Promega Scientific Applications: Expertise to Optimize Your Workflow

Molecular biology protocols are being applied by the cannabis industry to ensure safety and improve production.

How many times have you encountered a technical problem in your work that you needed to solve? Maybe it was an issue of workflow efficiency—too many samples, but too little time for hands-on work. Or maybe there wasn’t a technology available for what you needed to accomplish, and you didn’t have time to develop something yourself. Or still, maybe you were starting into a new research area and didn’t yet have the expertise to solve the problem. Wouldn’t it be nice if you had some support to figure out a solution for these challenges? We have scientists at your service! You may already know about our top-notch team of Technical Services Scientists. They can assist you via phone, email, or chat to walk you through any technical issue, regardless of whether or not you’re using Promega products (not too many companies can say that!).

We go beyond that level of assistance with the expertise of the Scientific Applications team. Continue reading “Promega Scientific Applications: Expertise to Optimize Your Workflow”

Why Hasn’t the “Alternative” Become Mainstream?

Pearl Jam, a popular alternative rock band in the 1990s (and still pretty awesome!). Photo credit: Rolling Stone Magazine.

This post could easily start out as an ode to ’90s alternative music (of which I’m a huge fan). That new and totally different sound (a la Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Nirvana, etc.) in the 1990s eventually made its way into the mainstream as it gained popularity. (I have to say that I got a shock when I recently heard some Pearl Jam on “classic rock” radio stations. But I digress…)

Why isn’t the same true for science career paths? Science careers outside of academia are still referred to as “alternative.” In a previous post, I highlighted statistics from a 2012 NIH report that found that only 20% of recent life sciences Ph.D.’s go on to become faculty members1. That means that 80% of recent life sciences Ph.D.’s took the “alternative” path. It seems like the academic path could now be viewed as the alternative to the mainstream, but somehow there’s an underlying stigma associated with straying from a path which few can travel down successfully.

Continue reading “Why Hasn’t the “Alternative” Become Mainstream?”

BioTech Scientists through a Different Lens

When I was in grad school and pictured what a role in industry would look like, the first thing that came to my mind was a Research and Development (R&D) Scientist. My life as a grad student and as a postdoc revolved around benchwork, so that must be the case in industry too, right?

It really wasn’t until I started working at Promega that this image of a scientist in industry was completely turned upside down (in a good way). Here are some roles that a scientist can assume at Promega: Senior Scientist, Research Scientist, R&D Group Leader, Production Scientist, Technical Services Scientist, Product Manager, Strategic Marketing Manager, Client Support Specialist, Client Support Consultant, Clinical Technical Consultant, Field Support Scientist, Applications Scientist, Scientific Instructional Designer. The list can probably go on for a while, but it makes the point that there are a variety of interesting positions for scientists in the biotech industry.
Continue reading “BioTech Scientists through a Different Lens”

Sitting on the Moon

Today’s blog is from BTCI Instructor and guest blogger Jackie Mosher.

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars. —Norman Vincent Peale

mosher_a_editThis motivational quote has echoed throughout my life from childhood.  It has inspired me to be fearless in dreaming, to be ambitious and to reach for those goals without fearing failure. So, naturally at the ripe age of 10, my goal was to become a scientist and discover a cure to both AIDS and cancer with a secondary plan of becoming this nation’s first female President. However, as I grew older, I realized my genuine interest and excitement for science and that I enjoyed not only learning about various scientific concepts but also sharing this information with others. Therefore, I completed a Bachelor’s of Science degree with a major in Molecular Biology and minor in Chemistry and decided to continue my studies as a graduate student at UW-Madison in the Cancer Biology graduate program.  My goal was to graduate and aid in disseminating scientific knowledge.

Why teach and not become a scientist? 

Continue reading “Sitting on the Moon”

Five Interview Responses Recruiters Can See Right Through

20708189_lRecruiters aren’t pessimists, but throughout the years we have become more cautious and maybe a little suspicious. Many of us interviewed enough candidates that we have come to approach each new person with a “trust but verify” mentality. I’m very trusting in my personal life, but at work, my job is to be a detective. I follow clues to dig up the good, the bad, and the ugly.

During a recent talk with fellow recruiters, we realized there are some things many candidates say that perk up our sleuth ears every single time. These answers may be coming from a truthful and benign place, but they raise suspicions in any good recruiter. The average candidate has no idea what other candidates are saying, so I’m here to share. Recruiters hear these answers often and, take it from us, you’ll come off better in your interview if you avoid them. Continue reading “Five Interview Responses Recruiters Can See Right Through”

In the Moment with Promega Software Designer, Dave Romanin

26062334-portrait-WEBWhen Dave Romanin came to work for Promega he was fresh out of school with a degree in bacteriology. His plan was to work for a year in manufacturing and then go back to graduate school. But in the end, he didn’t go. There was no incentive, he explains, for him to spend five years in graduate school making little to no money. He didn’t want to write grants or run his own lab, and he enjoyed what he was doing.

