Hi, I am Cameron, I am fifteen, and I am here at Asynt on work experience – here is my secret diary of my time as an Asynt Infiltrator!
On Monday I helped out around the office. I was involved in the accounting and making boxes (so if you receive an under payment or some broken equipment you know who to blame!), I also just generally helped out around the office. This admittedly was not the most exciting part of my week but I still think that I learned some key business skills.
On Tuesday I made a trip to Bath University. There we tested out a new Flow Chemistry method. We took along a special new pump which, once attached to the rest of the equipment, allowed for a perfectly smooth, pulse-less flow. This meant homogenous crystals could be made. I found this part of the week very interesting and I found that it reinforced the fact that I would like to work doing some sort of science research.
On Wednesday I went to GlaxoSmithKline in Stevenage. Here I went to several sales meetings and learned about sales and commercial research. I found out a bit about how large pharmaceutical companies. I found that there was a contrast between commercial and University scientific research. Personally, from what I have experienced I think I would prefer to work in a University where you tend to have more freedom to research.
On Thursday I visited Cambridge University to deliver some flow chemistry equipment to be given a trial run. I learned more about research, helped to set the equipment shown below and, most importantly I had a tasty lunch! Later on that day I helped with deliveries back in the office.
On Friday I spent most of the day with the Asynt engineers, helping with 3D designing on the computer. Here I also learned about the manufacturing of science equipment: for example the lathe used to make DrySyn. In the afternoon visited some of Asynt’s local suppliers and learned about glass blowing and other fabrications.
Over all I have enjoyed my week, I have found it informative and interesting (most of the time) and I have learned a lot about Asynt and science research.
