Too Many Scientists?

A recent report has been causing a lot of controversy in the blogosphere.  ”Steady as She Goes?  Three Generations of Students through the Science and Engineering Pipeline” looked at three issues – the attrition of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) students from high school to career, how this attention rate has changed over time, and changes in quality in the students who remain in the STEM pathways.  They evaluated several longitudinal data sets, and determined that retention rates have been constant (or even increasing) from the 1970s through the late 1990s overall, but retention of the highest performing students declined steeply starting in the late 1990s.  The authors suggest the reason for this is that high-performing students are “being recruited into non-STEM jobs that pay better, offer more a more stable professional career, and/or are perceived as less exposed to competition from low-wage economies”. They argue that encouraging more students to go into STEM disciplines may end up hurting the US, since more potential employees mean lower wages, which drives the best students into other fields.

This report is generating some discussion on ScienceCareers.org, in the thread entitled Study Agues US Needs Fewer, Not More, Science Students .  This thread also points back to the  National Academies’ publication Rising Above the Gathering Storm report (2006) which said the nation should “enlarge the pipeline of students who are prepared to enter college and graduate with a degree in science, engineering, or mathematics” in order to remain competitive. Many others have echoed this idea, and the idea of expanding the science pipeline has been guiding policy for awhile – just the opposite of what the newer study suggests.

Part of the reasons these two reports seem to oppose each other is that it is difficult to get actual numbers and hard data on why people choose the career paths they do.  I can think of a number of things that influenced my personal career choices…..a family background in science and engineering, a great high school chemistry teacher who made science interesting and fun, a new class that I just happened to be in the right place to take, personal and family circumstances, and a whole lot of luck.  While I may have considered (briefly) law or business for the financial rewards, I was always encouraged to do something I loved, and not worry about the money (within reason).

In my own travels, I think lately I’m meeting more people who want to do something they are passionate about, and care more about that than making as much money as possible.  They want to make a difference in the world, and as long as they can make a reasonable living they are fine.  Some of them are even choosing to work for less money, if it means more flexible work time and more time with their family, or taking extended time off to be with their families, and planning to go back to work at some point in the future.  I’m hoping this means people are realizing that they can be happy with fewer “things”, as long as they spend their days doing things that interest, excite and engage them.  Hopefully for many of us, that includes STEM careers.

This article was written by freelance scientific communication consultant Lisa M. Balbes, Ph.D. of Balbes Consultants and author of: “Nontraditional Careers for Chemists,” published by Oxford University Press (2007). She blogs on Career Development for Scientists.

Doing Your Due Diligence

In a competitive job market, you need to do everything you can to make yourself stand out from other candidates. Especially when you get to the interview stage, you know you are competing against other candidates that are also highly qualified.

So in preparation for the interview, you take your suit to the cleaners, arrange transportation and lodging (if needed), and practice, practice, practice your research presentation.

You’ve heard that you should do some research on the company, so you spend an hour or so looking through their web site, clicking semi-randomly on pages and links that may be of interest.  You don’t learn much, but at least you feel good that you did it.  Right?

I often ask hiring managers what candidates should do that most of them don’t do.  Almost every time, the answer is “do their homework on the company before the interview”.  I’ve had some tell me they want the candidate to know everything that’s on the company web site, and at least one thing that is NOT on the company’s web site.

I was reviewing some industry analysis reports from the financial world today, and it struck me that the questions they proposed for use in evaluating companies for monetary investment were very similar to the ones you might want to ask before a job interview.

