Mike Daub Unbounded

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Michael Mike Daub is a mathematics and physics educator currently located in the Erie (Pennsylvania) area. He previously taught college and high school, earned a Master's degree in Physics, and worked five summer seasons at the South Pole.

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Mike's Biography

The Adventure Begins

I was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, during the summer of 1975. I grew up in two suburbs of Erie: Wesleyville and Lawrence Park. I attended Wesleyville Elementary School, Lawrence Park Elementary School, and Iroquois Junior-Senior High School, from which I received a high school diploma in 1993. While in high school, I excelled in math and science. I also participated in many activites, including marching band (played saxophone), varsity soccer, and drama club.

College

As an undergraduate, I attended The Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania. While there, I earned an overall GPA of 3.87 out of 4.0 and made the Dean's List every Semester. I received two degrees: a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, and a Bachelor of Science in Physics. During my final year, I was a Teaching Assistant (TA) for the Physics Department, and I taught introductory electromagnetism. I also did computer work in the laboratory of a physics professor researching thin films and magnetoresistive materials. I spent one semester working a a co-op at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

After graduation, I worked as a mathematician at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgran, Virginia. I worked on physics-based computer modeling for the design and support of fire-control and targeting software in the Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) program.

Grad School

I headed to the west coast to attend graduate school in the Department of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley. My first year, I taught introductory physics and a basic semiconductor circuits class. I also organized the physics grad student's “Happy Hour” on Friday afternoons.

I began work on the measurement and interpretation of anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation as a member of the ACBAR (Arcminute Cosmology Bolometer Array Receiver) project, which operated at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica. I designed the receiver control and readout electronics, pretty much everything betwwen the receiver and the computers. I also spent five summer seasons at the South Pole with the U.S. Antarctic Program, for setup, testing, and maintenance. In the end, we got some fascinating cosmology results. And I received the Antarctica Service Medal for serving as a member of an Antarctic scientific expedition. (It is one of the few military medals that is also awarded to deserving civilians.)

I was active in student government, as a physics delegate to the Graduate Assembly. Twice, they elected me as Funding Committee Chair, which doled out money to graduate student groups, and a member of the Executive Board.

I also served as president of the Physics Graduate Student Association at U.C. Berkeley for roughly six years. (I lost count.) We originally created it solely to get student group money from the Graduate Assembly for our physics Happy Hours. But, it morphed into something more. We later used in as a vehicle to get physics graduate student representation on most of the Physics Department' faculty committees. And the department gave me their Student Service Award for organizing it.

In the end, I stopped enjoying my research. So, I withdrew from the Ph.D. program and left with only a Master of Arts degree.

Lately

After I left grad school, I taught a little bit: physics at a community college, physics and mathematics at an all-boys Catholic high school, and math at a career college. I also played poker for a living for about a year at the cardrooms in California.

And the best is yet to come…