Past Newsletters

I am still in the process of setting up an RSS feed and mailing list for updates to this site. Currently, if you want to get these emails in your inbox, you can just let me know directly.

Letter #001 - My Mailing List Debut (2026.09.19)

Hello friend,

This is the first letter I am sending to you through this mailing list. It exists as a literal list of emails in Markdown file on my computer. I’ve always had the impulse to share my works in progress from graduate school, but I haven’t really found the best medium for doing so. I’ve thought about sharing them on social media platforms (Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Bluesky), but they are full of algorithmic noise and established cultural norms. Having direct conversations with friends and family about my work has always been rewarding, but it’s missing the “consistency” and “accountability” aspect that would help me improve my craft. Perhaps a “mailing list” would do. It strikes a fine balance between these two modes of communication. It could help me feel a greater sense of “accountability” that comes with scale, while also maintaining the “personability” of reaching someone right at their inbox.

I do not know if this “mailing list idea” will work. But there is no better way to find out than to try.

Ongoing struggles breaking into a new field

Since starting graduate school, I’ve been trying to break into the field of “active matter.” This field is relatively new (popularized by Sriram Ramaswamy), but its predecessor ideas are quite old (statistical mechanics, condensed matter physics, hydrodynamics, thermodynamics). Regardless, the rebranding of the body of knowledge has breathed new life into it. Perhaps because of its emergence from a primordial soup of older topics, it feels that I am grappling with an entire zoo of disparate ideas. They have a similar theme, yes, but I can’t put my finger on it yet.

These past few weeks, I’ve watched a few of Prof. Erwin Frey’s lectures on pattern formation to better understand Ostwald Ripening and its role in pattern formation. You can see my scattered notes and equations on my website. Pushing these notes onto the web made me realize that I need to streamline how I format my notes for publishing. It also made me think about what’s the best way for technical material to be presented in the first place (do math textbooks do a good job? What are websites that present math/physics clearly?)

See note: Ostwald Ripening

Fixing a camera lens

Back in August, my favorite camera lens, my beloved Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 II USM broke. Buying a new one could cost up to \$2,200. Sending it for repair could cost around \$500 or more. But learning how to repair it following this YouTube video and buying the replacement part — a mere \$32. Of course, repairing something yourself comes with the risk of absolutely breaking it is always a risk. I accepted this risk in favor of possibly learning something I wouldn’t have otherwise.

For the past two months, I’ve taken apart and put back together my lens several times. Just this week, I finally managed to repair it!

These clips are more or less raw footage of my final attempt to repair. Transient conversations with Brandon Wong from my lab spurred me to start recording my own process. I will learn video filming, editing, and voice over edits another time. As you may see, I am having a hard time keeping the camera in focus and lighting is questionable. But for now, I am just happy tso have my lens back.

See note: Lens Repair - Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 II USM

Your friend,

Kevin