I attended the 2010 IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility a week ago. Don't laugh. It may not sound exciting, but it is what I do for a living. At any rate, on Wednesdays of the Symposium, we have our big dinner. This year, the Symposium was in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and we were outside of a hotel next to the beach. It was very nice, and I dare say the food was better than some of the symposia I have attended. I was talking to one of my professors from UMR, and a young Japanese engineer/student came up and asked if she could have her picture taken with him (he is extremely well known among my professional community). I humbly backed away, and she and her boss/professor talked to my professor for awhile. I waited by the side to finish my conversation with him, when the young lady turned to me and asked if she could have her picture taken with me.

I was confused. Why? Her boss/professor came up to me and said that I was famous in Japan! We were at the same table for dinner, and I saw/heard him point at me and tell her my full name, which I thought was strange as well. He told me that everyone in Japan has my papers on... stuff... that I worked on during graduate school, and it has been translated as well. 'They' (the people that do my kind of job in Japan) all know my work! The picture was taken, and I walked off in humble awe.

It is kind of cool to know that someone else looked at your work and found value.

I'm so bad, I'm worldwide!