About the Author

David Giltner is a laser scientist turned photonics engineer, as well as a speaker, musician, outdoor enthusiast and father.  He has a Ph.D. in physics and now works as a photonics engineer designing high tech products employing lasers and other optical technologies.  Although he did not follow the “conventional” path of a physicist that might lead one to a career as a professor, he has found a very rewarding career “Turning Science into Things People Need”.  By compiling wisdom from other successful scientists in a 50 Interviews format David will help others who are following a similar path from a background in science research to a career in industry.

The Art of Science - Prism

{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

Dawn Lundell September 3, 2010 at 07:33

Hi Dave!
I had to leave a comment: Nice website! Can I sign up for a private tour?
XOXO
~dawn

Jeff Kiefer March 1, 2011 at 09:04

Hello Dave,

Good for you brother! Looks like a rewarding career found you post Kirksville. And the idea for the book is excellent. My wife (Joy, yes she married me afterall) teaches some classes at Wash U in St. Louis that your book might be perfect for. I’ll be getting a copy to check out and will share with her.

Best to you,
L&R
Jeff

Nathan Vanderford March 20, 2013 at 13:42

Would you consider writing a guest blog post for my blog to tell your inspiring story to other PhDs looking to move out of research and/or academia?

For a little more detail, in the blog, I want to provide an outlet for positive, encouraging, inspiring, and motivational stories by others that have experienced transitioning out of academia/academic research and/or are planning to do so. We all have a story to tell and I strongly believe that our story can be a great, positive learning experience for others even if we went through a negative experience before reaping the rewards of a positive experience. You have a great story!

I hope that guests will tell the world about having to obtain other skills not taught to them by their primary academic program in order to venture out of academic-based research and/or into non-research careers. I would like for guests to tell how they obtained these other skills and how they are integrating PhD training with other disciplines to do work they now love. I also hope that some people will provided opinions for how they think PhD programs should be changed to teach and train PhDs for all the vast career opportunities that are available – what skills should PhD programs integrate into their curricula to better prepare PhDs to excel in diverse career fields.

I think you can provide some fantastic insight on this!

Thank you for considering this!

Nathan

Leave a Comment