my financial

Since graduating in May 2012 with a degree in chemistry, Engel has worked at several part-time jobs, including substitute teaching, running an a cappella workshop at an elementary school in Arlington, Mass., and teaching music in Nicaragua, but hasn’t had much luck landing a full-time position. Influenced by Binyomin Abrams, a College of Arts & Sciences senior lecturer in chemistry, his long-term goal is to teach high school chemistry. 

Currently in the process of applying to graduate schools, Engel estimates he’s applied for dozens of positions across the country in a variety of fields—chemistry, computer science (his minor at BU), music. “It’s been really frustrating, receiving rejections from some places or having my applications ignored,” he says. 

Stewart told Engel he had studied chemistry himself during his first two years of college before switching to psychology. “He said he changed because in chemistry they want the right answer, but in psychology they just want an answer,” Engel says. “Stewart then asked me why I haven’t found a job teaching chemistry yet, saying he was sure there were people looking for a young teacher who’s passionate. Normally his responses to these questions are really short, but we had a dialogue going.” 

Soon after the show’s taping got under way, Stewart made a plea on his behalf in front of millions of viewers, catching Engel by surprise. 

“If your school is currently looking for a chemistry teacher, I want you to call us,” Stewart said to the camera, as he opened Monday night’s show. “I got a guy over here, Boston University, seems smart—could have shaved. He’s a chemistry major, he’s looking for a job teaching chemistry…so if you need a chemistry teacher, contact us, and I will finally get this [expletive] kid out of his parents’ house. That’s what I’m going to do.”

You can watch the first segment here (after the ad, it's basically less than a minute into the show.) Best of luck to Mr. Engel -- and, no, you're not alone by any means. Best wishes to you, and to all of us. 

From the American Chemistry Council (the chemistry industry's lobbying group), a comment on the latest readings from the Chemical Activity Barometer. This measures economic activity in the chemical manufacturing sector, which they believe has forecasting ability for the overall economy (emphasis mine):

The first Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB) reading of 2014 strengthened slightly, pointing to continued growth and an improving U.S. economy throughout 2014. The barometer in January ticked up to 94.0, increasing 0.2 points over December on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This marks the ninth consecutive monthly gain for the CAB, which is now up 2.6 percent over a year ago. This growth is at a more moderate pace since the 0.4 percent gain last seen in September of 2013. The Chemical Activity Barometer is an established leading economic indicator, shown to lead U.S. business cycles by an average of eight months at cycle peaks, and four months at cycle troughs. 

“Slow and steady isn’t a bad thing when you consider the alternative,” said Kevin Swift, chief economist at the American Chemistry Council. “This recovery seems to lag compare to previous post-recession recoveries, but overall the fundamentals remain strong, including the ongoing expansion in chemistries related to construction and consumer-related resins, as well as light vehicle sales,” he added. Pointing to a particularly bright spot, Swift noted that there have been strong gains of late in electronic chemicals, food additives, foundry chemicals, lubricant and paint additives, mining chemicals, and printing ink.   

Overall results in the four primary components of the CAB were mixed, with production and inventories up, product/selling prices flat, and a drop in equity prices....

Read more here. 

Rejoice! See Arr Oh has found a new position; he writes up his job search by the numbers. Worth a read, in terms of an early-career Ph.D. chemist looking for a position.

Another great analysis of STEM jobs statistics by Beth Haas (love that SHTEM acronym) and some personal thoughts on job searching. 

This past week, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America held a "STEM Saves Lives" event (don't click on the link until you want an autoplay of the video to start) in conjunction with U.S. News and World Report. It was held to flog a new report from Battelle on what pharmaceutical companies are doing in terms of STEM education. The report is pretty mundane, with very little new substantive information (despite what USNWR's Brian Kelly has to say about it.) The real core of the report is that PhRMA members are donating time and money to STEM education. Here's my summary of the report:

• America needs STEM! There are lots of STEM jobs! 
• America sucks at STEM education. 
• Pharma knows this! 
• Pharma is sending its people and spending its money into the classrooms to Get! Kids! Excited! about STEM. 