• The first thing you want to research is their products – What specifically do they sell?   (For example, pharmaceutical products can be prescription or over the counter, innovator or generic, and so on)?  What do they currently have on the market, and what is in development?  A company’s products, and its pipeline of future products, are its lifeblood.  A solid pipeline of products is essential for success.
• Have their past research and development efforts been successful?  What portion of their operating revenues are spent on R&D?  Is that part of the company growing or shrinking?  Research and development are key to finding those new products to fill the pipeline.
• Have they been involved in any recent mergers, acquisitions, or other partnerships?  While these may increase stock prices, in the short-term they can have a negative impact on employee morale, internal efficiency, and cause customer confusion.  You may not want to discuss this with the interviewer, but you certainly want to keep your eyes and ears open during the day for possible problems.
• What does their international profile look like?  Have they just opened new facilities overseas?  Have they closed local facilities?  This may indicate long-term stability of the facility at which you are being offered a position.
• What do their financial statements, or SEC filings, say about their sales growth, profit margins, earnings…?  Are they making capital investments, or maintaining the status quo?  This is further evidence of the company’s long-term strategy and success.
• What is the background of the company’s managers? You want strong, capable leadership that is knowledgeable in the industry.
• With whom will you be interviewing, and working? You can ask for a copy of the interview schedule in advance (it’s usually available if you ask), then use Google and LinkedIn and scientific literature searches to learn about their background, interests and experiences.  The more you know about your interviewers, the better questions you can ask, and the more likely you are to connect with them.
• What is the corporate culture?  If you’re lucky, they publish it right on their web site like Merck does. To ensure long-term satisfaction, you want to work in a corporate culture that is consistent with your values. Values you might want to look for include commitment to innovation, quality, excellence, professionalism, teamwork, diversity, continual improvement, organizational learning, and so on.

Some of these questions you have probably  looked into before you applied for the position (hopefully!).  However, just before the interview is when you really want to make sure you have all the information you need to ask intelligent, probing questions that will allow both you and the company to evaluate your fit for their needs.

The financial/investment community is expert at determining the value of companies, and conducting extensive research and due diligence on specific companies and industries. Their systematic approach to company valuation is exactly what you do before you invest in a company – either with your money, or  with your time by seeking a job there.

This article was written by freelance scientific communication consultant Lisa M. Balbes, Ph.D. of Balbes Consultants and author of: “Nontraditional Careers for Chemists,” published by Oxford University Press (2006). She blogs on Career Development for Scientists.

Self Chromatography: Analyzing Your Interests, Skills, and Personality Traits

During the very stimulating “Industry Forum” session in February with former ACS President William Carroll, the following exchange took place. (If you want to check out the entire conversation, which I highly recommend, it’s available as an mp3 audio file or text transcript.)

* * *

Joe Alper (host): Let me ask you a question that came in from one of our web-based participants, who’s trying to decide which area of chemistry she wants to pursue.  She’s trying to decide between the oil energy sector and the ag sector, and she’s wondering, in your crystal ball, if you see which one of these might have better prospects in the years ahead?

Dr. William Carroll: I have to tell you the biggest disservice that I could do for that questioner would be to pick one of those two and tell her to go there.  And the reason is because… there are actually two reasons:

• Chasing a hot sector makes about as much sense as chasing the hot number on a roulette wheel. 
• The real question that you have to ask yourself is, “What do you like?  What kind of chemistry turns you on?”

Every sector will have good times and bad times, but you’re going to have a career 40 years.  I can tell you that there’s nothing worse than waking up at the age of 45 and discovering that you picked the wrong career, partially because you went after it for reasons other than your love of the work that you were doing. The world will always pay for the best in the field, and you stand a better chance of being the best in a field you love.  So my response is, interview, study, look at the work that’s being done and pick what turns you on.  And, remember, it’s probably not the last career choice you’re ever going to make and you can make changes.

Bill Carroll’s question—“What do you like?”—is absolutely essential.  And it sounds so simple…

If you’re anything like me, however, you’ve found that this simple question can be difficult to answer.  I’m not that good at accurately reading my own mind, heart, and gut.  What I’d really like is a printout with a careful and thorough quantitative analysis of … well, of me.  I want answers that are precise, accurate, and repeatable, with very small standard deviations. 

If this were an analytical chemistry experiment, I’d dissolve myself in a solvent, pour myself into the top of a chromatography column, and collect all the different fractions that emerge.  Then I’d use the most reliable analytical techniques—from IR and NMR to mass spec and electrophoresis—to identify and quantify my interests, passions, dislikes, values, strengths, weaknesses, skills, and personality traits.

Armed with these results, I’d then feel much more confident about answering Bill Carroll’s question.

When I went through this self-analysis process for the first time, I was trying to decide which direction to head with my career after grad school.  Even after using Chem Abstracts to thoroughly search the scientific literature, I still couldn’t find the type of chromatography column that would help me quantify the self-discovery process.  

