Where I Work... What I Do

From time to time I have been asked by my siblings, "what do you do at your job?". Well, as you know, I work at Air Products, a global industrial gases and chemicals company. I manage the Marketing Communications for the Electronics Division. Our business sells gases, chemicals and equipment to semiconductor manufacturing companies like Intel, Samsung, IBM, TSMC, UMC, and more.

I work with very smart, highly educated people. People with PhD's in Chemical engineering and other engineering fields. The reason for this post is to share a little story that ran in today's CorpNews (an internal website for company news and business) about our Electronics Technology Team.

In a few months, I will be celebrating 28 years with Air Products. How the heck have I been able to 'hang' with these people when their idea of a celebration is honoring Pi???  (Here is the story and a poem about their celebration). Of course, Pie was served at the gathering. Now THAT'S something I could have helped them with!

Electronics Technology Celebrates “Pi” Day

On 14 March at 1:59:26 the Allentown-based Electronics Technology team celebrated "Pi day" in honor of what is arguably mathematics' most important constant: π. The event consisted of a countdown to π at 1:59:26 followed by a dramatic reading of Ray Machado’s π-inspired poem “Numbers” (see below). Finally pie and ice cream were consumed over lively discussions of favorite equations containing π and other humorous anecdotes.

 

When asked why he had chosen to celebrate π, Electronics Technology director John Langan said that he thought he had also scheduled a celebration for the number “i” but later realized he had only imagined it.

Numbers by R. Machado

The most amazing equation ever conceived, by Euler and it changed the world!
eix= cos(x)+ i sin(x)
eip= -1
where i2 = -1

 

Euler’s equation may briefly shed light,
with simplistic beauty to natures delight.

 

Just suspend the rational, and then defy,
with imaginary vision, the number i.

 

Of course it’s natural, to seek a key,
perhaps under a log, the number e.

 

 But dreaming of spheres, that circle the sky,
we discover a proportion, the number pi.

 

Combining our numbers, mathematical magic is done,

 

e,
raised to i times pi,
is simply equal,
to negative…one.