Faculty Features | Maxim Levit博士 ：探索、抉择，拥抱新事物

Maxim Levit博士 | 探索、抉择，拥抱新事物

同学们往往以为，学界和业界是两条鲜有交叉的职业路径。但在实际工作中，很多学界教授同样具有产业背景，很多产业大牛也在兼任教师。在名师济济的广东以色列理工学院，这些教师的职业轨迹，对同学们而言具有一定的参考价值。在本期推送中，广东以色列理工学院生涯发展中心为同学们带来材料科学与工程讲师Maxim Levit博士的深访。Levit博士分享了自己的学术历程和职业生涯故事，并回应了同学们的疑问。

学术生涯：实现梦想的重要决定

Levit博士出生于俄罗斯。他在圣彼得堡理工学院分别获得物理学和冶金学的学士和硕士学位，毕业后在工程领域从业两年。但他一直以来都希望成为一名研发者，这个梦想要求他进一步拓宽知识面并参与更多科研项目。因此，25岁那年，他在以色列理工学院材料科学与工程学院几位教授的建议下，选择到以色列攻读半导体材料领域博士学位，并在此后的职业生涯中在该领域持续深耕。

读博的三年半时光，被Maxim Levit视作是一生中最好的时光。那时，他朝气蓬勃，充满干劲，每天都欣喜于收获新的知识。学术生涯最终成就了他的梦想：成为一名材料领域的研究员。回首当初，Levit博士感慨道，当时所做出最重要的决定，正是追随己心，去做自己真正渴望并擅长的事。

职业生涯：岗位更迭，深入半导体领域

在取得博士学位后，他收到了多份来自美国的博士后邀请，以色列的两家公司也向他抛出橄榄枝。Levit面临难以取舍的抉择——进入工业界，还是留在学术界？这不仅事关个人发展，也会深刻影响整个家庭。他与家人斟酌良久，最终决定进入英特尔公司。他在那里工作了25年。入职之初担任质检工程师，此后在质检与超大规模集成电路设计、产品调试和封装等领域担任过多个技术和管理职位。例如就任客户CPU质检部门主任期间，他认真履职，确保公司的芯片质量水准有保障、使用寿命内无故障。

进入每个工作岗位，都是踏上一次新的征程，将会收获新的风景。在设计相关的岗位，他学会了如何更好地组织并融入团队，以合作方式开展工作；在管理相关的岗位，他学会了承担更多责任，协助下属解决问题，激发团队整体效能；在采购相关的岗位，他学会与客户团队合作，协调多方需求。每当他考虑改变的时候，总是会自问：我在寻找什么？我是否对自己所完成的工作满意？我是否为公司获得了收益？而对于正在探索自身职业兴趣或正在求职的同学们，他认为，不要把“换工作”全然视作一件坏事，新的领域或许意味着你能学到更多、受益更多。

同时，Levit博士也是以色列理工学院的兼职讲师。他一直喜欢教书，喜欢和学生相处。Levit博士的课注重实用性，关注行业前沿。比如在课上他会研究如何制造芯片、电脑或其他设备。在教学过程中，他总会注意观察学生们是如何进入该领域的学习，如何理解和接受相关知识；在研讨答疑过程中，教学相长，师生之间常常碰撞出思想的火花——总之，学界与业界并非割裂的。教学不仅能给学生传授知识，还能够加深教师对研究领域的熟悉程度，增强教师的工作动力。对Levit博士而言，在以色列理工学院授课是难得的机会，“人生总要尝试不同的事物，但前提是你必须积极主动。”

挑战与困难：调整心态，勇敢面对

攻读博士期间，由于实验结果屡屡不符合自己预设的理论，Levit博士曾深感压力。但在自身努力和导师帮助下，他从先前那些出乎意料的实验结果中，探索出新的研究路径和实验方法，最终以此为基础发表若干论文。因此，他常常鼓励同学们，不要害怕在实验中发现一些意想不到的东西。尽管有时事情并不如预想般顺利，但你所耗费的时间绝不是枉费。一方面，你可以从失败的实验中总结经验，吸取教训；另一方面，这甚至可能成为开拓创新的好时机。

不同于攀登科研之峰时的压力，当Levit博士身处业界时，压力主要来源于工作时间的不确定性以及工作任务的紧迫性。当工厂出现问题时，作为一位工程师，他必须迅速提供解决方案。即使在重压之下，也必须仔细思考，凭借沉着的心理素质、丰富的实践经验、扎实的理论基础来做出正确决策，找到合适的解决方案。

