the Fairmont Hotel in Vancouver

Driving through British Columbia and Alberta is a must if you like a road trip. The scenery was beautiful; I hoped you enjoyed the pictures! I should have set up a selfie booth in the car to capture the moments shared on the road with Anna, Peter, Flintstone, Tim, Xavier and Diana.

Tim Cline (left), travel companion and host in Revelstoke

Kelowna was an awesome place. The cycling was amazing, and the atmosphere of the town super friendly. Eternally grateful to Tim for letting me crash at his for a few days. On my list of places to check out in winter.

Giving a talk on my research and life as a PhD student in Southampton for the University of Calgary’s Student Optics and Photonics Society was a great experience, as was the added bonus of visiting loads of cool research labs.

Presenting my work on integrated polarising couplers.

Finally, there were some unexpected reunions along the way. Great to catch up with Shanghai-Fudan-buddy Wayne and his girlfriend Louise in Vancouver, and bump into Eleonora and Federico from the Grenoble Nanotechnology Class of 2013 in Vancouver and Banff!

Unexpected catch-up in downtown Vancouver with Wayne, a friend from my time in Shanghai in 2008

Next up is Boulder, Colorado in the USA. Thanks for reading. Watch this space for more research and adventures.

Alberta

Lake Louise from the Big Beehive viewpoint

British Columbia

Welcome to the gallery of my road trip through British Columbia. Great driving. Enjoy the view!

University of British Columbia Botanical Gardens

Revelstoke, with Mt Bigby in the background

Road trip

I’ve got a car and, finally, I have a plan on where to take it.

I’m off to Banff, and then Calgary. Thanks to a very helpful lady in the Vancouver Tourist Information Centre, I also have the tools to get me there. I’ve cut out some maps, and found some campsites, that will take me to the

Squamish, the Canadian response to Yosemite
Whistler, world-renowned skiing (and good summer hiking too!)
Merritt and Kelowna down in the Okanagan wine valley
Revelstoke, on a recommendation from top lad Henners Nixon
Banff National Park, including Lake Louise.

That’s about 1,164 km in total that I have to do in the next 8 days. It’s going to be busy and the drive of a lifetime. Watch this space!

"Home" for the next 10 days — “Home” for the next 10 days

Time to fly

I’m off to North America for 7 weeks. From today I will be in Canada and the USA and I will be back in the UK on 3rd September. During that time, I will be going to 2 international conferences

OSA Integrated Photonics Research in Vancouver, presenting my latest research results. See my previous post for more on this.
SPIE Optics + Photonics, where I will be attending a student leadership workshop, an Outreach Olympic Games and presenting two papers at the Optics Outreach and Education conference on my outreach and public engagement with research work that I carried out during the UNESCO 2015 International Year of Light.

In between, I will be travelling to different places in Canada and the USA to visit universities and companies, network with researchers and students, and tie in with family and friends. Here’s what the trip is going to look like. If you are near any of these areas, and I haven’t fixed a date to meet you, please get in touch!

When?	Where?
16/07-21/07	Vancouver
21/07-30/07	British Columbia, Alberta
30/07-02/08	Calgary
02/08-12/08	Boulder, CO
12/08-14/08	Toronto
14/08-19/08	Montreal
19/08-23/08	San Francisco and Bay Area, CA
23/08-26/08	LA, CA
26/08-02/09	San Diego, CA
03/09	Back to the UK

Watch this space for news and photos on my research, visits, travels, reunions and adventures.

Cycling & exploring

Cycling action selfie, back in Hampshire

Tagging along with the local Sunday club ride, Camino Alto climb.

My Californian ride, a Specialized Roubaix carbon with Ultegra.

Riding a Specialized Diverge on the dirt tracks of the Rockies

Brainard lake, on a bike. My first ride ever over 3,000 metres!

My cycling companion for my time in Boulder

First ride out on trails in Myra Canyon — Bike #1, Myra Canyon

Team adventures at the Col du Mont du Chat, French Alps

Reunions

The people I have met along the path of my life have provided me with incredible experiences and developed me as a researcher, a friend, and a person.

A surprise reunion with Becky at London Heathrow on my way back!

Jane was a student at UCL when my Dad went to University. It has been 10 years since I last visited in sunny San Diego!

I lived and studied in Shanghai, China, back in 2009. Here is the Fudan University crew reunited at Venice beach, Los Angeles, CA.

China reunion with Chris at the Golden Gate bridge.

High school reunion in Montreal with Laurie #montrealselfies

I discovered I had extended family in Toronto, and had the pleasure to meet up during my stay in town!

Sun and good French company — Sun and good company

There have been many people along the way. If you recognise any of these people from this non extensive series of pictures, then I hope that we can get in touch to organise our own reunion and share our space on this blog during the coming months.

Welcome

Dear family, friends and the unknown reader,

I am embarking on a trip that will take me across North America from 16th July to 2nd September. During this time, I will be going to many cities in Canada and the USA: Vancouver, Calgary, Denver, Boulder, Toronto, Montreal, San Francisco, LA and San Diego.

This portfolio will be dedicated to this trip.

It will cover my travels, my visits to research institutions in Canada & the USA and reunions. I may even share my feelings on my experiences from time to time, even though this doesn’t come easily to me.

The audience will be my family and friends.

My family are the dearest and loved ones, and those I do not yet know and am excited to have the opportunity to meet in the not too distant future.

The friends are those that I have studied with, worked with, lived with and been on great adventures with. I hope that you will be able to put yourself into one of these categories and find a reason to come back to this space for some updates.

I would be delighted to reach a larger and yet unknown audience, and hope you can use this space to get in touch with me to share your thoughts on what I will be relating herein.

I will be adding posts 2 to 3 times a week about what I have been up to and what is coming up. They will be short and picturesque, probably comprised of those pictures that say a thousand words and lots of filters.

I will be travelling on my own and don’t want to forget what is going to be a once in a lifetime trip. I am also doing this so that we all know where to find me.

I hope to see you there and/or hear from you on the way.

Matthew