Many students who attend graduate school say they want to change the world. At UC Santa Barbara, third-year PhD candidate for mechanical engineering student Scott Ferguson says the university empowered him with the tools necessary to help him make significant steps to improve peoples’ lives around the world.

These tools start with the atmosphere of the university. Upon returning to McMaster University in Canada after a visit to UCSB, Ferguson told his undergraduate research advisor the place was so beautiful and fun that he wondered if people actually get any work done.

“He replied, ‘Apparently they do get work done. It’s an extremely good university,’” Ferguson says.

“In fact, I still think it’s too good to be true every time I go for a run on the beach, a hike in the mountains or a sail after a full day in the lab. It really is a paradise. The campus is active, really alive. People are uncommonly friendly; clearly the place has impacted the general demeanor,” Ferguson says.

Apart from the atmosphere of UCSB, Ferguson says the facilities at UCSB are another component for success at the university. “I believe that I have benefited from an incredible infrastructure that enabled me to achieve,” says Ferguson.

Ferguson says UCSB’s nanofabrication facilities really are out of this world. “People fabricate nanostructures to mimic gecko adhesion, achieve high-speed wireless signal transmission, serve as scaffolding for self-assembling DNA structures, or for revolutionary optoelectronics to name a few,” Ferguson says.

The last ingredient in Ferguson’s recipe for success has come from TAships and fellowships to help pay for tuition and living expenses.

Ferguson describes TAship, the first formal experience as an instructor, as an opportunity to “hone skills in leadership, communication, and empathy.”

In addition to his valuable experience as a TA, Ferguson says his fellowships with the Center for Nanoscience Innovation for Defense (CNID) and the Center for Nanotechnolgy in Society (CNS) expanded his scope of research and learning.

During his time with CNID, Ferguson said his “research was focused and accelerated rapidly.” The free time given by CNID, once occupied by TAships, contributed to his progress; he swiftly advanced to candidacy, submitted to international conferences, co-authored papers, and co-filed a patent.

At work in H.T. Soh Laboratory, Ferguson enjoys developing technologies that could have a real impact on the world. In searching for a scope to extend beyond the research alone, he pursued a CNS fellowship to learn about the systems driving innovation, diffusion of technology and its commercialization.

The broad scope of the CNS, a NSF funded collaborative center on campus which brings scientists, engineers, economists and sociologists together to investigate social implications of nanotechnology, has helped Ferguson develop a meaningful awareness of the context for his research.

Instead of just sticking to the science world, Ferguson says the CNS has “broadened my scope and given me working understanding of the complex relationships between innovative technology and government policy, intellectual property, risk and environmental health and safety.”

So what drives Ferguson to spend hours of his time tinkering in the lab and learning concepts outside of his own field? “It is my goal to develop technologies that could improve health, especially for those whose life is a tremendous uphill struggle and see it through by working on the ground floor with the implementation of these technologies,” says Ferguson.

While he is busy at working to help mend some of the world’s problems, Ferguson said it is UCSB that has helped him grow into the person he is today. “I have grown more as a person on this campus than ever before in my life,” says Ferguson. “The campus is loaded with options; fellowships have given me the freedom to explore – through devotion to my own research, complementary research, horizon-broadening courses, exploring other campus activities. The most important component in my growth however, has been the unrelenting support of my advisor, colleagues, professors, and of course, great friends.”