Charles Mokhtarzadeh, PhD, Synthetic Chemist, Components Research, Intel Corp.
Tribal affiliation: Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians
As I have progressed through my life, asking for help has only become more critical to my success. Be it under professional or personal circumstances, I’ve learned that seeking guidance is a skill to be honed as opposed to a crutch to stumble over. It is not always easy to ask for help but in asking problems are solved, challenges are championed, and relationships are built. It is a powerful skill set to seek and cultivate.
Many people who take an interest in science eventually reach a plateau in what they can achieve on their own. As classes became more challenging, I found myself more and more on my own with limited resources at home. It was difficult to track down people and information for help navigating the next steps of my life (college). Fortunately, I managed to piece together a plan for college after I started to seek assistance from counselors and other mentors with whom I felt comfortable discussing my goals.
Once I got to college, I quickly realized I had many more questions than I had answers. Taking everything in was like drinking from a fire hose. I knew I was a science guy and I gravitated toward chemistry as a major. I wanted to make a career out of it, but I continued to fumble around in the dark trying to understand what I could do with that degree. During my last year of college I realized I had to get my foot into an undergraduate research lab, but again, I had no idea how to do it. Of the estimated 350,000 bachelor’s degrees in STEM conferred to U.S. graduates each year, only roughly 20 percent are earned by students of color, including 0.4 percent by Native Americans, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. I realized the only way I was going to become a chemist was to ask questions and seek coaching. I needed to learn everything.
When a teaching assistant announced she needed a research assistant for her lab, I knew it was time to ask for help to build my knowledge. I asked her to guide me through the application process for the position, and I eventually got the post. Her mentorship and unabashed way of asking questions in order to gain a complete understanding of the science we worked on has shaped my career. Since then, I have learned to be more transparent with people — from professors to colleagues — about what I know and what I don’t know. But more important, I have learned to seek help whenever I need to learn something new.
Asking for guidance is now a daily occurrence for me as a chemist in Intel’s Components Research division. With all the chemistry that goes into developing the next generation of chips, narrowing the scope on what materials are required necessitates guidance from a broad and diverse array of collaborators. Whether it’s a new molecule that needs to be synthesized or a novel process that needs to be developed, the most effective way to succeed is to engage with my colleagues. They can help by explaining the crucial “why” behind the work, as well as the “what” and “how” to most efficiently get it done. It is through these collaborations that we understand the technology we’re developing.
