Interview with Mie Magelund

Mie Magelund is an Application Specialist at Ibsen Photonics.

Where did you graduate from and with which degree?

I took my bachelor and masters degree at DTU in Earth and Space Physics, and even though I ended up specializing in instrumentation for space exploration, I also loved exploring astrophysics and space plasma physics at DTU. It was a great environment to share my interests with other students and scientists, and I always felt like I fitted in. I was also so lucky to attend workshops at ESA with other students and to work as a student assistant for some of my instructors, and to do an internship at the Max Planck Institute in Munich.

Please give a description of the work you do in your current position.

Today I work as an application specialist in spectrometers Ibsen Photonics, which is a role with many hats, and I often don’t know which hat I’m going to wear before I step into work. At Ibsen we design and manufacture spectrometers for instrument developers, which means we only do the design and development of the spectrometer, and our customers then use it to gain information about a material or its content. As an application specialist my most important task is to choose the best spectrometer design for a customer’s application, even if the spectrometer design hasn’t been invented yet. I also get to travel all over the world, to conferences, exhibitions, or to the customer, wherever the technical discussions take you. Another part of the job, which I have come to enjoy quite a lot is how to communicate technical information to different target groups. Besides communication with customers, I also enjoy doing internal training and giving presentations about spectrometers and how to use them. 

What motivated you to study physics or engineering in the first place?

What motivates me about physics is that you can use it to explain everything. Well maybe not everything, but maybe it’s just because we haven’t understood the physics behind it yet. In school I actually wasn’t sure I wanted to study physics, because besides physics I also enjoyed biology, literature, and music. It was first when I saw you could study space physics and engineering, it was like a no-brainer. I could learn both about how space works and how to apply that knowledge at the same time. I simply had to do it!

What made you decide to pursue a career in the private industry?

I didn’t really decide to pursue a career in the private industry. After university I first wanted to do research and get a PhD, but at the time I didn’t have the option. So instead I looked at all kinds of career opportunities and decided to go with the opportunity, where I would have the most fun. This happened to be in the private industry.

To me working in the private industry means getting a much larger perspective on technical solutions. For example, when we want to design a spectrometer, it is not enough that it works in the laboratory, it has to work all over the world for all kinds of applications, and every spectrometer should provide the same results. So the application as well as the manufacturing process are both perspectives that must be considered during a design phase.

How do you use the skills you learned as a physicist or engineer in your work?

Every day I use the methodology that I learned during my studies for all kinds of tasks. These tasks often involve problem solving, data analysis or design, but the situations where the method is applicable can be much more varied.

Having a common technical language is also invaluable both when communicating with other engineers or scientists in trying to understand their needs, but it is also very important when communicating technical information to different target groups. 

My studies provided me with a tool box of programming skills, which I use for both software development and data analysis. I use data analysis for technical support and to gain a deeper knowledge of a product or an application.

What does being a physicist mean to you?

To me being a physicist means having a desire to discover what is unknown or a desire to invent what hasn’t been invented yet. It means being creative and trying new ideas without the fear of failure, because even if you don’t succeed you still learn something from the outcome and get closer to discovery or invention. I have neither discovered the unknown or invented something yet, but I find joy in trying, and I guess that’s what’s important if you are a physicist. 

What advice would you give to young people (in particular women and minorities) with a background in physics who would like to pursue a career in the private industry?

You are never locked into a single career path in the private industry. You can always change direction, so I wouldn’t think too much about what your career should or shouldn’t look like. My advice would be to always do what you think is fun, and be ready to grab opportunities that come your way.