Graduate Student Spotlight: Philip West

Philip West has been at MIT since the Fall of 2022, and is originally from Haw River, North Carolina. His research in the Radosevich Group aims to develop a novel way to access aryl and alkyl carbenes from carbonyl compounds by deoxygenation with low-valent silicon. This approach would allow for greater molecular diversity through broad functionalization of ubiquitous starting materials, in addition to pioneering a meaningful place for silicon(II) reagents in the synthetic chemist’s toolbox.

“I chose to pursue a PhD in chemistry because it provided the opportunity to explore my scientific interests in discovering/designing fundamentally interesting and practically useful chemical transformations,” said Philip.

As the subject of this month’s Graduate Student Spotlight, Philip reveals his secret talent, the movie that consistently makes him laugh, the museum he’d open, and more!

1. If you could pick any career other than the one you’ve chosen, what would it be?
   Landscaping.
2. What’s worth spending more on to get the best?
   Beer.
3. What is the best vacation you’ve ever taken?
   My fiancé and I studied abroad in Malta during the spring of 2020 and only had 3 weeks of classes before they were all cancelled due to COVID. The remaining 4 months were just a sponsored vacation on a Mediterranean island as the only tourists.
4. If animals could talk, which animal do you think would be the most annoying, and why?
   My cat Edgar, because all day he would just talk about how much more he likes my fiancé.
5. What is your secret talent?
   I can knit and crochet.
6. What movie, picture, or video always makes you laugh no matter how often you watch it?
   The Garfield movie from 2004.
7. As a child, what did you think would be awesome about being an adult, but isn’t as awesome as you thought it would be?
   Choosing (having to figure out) what to eat at each meal.
8. If you were given five million dollars to open a small museum, what kind of museum would you create?
   A physical version of “A History of the World in 6 Glasses,” by Tom Standage, that prepares historically accurate samples of each beverage arranged chronologically throughout history, allowing people to experience the evolution of some of humanity’s oldest social traditions.
9. What piece of entertainment do you wish you could erase from your mind so that you could experience for the first time again?
   The Garfield movie from 2004.
10. Who is the most famous person you have met?
    Two-time second-team all-pro Carolina Panthers tight end legend and sports Emmy winner Greg Olsen.
11. What sport could you play the longest in a televised game, without anyone discovering you aren’t a professional athlete?
    The Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4th.
12. What chance encounter changed your life forever?
    Playing an icebreaker game with my now fiancé at my undergrad’s honors college orientation.
13. Where is the most interesting place you’ve been?
    The Giza Plateau to see the great pyramids.
14. What invention doesn’t get a lot of love, but has greatly improved the world?
    The wheel.
15. What would be the best thing you could reasonably expect to find in a cave?
    An untouched, never-ending supply of rare, industrially relevant metal ore.
16. What would be your ideal way to spend the weekend?
    Having people over for games, drinks, and grilled food on my patio.
17. An epic feast is held in your honor, what’s on the table?
    Pulled pork, collared greens, barbeque beans, mac and cheese, potato salad, banana pudding, sweet tea, cornbread, and biscuits.
18. What’s something common from your childhood that will seem strange to future generations?
    Pumping gas.
19. What bends your mind every time you think about it?
    The ship of Theseus.
20. If you could know the absolute and total truth to one question, what question would you ask?
    If a wooden ship is slowly repaired with metal as needed, but the entire ship eventually becomes metal, is it still the same ship?