But I did find a book that was very helpful—What Color is Your Parachute? by Richard Nelson Bolles. In particular, the book gave me some exercises, quizzes, and activities that jump-started my self assessment.

This best-selling classic has been updated, revised, and expanded annually since the first edition was published in 1972.   I think it’s even more useful and accessible today, with an especially helpful website (www.jobhuntersbible.com).  At this website, you’ll find links to a number of resources that will get you started on your self-analysis, from interest inventories (including vocational tests based on Holland’s Theory of Career Choice) to transferable skills tests (including a test called the “Motivated Skills Test”) to personality tests (including Myers-Briggs-type tests and the Enneagram).

Time to slip into your lab coat, put on your safety glasses, and get started on your experiment of self analysis.  The analytical laboratory is just a click away.

Randy Wedin blogs from Wayzata, MN. After spending a decade working for the ACS and as a Congressional Science fellow, he launched a freelance science writing business, Wedin Communications (www.wedincommunications.com), in 1992.  His blog, “The Alchemist in the Minivan” (www.alchemist.pro), looks at the intersection of science, parenting, and daily life.

  

The State of Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology continues to make news as a bright spot for business growth—and jobs. The National Science Foundation, for example, has forecast that the global market for nanotechnology products and services will balloon to more than $1 trillion by 2015 and will employ some 2 million people.

 Some groups pooh-pooh such figures, saying they are waaaay out of proportion with reality. (See http://www.nanowerk.com/spotlight/spotid=1792.php) Yet even most skeptics allow that sooner or later, nanotechnologies will transform many aspects of our lives.

How to get in on the action?

 A good place to start is to check out what states and regional groups are doing to support nanoresearch and industrialization and to provide information to entrepreneurs and employees. You may want to explore the NSF’s National Nanotechnology Initiative, which, among other things, provides a list of links to state and regional programs. (See http://www.nano.gov/html/funding/businessops.html)

 You’ll read about what’s going on in North Carolina, where at least 69 companies already are working with nanotechnology. (See http://www.ncnanotechnology.com) The companies range from small startups using nanotechnology as a core part of their manufacturing processes and services to large firms using nanotechnology as part of their broader operations. Be sure to check out how one company has developed new nanotech coatings for critical car engine parts that are allowing NASCAR racers to boost their horsepower. (See http://www.ncnanotechnology.com/public/21597)

 In the Northeast, the Massachusetts Nanotechnology Initiative seeks to encourage research, foster commercial ventures, and create new jobs by harnessing the state’s university and industrial base of nanoscale science and engineering. (See http://www.masstech.org/mni) For a good example of university-industry collaboration, look at MIT’s Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, which is working with the U.S. Army and several industrial partners—including Raytheon, DuPont, and Partners Healthcare—to use nanotechnology to give the nation’s fighting forces what they need to be lighter, faster, more versatile, and more easily deployable on short notice. (See http://web.mit.edu/isn)

 On the Left Coast, several groups are nanofocused. The California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA is a research center devoted to encouraging university collaboration with industry with an eye on rapid commercialization of discoveries in nanosystems. (See http://www.cnsi.ucla.edu) Some of the institute’s efforts were featured in the July 15, 2009, New York Times. (See http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/business/smallbusiness/16edge.html)

 Among other activities, the institute sponsors a series of “incubator” seminars. The latest seminar, for example, focused on giving entrepreneurs a look at what information technology may be useful in a startup company, how to avoid the risks associated with such technology, and how to keep costs in line with that bane of most fledgling companies—limited funding.

 In the Northwest, the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute hosts a variety of programs—in research, industrial collaboration, and educational outreach—to put nanotechnology to work. (See http://www.onami.us/) In one nanoproject, University of Oregon chemistry professor Darren Johnson and Portland-based Crystal Clear Technologies are developing a water filter that uses nanoparticles to cleanse industrial wastewater while harvesting valuable metals trapped in the water.