Twenty‐four years later, Dave is still here. He’s moved around a bit, first manufacturing, then dispensing, kit packaging and then on to software development with Lou Mezei. Their first software project was a quality control software to capture data from the scales weighing bottles to ensure they were filled correctly. His experience in manufacturing helped him understand what the program needed to do and helped him define the specifications for the software for the programmer. He has been designing software for the last 10 years, and has worked on projects for everyone from marketing to manufacturing.

He describes his job, in part, as a game of cat and mouse. Dave spends hours testing the software, trying to find the weaknesses the developer didn’t anticipate—in essence, trying to break it. When he finds something that throws the software off or causes it to crash, he and the programmer decide on the next steps. Sometimes it is an easy fix, and sometimes they have to decide if it is worth what it would take to fix it. Would a user be likely to ever do what Dave did? Continue reading “In the Moment with Promega Software Designer, Dave Romanin”

Finding Space for Passion: Interview with Promega Quality Assurance Scientist, Matt Hanson

QA Senior Scientist Matt Hanson
QA Senior Scientist Matt Hanson

When he was a kid, Matt Hanson would disappear into the basement for an entire day and emerge later with a completed model of the USS Constitution or a completed robot or a new rocket (he still makes model rockets). Design and how things fit together have always fascinated him, so a career in science was a natural fit as well.

Today Matt is a Quality Control Supervisor/QA Senior Scientist at Promega Corporation at the Madison, WI, USA, campus. He has been with Promega for 5 years now.

After completing his undergraduate studies in molecular biology, a masters in zoology where he focused on cell biology, and a PhD in developmental biology and immunology, Matt was fortunate to pursue a successful and rewarding career as an Associate Staff Scientist in the Department of Surgery at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His work focused on diabetes and transplantation biology.

So why did Matt join the scientific staff at Promega?

Continue reading “Finding Space for Passion: Interview with Promega Quality Assurance Scientist, Matt Hanson”

Welcome to Your Biotechnology Field Trip at the BTC Institute!

BTCI provides our students an opportunity that they could never get in the classroom.
—Jim Geoffrey, Biology Teacher, Kaukauna High School

Kaukauna High School students arrive at the BTC for a biotechnology fieldtrip.
Kaukauna High School students arrive at the BTC for a biotechnology fieldtrip.

Your bus has arrived and parked in the circular driveway at the front of the BioPharmaceutical Technology Center on the Promega Corporation campus in Fitchburg, WI. Your BTC Institute hosts – and instructors – for your field trip are Barbara Bielec (K-12 Program Director) and Ryan Olson (Biotechnology Instructor). They’ll greet you in the Atrium and direct you to a conference room where you can leave coats and backpacks, and then to the lab you’ll be working in during your visit.

Here’s a taste of what happened next for students from Random Lake High School and Wonewoc High School on December 3rd, and from Kaukauna High School on December 4th.

Continue reading “Welcome to Your Biotechnology Field Trip at the BTC Institute!”

NO! I CAN do that.

FemaleWhiteLab-AAES001042Today’s blog is written by guest blogger Jessica Laux, a production scientist at Promega Corporation. Jessica spends most of her time in clean rooms. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a B.S. in Natural Science-Animal Sciences.

I was always a very stubborn, defiant child. This is evidenced by the fact that my very first word was “NO!”, which I screamed at the top of my lungs after I had been scolded for pulling all the pots and pans out of the kitchen cupboards. Years later, I still scream “NO!” at times, though I’ve refrained from making a mess of the kitchen lately. That same defiant spirit contributed a great deal to my chosen career.

At a ripe age of ten, I determined I was destined to become a great doctor. My preparation for this career involved writing morbid stories where I brought the dead back to life, as well as poring over the pages of a medical diagnostic book I had claimed as mine. I was not deterred by my inability to understand the big words. I was still able to draw the detailed human anatomy and skeletons with an impressive precision. A couple years later, an adult whom I trusted told me that science and medicine were fields for men only. This same person encouraged me to pursue my artistic talents instead. Continue reading “NO! I CAN do that.”

Tell Me Your Story

interviewNext time you have a job interview, try not to think of it as a question and answer session, but instead think of it as an opportunity to tell your story. Boring questions tend to lead to boring answers, so that’s what recruiters and hiring managers often get. Before reciting a canned answer to the question “How would you describe your leadership style?” or “What is your greatest strength?”, take a step back and come up with a story to explain your answer. You’ll come across as more charming, a great communicator and the interviewer will get a chance to know you better. Continue reading “Tell Me Your Story”