UW CHEMISTRY NMR

Dear fellow NMR enthusiasts and valuable users :

Ever since the day I have been honored with managing this amazing NMR facility and help with the clientele, it has been a fact that the NMR Manager is a highly delocalized particle, to borrow a phrase from the world of Quantum Mechanics. The geographical locations that need my presence in a given day to fulfil my role are spread such that it becomes difficult to be tied down to a given location.

I am fully aware that this has spawned some unique challenges, when it comes to the expectation of instant and constant availability, and I have tried to do my humble bit to address the same, with the help of tools that have been provided to me.

• Thanks to smartphone technology, I am constantly checking my email feed for new messages and respond, either by my physical presence or virtual assistance, as the situation demands.
• If an application related question reaches me, most of the time I immediately give a lead response and if further research is needed on my part I do not take more than 24 hours to come up with a usable solution, within my capacity.
• I have tethered my own personal phone to my official phone number such that, you can be assured that an invisible string is always connected to my virtual legs from Bagley, even when I come up for some fresh air or answer my natural needs.
• Thanks to this technology, I answer my phone during my commute as well for mitigation of anything urgent, before I can reach the scene of action to address it fully.
• You will always get an Automatic ‘Out of Office’  reply when addressing my email, for the duration of my planned absences.   If there is an emergency that didn’t provide me the time to program the same, I will inform my superiors about my absence.
• During the Pandemic, I had my office door closed, but I am back to propping it open slightly so that you can feel free to knock on it  (or heavily pound, as it sometimes happens !), to get my attention.
• Any entry that is made in the instrument Log Books immediately get transmitted as an email message to me, along with others who help run the facility.

Now the appeal part :

I request you to exhaust the available means to reach out to me before you summarily declare that I am MIA to your colleagues or superiors. 

This facility exists because of you and for your service.  From the first day of my work here, I have never forgotten that ethos.  I continue to strive in my small way to adhere to it, albeit some slip ups along the way.

Thank you for your Kind Understanding and Cooperation.

NMR Facility Manager

3/7/2023