 In an announcement for a recent “micro-nano breakthrough conference,” the institute captured a common spirit in the field: “In these turbulent economic times, one thing remains unchanged: innovation-driven productivity advances are the only basis for prosperous, high-wage regional economies, and commercialized scientific research is the best and most durable source of innovation advantage.”

 Many of these Web sites offer assistance to fledgling entrepreneurs and information about which firms and universities in their areas are beefing up manufacturing or research—and thus may be adding to the job supply.

 Nanobits of food for thought.

 – Tom Burroughs is a freelance writer based in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Chemists in Patent Law

Getting bored with routine lab work? Like to write? Ready for something new? How about combining chemistry and law?

While there are no figures on how many chemists have careers in the legal world, about 1150 are members of the ACS Division of Chemistry and The Law (CHAL). Of these, the most common specialty is patent law or intellectual property (IP).

Now retired, Howard Peters had his own “boutique law firm” specializing in patent law. He explained his specialty this way: “I was like a British solicitor; I listened to ordinary people who had inventions. They told me about their extraordinary invention; I filed the application with the US Patent Office and then battled with the examiners to get the patent issued.”

Peters had a PhD and was working full-time in industry before going to law school. As part of his job, he spent four months in the Dow Patent Department. “I became fascinated – and I liked to write.” Later after settling in California, he started law school but didn’t quit his job in explosives at SRI International. Eventually, he worked for a law firm and then started his own.

Becoming a patent agent is another option for those considering Patent Law, and you don’t need a PhD or even a law degree (JD). A patent agent at Wyeth Research, Barbara Lences is not an attorney. She explains that a patent agent is authorized by the US Patent and Trademark Office to file and prosecute patent applications. “Becoming a patent agent requires an undergraduate or graduate degree in the sciences and a passing grade on the patent bar exam. Patent agents and patent attorneys differ in that patent attorneys have completed a law degree in addition to a science degree and are qualified to ajudicate a patent or patent application in a court of law, in addition to filing and prosecuting a patent application.”

With a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, Lences did organic synthesis in agrichemical and pharmaceutical research groups, eventually reaching the point where it was no longer challenging. “I had gone about as far as I could go in chemistry without a graduate degree. Grad school was not an option because I had young children at that time.” Through her company’s patent liaison office, she switched careers from chemistry to patent law. During this transition she took an ACS Short Course on patent law and a bar review course, eventually taking the patent bar exam and becoming a registered patent agent.

Lences finds that often young scientists don’t know about alternative career options such as hers. “When you are a science major, except for medical school, careers outside of academic or industrial chemistry are not emphasized.” When students hear of her career, they are surprised: “Oh – you can do that! You don’t have to choose between teaching and research?” She points out that in addition to careers in patent law, regulatory affairs, and chemical health and safety, a chemist can become a technical expert at a law firm and work with attorneys in patent drafting and in litigation.

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Anne Kuhlmann Taylor, PhD (ACS ’67), is a consultant and technical writer based in Baton Rouge, LA. Previously, she was an analytical chemist in the pharmaceutical industry. Working with CTD Quality Consulting, she writes, edits, and critiques documents for the pharmaceutical industries. She is Councilor from the Baton Rouge Section of ACS and serves on the Committee on Community Activities.

Defibrillator Jobs – CDM EIF

Being in transition is tough so advice is often offered with a spoonful of sugar.  While well intentioned, however, that approach sends the wrong signal to those most in need of candor.  So, being as frank (and respectful) as I can, here’s the unvarnished truth.  This job market is filled with “irrational expectations.”  You cannot find a job today using job search strategies and techniques that were devised for yesterday’s workplace.  To put it more bluntly, you won’t find work—any work—in such a tough environment with a weak career record.

And sadly, that’s what a lot of people are bringing to their job search.  They haven’t kept their skills up-to-date.  Their ability to make a contribution commensurate with their experience has atrophied.  Even their network of contacts has all but withered away.

Historically, such an out of shape career didn’t matter much.  You could be laid off and, with little or no change in your credentials, hit the job search trail and in relatively short order, find another, similar (or even better) position.  Basically, we had a come-as-you-are job market.

