June Donato is a staff researcher in the Computer Science and Mathematics Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), in the north east of Tennessee, not far from the Smoky Mountains. Most of the research staff in her division have Ph.D.s; however, there are a number of people with masters degrees, and a few with bachelors degrees. Areas of education include mathematics, statistics, physics, computer science, engineering, psychology, chemistry and many other fields.

"As a government research lab," she says, "our goal is to produce novel research while also working on important application problems in science. I have worked on a number of projects ranging from converting legacy codes to designing numerical simulators for physics experiments to writing proposals for funding."

"In one project on which I worked, the goal was to model and be able predict the behavior of a process where a laser is used to place layers of ions on a substrate (e.g. for laser deposition of thin films). These processes are sensitive to a number of variables, such as the frequency of the laser, the composition of the target material, and background particles within the laser chamber. An actual experimental run with a laser is very time consuming and expensive, so using a numerical model allows us to save on both time and money by providing close approximations to optimal values for such variables. And, the model sheds light on how these extremely fast processes work."

"This project utilized my numerical and mathematical background. I implemented and designed the model for solving a set of partial differential equations as prescribed by the physicists on the project. The hardest part was probably learning the physicists' different terms for familiar concepts in mathematics. None of my other projects have utilized mathematics and numerics in as direct a fashion. In general, my programming background is definitely my most marketable skill."

June has bachelor degrees in mathematics, computer science, and physics from the University of California, Irvine and a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles. She has wanted to be a mathematician since she was about six years old and while working on a bachelors in mathematics she also discovered a love for physics and computer science. She worked part time at Burroughs Corporation (now Unisys) while an undergraduate and then continued to work with them after graduation.

"I worked for a while," she recalls," but still wanted to be a mathematician, which seemed to require a Ph.D. So, I went to graduate school in applied mathematics at UCLA. The 'applied' part seemed natural to me because of my interests in science, especially physics, and because of my programming background."

"I have been working at ORNL for five years now. The main difference between now and my earlier days at the lab is experience. I have worked on so many different projects with different people that I am less worried about being overwhelmed with quick shifts in goals or projects. And, this is crucial during this time of decreasing funding for research especially at government laboratories."

"For my current career goals, the most crucial courses are those in the field of numerical analysis, such as methods for solving partial differential equations, matrix analysis, numerical methods, mathematical methods for physicists, ..., and computer programming. I heartily advise that mathematics majors gain as much programming background as they can. I believe that in this current age of information and the Internet that a math graduate without programming experience will certainly have a difficult time in the job market."

For more information on June you can link to her home page at ORNL.

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