Beryl Benderly: Hi, I'm Beryl Benderly of Science Careers of Science Magazine. There have been very large layoffs in the pharmaceutical industry in recent years and many highly-skilled scientists and mid-level technical people are no longer with the pharmaceutical companies and many of them are no longer in those fields because they can't find work. That's seems... somewhat at variance with an idea that there's a skills gap? or a shortage of skilled people. Please explain.

An Idea For Unemployed Chemists 

Have you ever wondered why chemical engineers fresh out of school, or at any level for that matter, are offered higher salaries than chemists? Or, why is unemployment for chemists a more likely circumstance than it is for chemical engineers? Both majors take the same organic and physical chemistry classes. We all love the beautiful science of chemistry, so why this startling difference? 

Linda Wang’s recent article, “Hired … for Now,” highlights eight career-related benefits from the American Chemical Society to aid unemployed members (C&EN, Dec. 2, 2013, page 33). Here’s another: Any students majoring in chemistry as well as any unemployed chemists would find their career enhanced by even a brief exposure to chemical engineering. 

For an introduction to chemical engineering, chemists at any level should consider enrolling in two gatekeeper courses in the chemical engineering curriculum: “Material Balances” and “Energy Balances.” No need to fret about that great demon for many nonengineering students—math—for in these two courses the most advanced math required is arithmetic. Rather, what is required is detailed analytical thinking and practice in application to many different sorts of problems. Consider this one: Your car runs on gasoline with 10% excess air having a relative humidity of 30%. Calculate the quantitative analysis of the exhaust from the tailpipe. 

One can easily imagine all sorts of similar complex problems to solve. They seem trivial in principle, but they are tedious in practice. So be prepared. Chemical engineering courses are hard—no auditing. After this taste, one might try a course that covers thermodynamics or perhaps heat transfer. But now advanced math becomes essential. 

Henry McGee
Richmond, Va.

Personally, I would attribute the higher salaries and lower unemployment of chemical engineers to the fact that it's a smaller, more specialized field, with higher barriers to entry in terms of schooling (harder to set up a College of Engineering than a College of Science, probably, and there are likely fewer of them) and licensing requirements for chemical engineers. But that's my Economics 101 view of the world, and I'm probably missing something.

[Fans of logical fallacies -- is Dr. McGee's "any unemployed chemists would find their career enhanced..." statement an example of "question begging"? I don't think so, but I can't find the correct logical fallacy.]

I find it amusing that Professor McGee believes that it is the higher amounts of mathematical training that results in chemical engineering being more remunerative. Well, maybe; it certainly results in yet another barrier-to-entry for non-mathematically inclined folks. But somehow I think there are other factors in play. 

Lots of worthwhile reading in this week's C&EN:

• Lisa Jarvis' write up of the FDA-approved drugs of 2013 -- lots of fun structures there. 
• Railcars of crude oil are beginning to get voluntary restrictions on travel from the rail industry -- that tells me that safety regulators can't be far behind... (by Glenn Hess)
• This lab inventory/ordering management software is a really interesting idea. (by Rick Mullin)
• I liked reading this article by Stephen Ritter on microwaves in organic synthesis; the Dudley versus Kappe debate is covered in a fair bit of detail. 
• Glenn Hess and Andrea Widener note in the 2014 Congressional Outlook this little tidbit: "Observers say this year Boehner might introduce a series of bills from broadly popular parts of the Senate’s proposal. Among the possibilities is legislation to make it easier for companies to hire temporary science, technology, mathematics, and engineering (STEM) workers from overseas and make it easier for U.S.-educated STEM workers to stay in the country after graduation." Oh, goody.

It happens, right? Right? 

Is that your final, final answer?

Let's say that it's December 13, 2013, you're going to be a new graduate in chemistry and you have an offer from Company A to start on March 17, 2014. You accept that offer gratefully; you've accepted no money for relocation. Let's even say that you've signed something saying that you've accepted the offer (but again, no money has changed hands.) Presumably, Company A has begun to set aside a desk for you, and they're expecting you to show up. You're pleased as punch to be working at Company A, since it will mean that you will not be unemployed. 