Unfortunately, those happy days are gone and gone forever.  Why is that?  Remember the jobless recovery of the 2001 recession?  Well, this recession built on that development to create the “less jobs” recovery.  When things start to get better, there will still be fewer jobs—not more or even the same number—as there are right now during the recession.  Jobs aren’t being left open until things get better.  They are being destroyed.

What does that mean for people in transition?  Now, you have to enter the job market in a very different way.  If you want to find employment in the new world of work, you have to fix your career first.  Or, at a minimum, you must be fixing it while you’re searching for a job.  But, the point is that Step 1 in a job search today—not step 2 or 3 or 4—is to upgrade your capabilities and your credentials.  Whether you have 20 years in the workplace or 20 minutes.  From now on, you have to have a strong career if you want to conduct a strong job search.

And then, once you find a job, you have to go on building up the strength of your career.  You can’t stop simply because you’re earning a paycheck.  Why?  Because only a fit career will enable you to hang onto that job you have and get an even better job once the recovery starts.

How do you build career strength?  It takes a regular and repetitive commitment to seven kinds of activities.  As detailed in my book Work Strong: Your Personal Career Fitness System, they are:

I. Pump Up Your Cardiovascular System  The heart of your career is your occupational expertise, not your knowledge of some employer’s standard operating procedures.  Re-imagine yourself as a work-in-progress so that you are always been adding depth and tone to your knowledge and skill set and memorializing that enlarged capacity on your resume.

II. Strengthen Your Circulatory System  The wider and deeper your network of contacts, the more visible you and your capabilities will be in the workplace.  Adding to your network, however, means exactly what the word says—it’s netWORK, not net-get-around-to-it-whenever-it’s-convenient.  Make nurturing professional relationships a part of your normal business day.

III. Develop All of Your Muscle Groups  The greater your versatility in contributing your expertise at work, the broader the array of situations and assignments in which you can be employed.  Develop ancillary skills—for example, the ability to speak a second language or knowledge of key software programs—that will give you more ways to apply your primary capabilities in the workplace.

IV. Increase Your Flexibility & Range of Motion  In the 21^st Century world of work, career progress is not always a straight line, nor does it always look as it has in the past or stay the same for very long.  Moving from industry-to-industry, from one daily schedule to another or even from one location to another is never easy, but your willingness to adapt will help to keep your career moving forward.

V. Work With Winners  Successful organizations and coworkers aid and abet your ability to accomplish your career goals, while less effective organizations and less capable peers diminish it.  Working with winners enables you to grow on-the-job, develop useful connections that will last a career and establish yourself as a winner in the world of work.

VI. Stretch Your Soul  A healthy career not only serves you, it serves others, as well.  A personal commitment to doing some of your best work as good works for your community, your country and/or your planet is the most invigorating form of work/life balance.  It regenerates your pride in what you do and your enthusiasm for doing it.

VII. Pace Yourself  A fulfilling and rewarding career depends upon your getting the rest and replenishment you need in order to do your best work every day you’re on-the-job.  The human body and mind have limits, and those limits cannot be extended by multitasking or even a Blackberry.  Instead, you have to discipline yourself and your boss to set aside time to recharge your passion and capacity for work.

Understanding what’s involved in these exercises and then performing them on a regular basis is the foundation of a “system” for building Career Fitness.  Think of it as a strategy for surviving and prospering in today’s and tomorrow’s workplace.

Who is Peter Weddle?
Peter Weddle is a recruiter, HR consultant and business CEO turned author and commentator.  Described by The Washington Post as “… a man filled with ingenious ideas,” Peter has earned an international reputation, pioneering concepts in human resource leadership and employment.  He has authored or edited over two dozen books and been a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, The National Business Employment Weekly and CNN.com.  Today, Peter writes two newsletters that are distributed worldwide and oversees WEDDLE’s LLC, a print publisher specializing in the field of human resources.  WEDDLE’s annual Guides and Directory to job boards are recognized for their accuracy and helpfulness, leading the American Staffing Association to call Weddle the “Zagat of the online employment industry.”

The Weak Link Syndrome

It was partly my own fault.  I realize that now.  I naively accepted an invitation on LinkedIn to connect with someone I didn’t know.  I did confirm that this person was in the employment field, and since I’m terrible at remembering names, I thought that we may have met at a conference somewhere.  I still don’t know whether that’s the case, but as soon as I accepted the invitation, this person started to spam me with email after email about openings he was trying to fill.  And therein lies the central problem with LinkedIn, at least as it is currently used by a very large number of people.

