Cytomics

[niallmacdubhghaill]

Hi,
I am a recently graduated chemical engineer. Im thinking about returning to university to study for a PhD. One of the projects that I have been offered is in cytomics. Can anyone tell me some more about this area, and its potential scope of use.
I would like to know if I am getting into a real engineering area, or into a more lab based analytical area...
Thanks
Niall

 

[MikeHalloran]

I spent a couple decades engineering instruments that are sometimes referred to as cytometers, but I never heard of "cytomics". If I were to guess what someone means by it, just from the word, I'd say it could go either way, between building instruments, or using them. Given that the word also seems pretentious, I'd >guess< that you'd be bored to death, twiddling knobs and binding printouts, and you'd channel your dwindling creative juices into inventing new and important sounding job titles.

OR, I could be wrong. It happens. I've been doing other stuff for most of a decade ... that might tell you all you want to know about the field, too.

Check Monster for "cytomicist" jobs...



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[niallmacdubhghaill]

Thanks Mike,
That was useful to hear-the last thing I want to do is spend 3-4 yrs like that. The way the project has been explained to me (I have a project description) is that we would use cytometric measurement techniques to get "real time" feed back on product yield in order to determine the optimum operating conditions so that you would be able to optimise your process. But what you just described sounds like slow torture-I must be sure and check in more detail with my prospective supervisor about this!!
Thanks again for your help.
Niall

 

[MikeHalloran]

It could easily take 3..4 (interesting) years to develop and start producing a commercial product to ... well, do anything.

That work goes better, faster if some PhD candidate has spent agonizing months or years exploring questions like, "How much Ingredient A do I add in order to produce an increment of Effect B, and at what level are there diminishing returns, toxicity, or risk of explosion?

Well, in a bio- process you're more likely to produce smelly ooze than explosives, which has to take some of the fun out of it.






Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA