Introducing Dr. Phil

Today was a big day for our family.  After nine years of work, Phillip defended his PhD dissertation this afternoon.

I snapped this picture shortly before his presentation began.  In attendance were his defense committee, many of his labmates, his adoring wife, and a bunch of random engineering students who were either interested in his subject or just wanted to see what a PhD defense was like.  Phillip did a great job presenting his work, and after asking him a few short questions the committee agreed that he had earned his PhD.  They also congratulated him on doing some really groundbreaking work simulating and analyzing brain activity.

Here I am with Dr. Phil.  I'm so proud of him for staying the course and finishing this enormous project.  In the coming weeks he'll continue working at his USC lab while he talks to potential employers and plans the next step in his career.  He's already got a couple of good prospects, and we're excited for the future.