From a friend's Twitter feed. I guess those were the wrong kind of STEM jobs.

(That #STEMsaveslives events was livestreamed here. I find it terribly, horribly, absolutely ironic that it's the CEO of Lilly, the company that's been laying off chemists and then rehiring them as lower-paid contractors, that's telling us about the STEM crisis in the US.) 

Huffington Post is doing its absolute best to troll on the West Virginia/Freedom Industries disaster with this headline:

Good morning! Between January 16 and January 20, there have been 91 positions posted on C&EN Jobs. Of these, 42 (46%) are academically connected and 23 (25%) are from Kelly Scientific Resources.

Groton, CT: Pfizer is hiring entry-level Ph.D. chemists (no academic experience required!) for process chemistry. This is part of 6 positions that they've posted, from senior associate level up to research fellow level.

Bermuda: Anyone want to be a chemistry teacher in Bermuda? Might sound nice; B.S./M.S. in chemistry required.

Brevard, NC: PharmAgra is looking for B.S., M.S.,  and Ph.D. organic chemists. "APPLICANT MUST BE AVAILABLE TO START WORK WITHIN 2 WEEKS OF OFFER."

Carlsbad, CA: Verdezyne Inc. is looking for a B.S.-level process development chemist with 2 to 5 years of experience; looks like industrial biotechnology on pilot-plant scale. Lotsa fun, I'll bet. 65-75k? Not too shabby.

Columbus, OH: Roxane Laboratories is hiring a B.S./M.S. formulations chemist to work on solid dosage forms.

Washington, DC: Just in case you thought that there weren't irrelevant private sector positions on C&EN Jobs, anyone here an architect? Anyone?

Good morning! Typically, this is the space where I would tell you about how many positions there are between January 14 and January 20, but recently, this become too difficult. I'll tell you why:

There's something wrong with C&EN Jobs: All of a sudden, around the beginning of the year, more and more irrelevant academic job postings have been showing up on the site. It's become obvious that no one is curating the job listings. There's been a rather ridiculous jumble of positions that I can't keep track of which assistant professorships are relevant and which ones (like this clinical chemistry position that requires an M.D. or this neurosciences faculty position) are completely irrelevant. Harper College has (for some reason) reposted its "Dean of Mathematics and Science" position 4 times. How about this UCLA position for the Director of Gift Planning? Anyone here at C&EN Jobs have a Ph.D. in physics? You could become a lecturer in Space Science at Santa Clara University!

If this continues, I will begin sorting the positions out by hand. The statistical nature of this blog feature (believe it or not, even if I haven't published my tallies yet) are important to me; it is frustrating to me that this is happening. How am I supposed to categorize these 44 positions posted by Stanford University, most of which are social science or biomedical laboratory positions? I could wade through each one by hand and categorize them as "staff", but at the moment, I am tempted to throw up my hands in frustration.)

When I talk to chemists who are looking for work, I continually say that C&EN Jobs is the best place online to look for positions -- I'd sure like to continue to be able to say that.

OK, I'm done ranting. On to the relevant positions:

Romeoville, IL: Lewis University is searching for an assistant professor of inorganic chemistry.

Boston, MA: Brandeis is looking for an organic chemistry lecturer.

New York, NY: CUNY - Hunter College is also looking for an organic chemistry lecturer - 45k-54k. (Hmmm.)

Platteville, WI: Also, the University of Wisconsin - Platteville is an assistant professor of inorganic chemistry.

Bemidji, MN: Bemidji State is looking for an assistant or associate professor of medicinal chemistry.

Innnnteresting: Recall that post about Delaware's new preceptors? Here's an assistant professor in "chemistry or biochemistry instruction" position that's not tenure-track. (It's titled "continuing"; hard to know what that means...)

Hong Kong: Two positions for organic/organometallic chemists at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. 

Go over there and check it out -- a really stark representation of how computer technology is really where the employment (and the employment growth!) is.

In case you'd like to read further, here's the links to the Census Bureau reports she references. 