LinkedIn advertises itself as a networking tool for professionals.  That’s fine.  But building up a huge (or even a small) address book of contacts is not networking.  In fact, given that networking is actually a form of dialogue that is most appropriately practiced as an integral part of one’s business day, what’s going on at LinkedIn today is best described as “notworking.”

You see, the Golden Rule of Networking is that you have to give as good as you get.  It’s fundamentally an exchange of information, ideas, and/or assistance from which both parties derive value.  That mutual allocation of benefit establishes familiarity and trust, and those two factors are the twin pillars of a relationship.  When networking is working, that’s what it creates—a relationship.

How Do Relationships Happen?

Now, if you’ve ever been in a relationship, you know two things about them.  First, you quickly learn that they are hard work.  That’s why the word is spelled the way it is: it’s netWORK, not net-get-around-to-it-whenever-you-feel-like-it.  And second, you come to appreciate that relationships take time to develop.  They don’t happen with the click of a mouse, whether you’re on LinkedIn or Facebook or any other social or professional “networking” site.

And sadly, my connection on LinkedIn understood neither of those points.  As he put it when I asked him to stop sending me his intrusive email, “When you linked to me you agreed to receive email notifications and to network with me.”

Well, my friend, that’s not networking.  First, you’re not working at building a relationship with me.  You’re spamming me with unwanted email.  Second, there’s no reciprocity here.  All of the value in our interaction accrues to you.  You want me to provide the names of people I know for your openings, yet you haven’t taken the time to get to know me or to offer me anything of commensurate value.  You aren’t giving as good as you get.  You’re just taking what’s useful to you.

Now, I’ve heard the stories about people finding a job through their LinkedIn contacts.  That’s great.  But those situations are the exception to the rule.  There are more than 36 million people with profiles on Linked, and most have fewer than 10 contacts.  In other words, they’ve checked off the online Social/Professional networking box on their to-do list—they‘ve joined the latest and greatest job search tool for the 21^st Century—but they haven’t done anything with it.  They aren’t investing the time and effort required to build up their Web of relationships or enrich them.

I call this situation the Weak Link Syndrome.  It produces two harmful consequences.

• First, a lot of people in transition who have now joined professional networking sites believe they’ve strengthened their ability to find a new or better job, and they haven’t.  They think they’re using a state-of-the-art tool to enhance their personal performance, and they aren’t.  They’re wasting their time and talent fiddling with a technology—online professional networking—that isn’t working for them.
• Second, the absence of so many job seekers networking effectively online has created a vacuum.  And into that vacuum has flowed a crowd of individuals who are happy to misuse the system.  Like my former connection on LinkedIn, they are clueless about the true nature of networking and feel entitled to use some malformed version of their own.  And that misappropriation of the online networking experience diminishes it for everyone else.

 
So, what do I recommend?  I think we have just two options.  We can either devote the time and energy necessary to extend our online professional networks far beyond their current meager limits and then transform those contacts into genuine relationships or we should abandon the sites that are supposed to nurture them and turn our time and talent to more productive activities.  As the old truism notes, it’s not worth doing something unless you’re going to do it right.

Who is Peter Weddle?
Peter Weddle is a recruiter, HR consultant and business CEO turned author and commentator.  Described by The Washington Post as “… a man filled with ingenious ideas,” Peter has earned an international reputation, pioneering concepts in human resource leadership and employment.  He has authored or edited over two dozen books and been a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, The National Business Employment Weekly and CNN.com.  Today, Peter writes two newsletters that are distributed worldwide and oversees WEDDLE’s LLC, a print publisher specializing in the field of human resources.  WEDDLE’s annual Guides and Directory to job boards are recognized for their accuracy and helpfulness, leading the American Staffing Association to call Weddle the “Zagat of the online employment industry.”

Renewing your Career with Renewable Energy

National and international leaders are promising to take action on global warming, 33 states have adopted renewable energy standards, and some individuals and businesses are looking for more sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels.

