From Rochester!

Hello everyone! For those who don't know yet, I am in Rochester Mn for a research position (post-doc) at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine; I will be working on operations research problems in healthcare. I am staying, for now, in one of the best hotels in town. Just across the hotel entrance is the Gonda building of the Mayo Clinic, a remarkable 30-story building with a wavy glass façade. The weather is great but already there is a nip in the air, a hint of things to come. The Mayo Clinic campus is spread over most of downtown Rochester; it is a bustling place, full of people, patients and researchers from all over the world (nearly 20% of Mayo’s patients are from abroad). There are temperature controlled skyways or walkways that connect all the downtown buildings with shopping conveniences, coffee shops and food courts. These walkways form a maze of sorts - which make them difficult to navigate - and have a life and rhythm of their own.

My appointment is at the Department of Health Sciences Research. I was at the department today, and the faculty members seemed quite friendly. Some were missing. I was told they were “working from home” – my eyes lit up instantly in anticipation :)

I have been given an office of my own. It’s a long room, with a white board, but, just like the MASM lab, with no windows :( I also learnt today that there is a dress code: formal shirt and pants, blazer, and a tie. I am actually excited about this; I guess I’ve always harbored secret dreams of being well dressed at work though the drabness of my daily wear at ASU might have suggested otherwise. :) More later,