At Delaware, preceptors are skilled scientists who work alongside the professors and teaching assistants. They are full-time staff members, not adjuncts, who work closely with students and mentor teaching assistants (TAs).... What preceptors don’t do is grade students. That task is left to the professors and TAs. Weir likens his relationship to students to that of a “friendly uncle you can come to with problems and who isn’t going to punish you for doing things wrong.” The arrangement allows students to have an interaction with a professional that “doesn’t have to be threatened by an assessment and the outcome of that assessment,” says Alenka Hlousek-Radojcic, a biology professor involved in the program.

Of course, who gets hired to be preceptors? (emphasis mine)

The success that they’ve already had wouldn’t have been possible without the university’s strong team of preceptors. Five of the six preceptors (five for the integrated biology/chemistry curriculum plus one who works with a more physics-related class) are Ph.D.-level scientists, some of whom also have postdoctoral experience. The sixth has a master’s degree. 

Baillie attributes the strong team in part to the weak job market. “The talent pool we had to draw from was fantastic,” he says. “We have a team basically of five extra professors who are helping with this course.” 

Jungck and Baillie both hope to help the preceptors meet their larger career goals. “If this is a stepping-stone they’re using on the path to something else, my goal is to make sure that they have as much experience as possible with different aspects of teaching so they can use these experiences to be better teachers,” Baillie says. 

Martin plans to stick around, at least for now. “I really enjoy teaching,” she says. “This puts me in a situation where I’m in constant interaction with students,” she adds. “I work every day with small groups of students over and over again. It’s the kind of teaching I prefer.” Martin, who currently has a master’s degree, assumes that she’ll eventually go back for her Ph.D. “I would like to stay on board to see the program continue to go through paces and improve,” she says. “I know it’s going to take a few years for that to happen.” 

Weir hopes to be able to find a position as a professor. “I came from a postdoc that was a pure research position,” he says. “I missed teaching. This is not a permanent career move for me. It’s a step back toward where I want to be eventually.” But he’s glad that he has had this experience. “I’ve learned a lot about teaching. I’ve been able to put a lot of things that I’ve been thinking about into more concrete terms. It is temporary, but to me it’s also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. How often do you get to help design a new program from the bottom up?” 

One thing that I admire about this Delaware program is that the preceptors are full-time staff, which indicates a commitment on the part of Delaware to making this novel teaching concept work. I am also glad that the professors that work with the program recognize that their strong applicant pool comes from the relatively poor job market. It will be very interesting to see where these preceptors end up with respect to their long-term careers. Best wishes to them. 

In this week's C&EN, a worthwhile article from Jean-François Tremblay on the Indian pharmaceutical industry and how it is doing. It's worth watching the two-minute video that he was able to shoot at the Cipla plant. To me, it looks like a fairly typical API plant (I note that I've not been to very many.)

However, in his article, a very incongruent picture:


It took me about 10 minutes to figure out why this picture looks instantly weird to me. Here it is:

• The operator is wearing an apron instead of a fire-resistant Nomex suit. 
• The "green gloves" are usually used to handle product, but there's no product in sight. 
• He's wearing a half-face respirator, but again, no product in sight. 
• The apron is an interesting choice -- I don't normally see those in pictures of plant operators. 
• Finally (and most incongruous to me), where's his hard hat? 

Thanks to a very intrepid reader in the Charleston area, you are privy to the first of many (well-deserved, to be honest) lawsuits against Freedom Industries, the company whose leaking tank disrupted lives for thousands/millions of people in West Virginia. Amusingly, the lawyer appears to believe that 4-methylcyclohexylmethanol is made of methylcyclohexane and methanol. (page 9) Below is my annotated comments on his assertions:
Ultimately, this lawsuit doesn't matter. Freedom Industries will be hounded into bankruptcy for their negligence and their failure to respond adequately. Sad for those who will lose their positions through no fault of their own.

UPDATE: That didn't take long. The Wall Street Journal reports Freedom Industries has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. 