In light of the promising outlook for the renewable energy industry, four institutions in Ohio recently introduced a Master’s program in clean and renewable energy. The program is housed in the http://engineering.udayton.edu/Graduate_Programs/Renewable_Energy_Program/University of Dayton’s mechanical and aerospace engineering department (http://engineering.udayton.edu/Graduate_Programs/Renewable_Energy_Program/) and http://www.cs.wright.edu/mme/future-grad-rce.shtml Wright State University’s mechanical and materials engineering department (http://www.cs.wright.edu/mme/future-grad-rce.shtml).

Students enroll at either WSU or UD and take courses taught by faculty from WSU, UD, Central State University and the Air Force Institute of Technology. With the option of part-time or full-time enrollment and full-time tuition of $3,121 per quarter for Ohio residents or $5,929 for non-residents, the program is designed to be affordable and flexible to suit the needs of students at different stages of their careers.

While the program is housed in mechanical engineering departments, the directors said they would like to attract students from a variety of backgrounds, including chemists and chemical engineers.

“Renewable and clean energies need a lot of different viewpoints to advance the field,” said James Menart, professor of mechanical and materials engineering at WSU. “If we have a lot of different viewpoints attacking this problem, the field will advance quicker, so it is my desire to bring other types of engineers into the program besides mechanical and materials.”

The University of Dayton has a strong fuels program including biofuels, while Wright State has a strong fuel cells program. Other areas of particular interest to chemists and chemical engineers include energy efficiency, sequestering carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels and developing materials for batteries, supercapacitors, and photovoltaics.

For a more intensive graduate program, <a href=”http://www.res.is/”>The School for Renewable Energy Science</a> in Iceland (http://www.res.is/) offers a one-year Master’s degree, with specializations in Geothermal Energy, Fuel Cell Systems &amp; Hydrogen, Biofuels &amp; Bioenergy, Hydropower, and Energy Systems &amp; Policies.

RES also offers a summer school program for undergraduate students and one to three day short courses for executives and managers.

To pursue solar energy, the University of Wisconsin’s Solar Energy Laboratory (http://sel.me.wisc.edu/) offers both Master’s degrees and Ph.D.’s in mechanical and chemical engineering.

Another option for exploring the renewable energy field is the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Research Participant Program (http://www.nrel.gov/employment/research_participants.html). Visiting scholars participate in ongoing research at the laboratory and can develop their own areas of research to pursue at their home institutions. Post-doctoral positions are posted on the NREL website; faculty wishing to pursue a sabbatical at NREL also work through the RPP.

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As a freelance science writer, Barbara Maynard has reported on the use of wind power in rural Alaskan villages, energy efficient building techniques and the future of solar technologies. Some of her work can be seen in archived issues of Chemistry magazine.

Quadratic Graffiti Inspires Blogger

I don’t often read the same book twice, but I’ve made an exception for Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture. This book has been a New York Times bestseller for more than 40 weeks, and the YouTube video of Pausch’s actual last lecture (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo ) has been viewed more than 8 million times.

In case you’re not familiar with the Pausch story, here’s a highly distilled version:

Pausch, a 46-year-old computer science professor from Carnegie Mellon University, was diagnosed in 2006 with pancreatic cancer. While battling his cancer–and to leave a legacy for his three young children–he gave an inspirational “Last Lecture” at Carnegie Mellon in September, 2007. The video-taped lecture, titled “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” became an Internet sensation, and his story was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, and a one-hour television special on ABC. Pausch died on July 25, 2008. For more biographical details, see the Wikipedia article. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Pausch ) and the Last Lecture website ( http://www.thelastlecture.com/ )

Over the years, I’ve “met” (in person or through books and movies) a number of inspirational people.  These role models have helped cheer me up when I’m feeling down. They’ve encouraged me to see my life and career in a larger context.  When faced with tough decisions, I sometimes envision what these heroes would do.

You’ve probably got your own list of heroes. But if you haven’t already added Randy Pausch to that list, you definitely should.

While there are many inspirational stories to be found in the world, Pausch’s story seems especially real and poignant to me—because he was a scientist, a geek, a nerd. He thought, lived, and eventually died like a scientist. He was full of questions, curiosity, and a desire to make the world a better place.

