Assignment (or Activity) title:  Data Analysis & Jean Duhamel
Course: Materials Characterization for Soft and Polymeric Materials
University: University of Notre Dame
Professor: Gabriel Burks

Details about the audience and course context

• How many students are in the class? About 20
• What is the teaching modality (in person, virtual, hybrid)? In person
• What grade level/year are the majority of students? A mix of graduate and undergraduate students
• Where does this course fall in the curriculum? (Is it in the core or organized within a particular course of study?) This is currently an elective course, but it will undergo review to be added to the Materials Science Engineering PhD program curriculum.
• What virtues are integrated into the course: moral courage, intellectual wonder (curiosity), and intellectual attentiveness (humility)

Assignment: The course is divided into three blocks. For each block, students write responses to the “thought-provoking questions” in the associated online class discussion board and provide a thoughtful response to two of their peers.

 Imagine sitting in a lab, looking at overlapping fluorescence decay curves—barely distinguishable, full of noise. You're not satisfied with average values or smoothed data. You want to understand what happens within the noise.You ask: What is this spectrum not telling me directly?

Jean Duhamel made a career by listening deeply to polymer systems. He didn’t try to simplify reality too quickly. He developed new ways to interpret time-resolved data and polymer interactions that others had overlooked.

He wasn’t distracted by hype.

He wasn’t in a rush to publish.

He was attentive to the quiet signals.

Thought-provoking questions

• When faced with complex or noisy data, do you look for shortcuts—or for understanding?
• How often do we miss something meaningful because we aren’t fully paying attention?
• In today’s experiment or analysis, what do you need to be attentive to—technically and intellectually?
• Are you training your eyes to see subtle truths, or only dramatic trends?