Starting a Career in Science: Challenges and Successes
Developing a Corporate R&D Career
Making Chemistry More Accessible
Envisioning Ancient Spaces, Virtually
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Developing a Corporate R&D Career
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Nancy Goodman Torpey '74 |
Nancy Goodman Torpey '74 knows that people may wonder, "How did I start out in solid state physics and end up exploring the limits of human perception and applying that knowledge to electrophotographic image quality?"
The evolution of Torpey's career at Xerox Corporation parallels the natural shift in emphasis among technology pioneers from pure science to technology. "When I joined Xerox in 1982, there were company scientists studying fundamental properties of high-temperature superconductors and other issues that were never going to have an application at Xerox, and that was supported by the company," she recalls. "But that was when the company had a much more diverse research portfolio. That was also the case at other corporate research laboratories."
Torpey got her Ph.D. in physics at the University of Chicago, where she studied the electronic and physical properties of amorphous silicon. Fresh from a subsequent postdoctoral research fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Physics in Stuttgart, Germany, where Torpey had studied the electronic and physical structure of various forms of phosphorus thin films using x-ray photoemission spectroscopy and other techniques, she joined Xerox's research staff.
At the company's Research and Engineering Center in Webster, N.Y., Torpey's early work included developing and performing automated testing of thin-film devices, and performing electrical and structural characterizations of laser re-crystallized silicon thin-film transistors. This was related to her thesis work, but her career gradually veered away from that topic.
Product Launch
"An opportunity arose to do modeling of the electrophotographic process, and I really like doing computer modeling and analysis, so I joined the original small team developing the technology for what would become Xerox's ‘4850' highlight color printer," Torpey says. Her work included analytical and experimental studies of the electrophotographic process, computer modeling, print quality evaluation and specifications documentation, and process improvements aimed at reducing defects in photoreceptors. She later served as project leader of a small team exploring additional novel electrophotographic developer materials and processes for that printer.
Xerox's DocuPrint 4850™ Highlight Color Laser Printing System offers highlight color-shades of one color plus black in a single pass at 50 pages per minute. "I still tell people that the most exciting day of my life was the day this product launched, because it was the first project I was involved in that actually went to market," Torpey says. "Over 23 years, my career path became more and more applied, and I found it more gratifying to work on something more tangible."
Recently, Torpey was a principal scientist on full-time assignment to the product development team for Xerox's iGEN3™ 100 Digital Production Press. With the capability of up to 6,000 high-quality, full-process-color impressions an hour, she says the press is designed for the short-run lithographic market, including brochures, catalogs and newsletters.
Torpey used computer modeling and simulation of electrophotography to create sample prints, which she presented to focus groups. From the results of these human perception studies, she developed metrics that were used as engineering tools to identify shortcomings in existing print quality and to develop image-quality specifications for the iGEN3.
"Every company tries to determine what their marketplace needs," Torpey explains. "The success of your product depends on the extent to which you get that right. The output of Xerox printers is the printed page. I was involved in determining how good a print has to be, how far from perfect it can be before anybody can tell, and, the real question: how far from perfect it can it be before anybody cares. In most of our previous products, there was a gap between perception of perfection and satisfaction. However, with the iGEN3, expectations are higher and that gap is very small."
All About Teamwork
Torpey has amassed 11 patents, with four more pending, four dozen external and internal publications, and two major Xerox awards: one for excellence in science and technology and another for team excellence. In fact, she enjoys the teamwork as much as contributing to a tangible product. "In graduate school, the idea was to learn to do everything yourself," she reflects. "I learned to do everything from computer modeling to designing the experiment to building pieces in the model shop, and I had a lab coat with machine oil all over it. Industry is all about teamwork. Of course, even in academics, people are working more collaboratively today."
Over the years, Torpey, who retired in December 2005, also observed the evolution in the composition of those teams. "My career spanned a period where, when I went to a meeting, it was me and a bunch of guys to where there was actually a noticeable number of women, although nowhere near 50-50," she says. "My goal was to be accepted as a colleague. I found that if you establish your credibility and track record, people will respect you for doing a good job. It worked for me."
Dorothy Wright contributes news and feature articles on science, technology, engineering and general-interest topics to a variety of publications, including Civil Engineering and Engineering News Record.