Work, no play for graduate student

Hafsah Hashmi: Are you trying to stay up with your coffee?

Sur: (laughing) Yes, like at 5 o’clock I usually come down here. I usually have friends that come down here after the usual hours are over.

Hashmi: Did you just get out of class?

Sur: I actually just got out of my research of micro scale heat transfer. It’s related to computer heating, cooling, micro fluid X. Stuff like that.’

Hashmi: So when my iPod overheats and freezes can you fix it for me?

Sur: (laughing) Not right now. We’re actually into system processing cooling ,like multiprocessors, and supercomputer cooling.

‘

Hashmi: Do you work or anything outside of campus?

Sur: No. I’m an international student so I’m not really allowed to work outside the campus and the job scenario is kind of bad. (Engineering) is better than other streams or something, but it’s not as good as last year, last fall. Hopefully things will be better next year or something.’

Hashmi: Hopefully!

‘

Hashmi: Instead of doing all this research stuff, do you like to do anything fun? Like, do you like to go to clubs? Do you have a girlfriend?

Sur: (laughing) The thing is we have to actually work on the weekends.’

Hashmi: Oh no! Will you get spring break off at least?

Sur: Hopefully I’ll get the weekend off for spring break. You work in summers, and last winter I worked the whole winter. Some people even put in 100 hours a week.