答疑解惑，鼓励学生

找不到自己感兴趣的学习领域，该怎么办？

我之所以涉足半导体行业，其实是出于机缘巧合。当我刚开始从事物理学和计量学的研究工作时，在丰富的研究课题中（例如新材料的生成、分类、实际应用等），我遵循个人兴趣，选择从事半导体相关领域的研究和工作。

找到自己感兴趣的领域，是一个寻找答案的过程。在这个过程中，需要不断思考，不断尝试。每个人都不一定只擅长一件事，很可能同时擅长几件事。正是不断的勇敢尝试，使我们拓宽了自身的能力边界。我们会为了提升自我而学习多种技能，这些技能会帮助我们提升自己的科研能力、学术成果影响力，从而在研究领域做出更大的贡献。

是否有必要在工作前获得硕士学位？

没有适合所有人的路径，这取决于你追求怎样的工作和生活。有些人热爱研究类的工作，他们适合继续学习；有些人想进入行业中检验自己的能力，他们适合去行业中打拼。在面临选择时，要兼顾自己和家人，与家人认真商议，同时广泛征询各方面的建议，最终尽量做出最适合自己的决策。虽然这将会是一个非常艰难的决定，但一旦你做出决定，就尽管去做吧，不要回头看。

对于不喜欢自己专业的学生，是否应该转专业？

这个问题，关乎你如何看待自己以及别人如何看待你。第一，一定要听从内心的想法，跟着自己的心走。一方面，可以尽量找到自己真正喜欢的领域。另一方面，至少应该知道自己不喜欢什么。第二，要跟父母商量。他们最大的希冀就是孩子能幸福地生活，因此他们不会强迫你做自己不想做的事情。不管你的决定是什么，他们最终一定会接受，并尽力为你提供帮助。事实上，我的女儿也曾面对这个问题，我一开始推荐她去学习材料学，但这对她而言太过困难，所以她最终选择了语言学。现在她很快乐，正在为自己想要的未来而努力。

是对于自己的研究不自信时，该如何自我调节？

自信是成功的关键。每个学生的研究，都具有非凡的意义。当你做研究时，必须记住，你是一个独立的个体，拥有自己的独特观点和对事物的理解方式。所以，不要害怕其他人也在类似的领域做研究。你要相信，自己的观点和作品都非常独特，也要相信自己一定能发现一些与众不同并值得发表的成果。

Dr. Maxim Levit | Constantly Making Choices and Trying New Things

Students often think that academia and industry are two career paths that rarely intersect. However, in actual work, many academic professors also have industrial backgrounds, and many industry leaders also serve as part-time teachers. In Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology with famous teachers, the career trajectories of these teachers have learning value for students. Recently, Career Center conducted an in-depth interview with Dr. Maxim Levit, a lecturer of materials science and engineering. Dr. Levit shared his academic and career story while offering his own opinions and advice on the problems faced by students.

Academic | Important Decisions to Realize a Dream

Dr. Levit was born in Russia. He received his BS and MS degrees in Physics and Metallurgy from St. Petersburg Polytechnic University in Russia. After graduation, he worked in the area of engineering for two years. But he had always dreamed of becoming a researcher at the academy, requiring him to further broaden his knowledge and participate in more scientific research projects. At the age of 25, with the suggestion of several professors from the School of Materials Science and Engineering of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, he chose to study for a Ph.D. in the field of semiconductor materials in Israel. Since then, he continued to cultivate in this field in the following career.
Maxim Levit spent three and a half years doing his Ph.D. He believes that this may be the best time of his life because he was young, full of energy, and happy to learn new things every day. His academic career finally fulfilled his dream: to be a materials researcher. Dr. Levit thinks the most important decision at the time was to follow his dreams and do what he really wanted to do and would do.

