Digging Up Leads to an Exciting Adventure - Thomas DiSorbo

My first 10 days in Belgium were characterized by a positive uncertainty. Soon after arriving, a pervasive sense of anticipation followed me as I was introduced to my new environment, the small details of my work and lodgings, and of the city of Leuven itself coming together to paint a picture of this summer’s staggering potential. Even in the earliest days, this was apparent, that at no point during my stay will I ever feel like my routine has become predictable or sedentary, that I will have to be always on my toes, ready for the next exciting opportunity, fully aware it could be waiting just around the corner.

 A Liège Waffle

My work at imec this summer revolves around electrical partial cell lysis, and, like many challenges in microfluidics, it is in some elements an optimization problem. The project’s overarching project has two parts: develop a reliable process for electrically disassembling the membrane of an isolated single cell, and capture the intact, free floating nucleus once the cell membrane is ruptured. While I am in the early preparation stages of my experiment, the work I have completed in literature review and mathematical modelling has me flush with that positive uncertainty. There is so much room for growth and adaptation in the project that I am expecting very few days to look exactly the same.

Settling into Leuven was surprisingly easy, something I would attribute in part to the warm reception and introduction we received from members of the imec staff such as Laurien Mols and Carl Van Den Bulcke, who helped us settle into our lodgings and acclimate to our surroundings. The city itself maintains a surprising level of familiarity for its large population of over 100,000, and in the first week I found myself wandering its beautifully antiquated streets with no objectives beyond simple observation.

Me on the Brugge Canal

In the face of a more than adequately historical and interesting city, it is amazing to think how close I am to a number of other fantastic travel destinations. Belgium’s proximity to much of Western and Central Europe again fills me with that positive uncertainty. On any given weekend I could be in Paris, or London, or close to home in Brussels, exploring cultures I am extraordinarily fortunate to be so close to. 

There is little to be decisively said about my trip so far into Belgium. One of the only things I can say with certainty is that no day will come without the promise of adventure and achievement.