A reminder about the Small Chemical Business Pitch/Investment competition:

From the New York Fed, a very interesting paper on the difficulties of new college graduates in finding positions. Their conclusions:

Five years ago today, Sherharbano (Sheri) Sangji died of her injuries sustained while running a reaction with tert-butyl lithium in the laboratory of Professor Patrick Harran at UCLA. My thoughts are with her friends and her family.

What is going on over there? Why are we looking for PTSD specialists? And university funding development directors? Psychology instructors? 

Good morning! Between January 14 and January 15, there were 71 new positions posted on the C&EN Jobs website. Of these, 39 (55%) were academically connected and 16 (23%) were from Kelly Scientific Resources.

We've discovered Bill Nye at my home recently; this video on chemical reactions (23 minutes long, I note) is eminently watchable and frequently requested. He and his team of kids manage to teach a bunch of simple facts, including that:

• Everything is made of chemicals. 
• Chemicals react to create new chemicals. 
• Some of the reactions are energetic, some of them are not. 

After this quote about Roger Perlmutter's direct reports 'betting their jobs' and then yesterday's gem (covered here by Derek Lowe) about Merck needing to lay off chemists in order to hire more biologists, I was beginning to think that Forbes reporter Matthew Herper has some sort of magic mind ray that makes Perlmutter and other sources start spilling their guts unwisely.

On Oct. 24, 2013, Harran’s attorneys filed a “petition for writ of mandate, prohibition, or other appropriate relief” with the California Court of Appeal. The petition covers similar territory as the demurrer motion from last August: The defense argues that UC was the employer and Harran merely a supervisor.... 

So far, the Court of Appeal has not done anything with the petition. Until it does, the case cannot proceed.

To get the legal language full-blast, click here. This case just keeps going and going and going. 

I recently purchased a copy of Derek Walker's "The Management of Chemical Process Development in the Pharmaceutical Industry." Lots of good stuff in there (including some really wild speculation in the back about the economy and such). But, in the middle, lots of good lessons on process development and fun anecdotes about life in pharmaceutical companies in the 1980s and 1990s. Here's a good one about sourcing a new fermentation starting material for a process to generate penicillin G:

Despite the turbulence encountered in all process improvement and process development work, there were the occasional triumphs of applied common sense. One of considerable social as well as economic consequence, occurring in the manufacture of penicillin G, resulted from the Ulverston process improvement attending the switch from buying solid phenylacetic acid to purchasing an aqueous solution containing 50% sodium phenylacetate. In using the solid, our factory workers weighted the required amount of phenylacetic acid and then dissolved it in aqueous sodium hydroxide to produce the aqueous solution used for feeding the penicillin fermenters. 

The handling of solid phenylacetic acid had created problems for many years, both for the Ulverston factor and for our vendor, Albright and Wilson (A&W). Solid phenylacetic acid introuced an obnoxious, pervasive, sweaty aroma to the penicillin G buildings and the workers' clothes and homes in Ulverston. The odors in Ulverston and surrounding communities were, however, almost trivial besides those encountered by the A&W workers. 

Keith Partridge, Sales and Marketing Manager for A & W during my time at Ulverston (1966-1975), recounted the privations of process operators manufacturing phenylacetic acid in A&W's Ann Street works in Widnes. They were paid a "social bonus" for working in the plant. Keith said you could walk down the street where they lived and identify their houses by the smell!! No one would sit in their seats at the local public house -- even their beer glasses were segregated!! The ultimate indignity occurred, when Vernons, the football pool company, asked one worker not to send in his weekly pool coupon because of odor complaints from the clerks who processed it!!!  

The common sense use of the 50% aqueous solution of phenylacetic acid virtually eliminated the handling of solid material, though it took some time and a few plant trials to convince the production managers that there was nothing else int he A&W aqueous solution which might have an adverse effect on the penicillin G titer.  

I definitely sympathize with the production managers here: "Yes, this stuff stinks, but it works, it keeps our quotas up, and we're still getting paid. We go to this liquid stuff, it doesn't stink as much, but if we screw up, we blow two or three batches and we're behind for the year." It must have felt like a real risk in making the switch, even if the chemistry made a lot of sense.

That said, you wouldn't see me volunteering to take shifts in a phenylacetic acid plant.