The moment I fell in love with his story was when I learned about his childhood bedroom:

As a 16-year-old, he convinced his parents to let him paint on the walls of his bedroom. Eventually, the walls featured scenes of rockets, chess pieces, Pandora’s box, and a submarine’s periscope. However, the most important painting on the wall was the quadratic formula. Yes, that quadratic formula…. ( http://www.scienceteecher.com/quadratic.htm )

Anybody who’s proud to proclaim to the world his love of the quadratic formula is a hero in my book.

But Pausch was not just a scientist. He was also a husband, son, father, mentor, teacher, dreamer, doer, story-teller, and philosopher.

His lecture and book are full of big life lessons: “The brick walls are there for a reason. They’re not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.” And practical tips such as “Keep telephone calls short by standing during the call.“

If you need to jolt yourself out of self-pity or self-importance, this lecture will do it. If you like to laugh and cry at the same time, this lecture will get your tears flowing. And if you need some hard-won career advice from a fellow scientist, this lecture will provide it.

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Randy Wedin blogs from Wayzata, MN. After spending a decade working for the ACS and as a Congressional Science Fellow,
he launched a freelance science writing business,
Wedin Communications (www.wedincommunications.com), in 1992.
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Who Sat Next to You in Chem 101?

When you’re building your professional network, it’s a good idea to go back to college—at least for a brief online visit.

Using the internet, I recently took a stroll down memory lane and was overwhelmed with the rich networking resources I found.  Both my undergraduate and graduate schools keep good track of alumni (I know because I receive fundraising phone calls and letters from them several times a year).  And the information is stored in a searchable database just a few clicks away.

The alumni directory database at my undergraduate college can be searched by major, class year, occupation, employer, and location.   To test it out, I searched all the chemistry majors who were on campus the same years I was and who now live in my metropolitan area.  I was surprised to learn that one of them lives just a few blocks away. In fact, I walk by his house nearly every Summer evening as I’m exercising. 

I next decided to search for all alums who work for Cargill, a major employer of scientists in my community.  The list was long, and as I scanned it I noticed two division presidents. They would be great contacts. Narrowing this search, I asked for all who had been chemistry majors.  I discovered that a chem major who graduated seven years after me is now a senior scientist in a research area I’d like to learn more about.

Even though I don’t personally know these individuals, I’m sure they will be helpful members of my network.  Because college was such an important and formative time in our lives, we’ll no doubt share many memories—of certain favorite professors, of the tasty cinnamon rolls at that coffee shop just off campus, and of the odd chorus of our college fight song (“Um! Yah! Yah!”).

My graduate university is 1400 miles away, but they have an active alumni group in my city.  I try to make it to an alumni event at least once a year, and they recently launched an excellent and informative website.  Even my high school has an alumni web site that’s been helpful for networking. And don’t forget to search on Classmates.com (it’s not free but the cost might be worth it to you).

Many colleges and college organizations (sororities and fraternities, clubs, athletic teams, and music groups) also maintain groups on social networking sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, or MySpace.  While updating my LinkedIn profile so that former classmates can find and contact me, I spent some time searching through groups affiliated with my alma maters.  I noticed, for example, that one of the research groups in the biochemistry department had established a LinkedIn group—an excellent idea. 

And it’s not just about professional networking.  As the memories came flooding back, I found myself wondering about certain long-forgotten classmates.  With the help of the alumni databases and Google, I located several long-lost friends and roommates.  I was especially surprised and delighted to get back in touch with one very special friend.  I remembered interests, skills, and dreams that I had forgotten or neglected.   These memories helped me place my current career situation—which, like yours, is fraught with financial worries, to-do lists, and looming deadlines—in a broader perspective. I found myself refreshed and energized.

And now I have that crazy college fight song stuck in my head.

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Randy Wedin blogs from Wayzata, MN. After spending a decade working for the ACS and as a Congressional Science fellow, he launched a freelance science writing business, Wedin Communications (www.wedincommunications.com), in 1992. His blog, “The Alchemist in the Minivan” (www.alchemist.pro), looks at the intersection of science, parenting, and daily life.