Careers | Change jobs and dive deeper into the area of semiconductors

After obtaining his Ph.D., he received some postdoctoral invitations from the United States and offers from two companies in Israel. Dr. Levit faced a difficult decision: going to industry or staying in academia. It was not just about personal development. It could profoundly affect the whole family. He and his family spent a few days thinking about which decision was appropriate, and he finally decided to join Intel, where he worked for 25 years. He started his career as a Quality and Reliability engineer. Since then, he has held several technical and managerial positions in the areas of Q&R, VLSI circuit design, VLSI product debug and VLSI packaging. In recent years, Dr. Levit serves as a director of the Client CPU Quality and Reliability Department. His job is to make sure the company's chips are reliable, high-quality, and trouble-free during the service life.
Every job brings him a different experience. In the design field, he learned how to better organize and integrate into teams to work collaboratively. In the work of management, he had more responsibilities and enjoyed the process of solving problems for employees and helping them improve their abilities. In his role in procurement, he learned to work with customer teams to coordinate multiple needs. Whenever he thinks about changing, he always asks himself: what am I looking for? Am I satisfied with what I have done? Do I get benefits from the company? For students exploring their professional interests or looking for a job, he suggests that changing careers is not a bad thing because new areas may mean you can learn and benefit more.
Meanwhile, Dr. Levit is also a part-time lecturer at the Technion. He has always enjoyed teaching and getting along with students. His classes focus on practice, discussing what is going on in today's industry: how to make chips, computers, or other devices. When he is teaching, he always pays attention to observing how the students are involved in this field and how to understand and accept relevant knowledge; in the process of discussion and Q & A, teaching and learning exist cooperatively, and mindsets are often stimulated between teachers and students. In short, academia and the industry are not separated. Teaching can not only impart knowledge to students but also deepen teachers' familiarity with the research field and enhance teachers' working motivation. For Dr. Levit, teaching at Technion is a rare opportunity. "Life is always about trying different things, but the premise is that you must be proactive."

Challenges and Difficulties | Change Mindset and Face It Bravely

During his doctoral study, Dr. Levit was under tremendous pressure because the experimental results often did not conform to his preset theory. However, with his own efforts and the help of his tutor, he explored new research paths and experimental methods from the previous unexpected experimental results, and finally published several papers on this basis. Therefore, he always encourages the students not to be afraid to discover something unexpected in the experiments. Sometimes not everything goes as well as expected, but the time you spend is not in vain. On the one hand, people can gain and summarize the experience in failed experiments. On the other hand, it may even be an excellent time to explore and innovate.

Unlike the pressure of doing scientific research, when Dr. Levit is in the industry, the pressure mainly comes from the uncertainty of working hours and the urgency of work tasks. When there is a problem in the factory, as an engineer, he must provide a solution quickly. Even under heavy pressure, he must think carefully to make correct decisions and find appropriate solutions with great psychology, rich practical experience and solid theoretical basis.

Answer Questions and Encourage Students

It was a coincidence that Dr. Levit worked in the semiconductor field. When he first started working in physics and metrology, there were many rich topics and research areas, like generation, classification and practical application of new materials, etc. Due to his curiosity and interest, he chose to work and research in semiconductor-related fields.

Dr. Levit feels that finding an area of interest is a process of finding answers, during which he will constantly think and try new things. He believes that everyone is not necessarily good at just one thing, but maybe good at several things. It is the constant brave attempts that make us broaden our ability boundary. We will learn a variety of skills to improve ourselves. These skills will help us improve our scientific research ability and the influence of academic achievements to make greater contributions in the research field.

Is it necessary to get a master's degree before working?

Dr. Levit believes there is no one-size-fits-all approach. It depends on what kinds of jobs and opportunities people want. If people have a passion for doing research, Dr. Levit recommends continuing to study. If people think they have enough energy and want to do something in this industry, they can go to the industry and see whether they are capable. When facing a choice, you should consider and consult with yourself or your family. At the same time, you should consult the opinions of various parties, and finally choose the one that suits you. Although this can be a tough decision, once you have decided, do it and do not look back.

For students who do not like their majors, should they change them?

Dr. Levit thinks it is about how you see yourself and how others see you and your family. Dr. Levit recommends listening to your heart and following your own feelings and emotions. You should try to do what you want and find what you really like. At least you know what you do not like. Follow your heart and discuss it with your parents. All the parents want is for their children to have a happy life, so they will not force you to do things you do not want to do. No matter what your decision is, they will eventually accept it and try their best to help you. He also shared his daughter's story. Dr. Levit initially recommended materials science for his daughter, but it was difficult for her. So she chose linguistics and she was happy about it. She is also pleased to work hard for the future.

How can I self-regulate when I am not confident about my research?

Confidence is the key to success. Dr. Levit believes that each student's research is meaningful. When you do research, you must remember that you are an individual and you have your own opinions, understandings, and ideas. So, do not be afraid of others who are doing research in similar fields. You should believe that your views and works are very unique, and you should also believe that you will find some different and worthy of publication.

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文/图/视频：GTIIT生涯发展中心

Text/Photos/Video: GTIIT Career Competencies Center

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