A Year in the Life of a Product Scientist

30^th August 2023 | Author: Joshua Lea

I thought I would do something different with this blog post and take you through a year in the life of a Product Scientist. I recently celebrated my first work anniversary here at Oxford Instruments which has given me the opportunity to reflect on what I have been up to so far.

Now September is, for a lot of people, a month of significant change. Millions will be embarking on exciting new challenges, including the first steps in their university career. My first moments at university are now a decade ago, and those 10 long years have brought me to this very point, writing this blog. But let us rewind just one year, to when I am fresh out of my post-doctoral role and diving headfirst into the commercial world.

My First Steps as an Oxford Instruments Product Scientist

Unsurprisingly, the move from university to industry was very much a shock to the system, as the two environments have such stark contrasts; I had a very steep learning curve to climb. My cumulative time spent at an electron microscope by this point was around 40 minutes. Accelerating voltages and beam currents were phrases I would have associated with some kind of science fiction so time in the lab was all about input and learning. Thankfully, I got there and now using an SEM is like riding a bike.

Left: Me pictured with our RISE-Gemini460 system. Right: A picture of the Ulm Minster, Germany

My first real assignment was assisting with the installation of the WITec alpha300 R demo system. For me, this was a very exciting time, as it was my first real opportunity to get hands-on with a the WITec Raman microscope. I’ve always enjoyed putting things together and to me this is a fun core memory from the early days of my Oxford Instruments career. It’s very hard not to enjoy beaming lasers across a room.

The next exciting adventure soon followed, as I was packing my bags and making my way to Heathrow. Every year, in the last week of September, WITec hold a Raman symposium in their home city of Ulm in Germany (This year it is on 25^th-27^th of September and you can find details here!). This was my first chance to meet my WITec colleagues and see how WITec microscopes are used by customers. Conveniently, I had the weekend to explore the city and sample some of the culinary delights on offer. Definitely a perk of the job!

Working with RISE

The fun didn’t stop there. After returning from Ulm, we took delivery of our new Zeiss Gemini460 and our RISE (Raman Imaging and Scanning Electron) microscope. An incredible feat of technology for comprehensive materials analysis, and I was getting the keys to drive it. I really enjoy introducing Raman microscopy to new users and helping them apply it to whatever it is they were working on. My role is now to do exactly that but with users of our NanoAnalysis equipment.

What soon followed was interacting directly with customers; specifically, my first demo. The purpose of a demonstration is to give an insight into how our products are used and where they would benefit a prospective customer’s research or workflow. The idea of providing a customer demo did bring about a feeling of apprehension. My imagination was running wild with all the things that could go wrong and knowing there is always a very observant salesperson watching. Fortunately, when the time came for me to give my first demo, I was blessed. Nothing went wrong, the customer was happy and overall, and it was a very enjoyable experience. I wish all of them were like that.

Strictly Classified

Before long, spring arrived, and attention turned to the up-and-coming conference season. There was this buzz of activity with the word “Unity” being muttered a lot. All very secretive. Everything became clear when this was revealed to be the final developments of bringing our new BEX imaging detector, Unity, to market. My role in the Product Science team landed me right in the action with discussions of how we would go about showing the world what Unity could do. It was truly an exciting time, and I feel incredibly privileged to have played a part in it – even if it was a tiny little percentage!

On the Road

I mentioned conference season, this was something that I was very much looking forward to. Unfortunately for me, the business end of my PhD coincided with a certain global pandemic. This meant I missed out on travelling to conferences and talking science. It wasn’t long before my role would correct this. First up was the Microscience Microscopy Congress in Manchester. This was my first chance to stand on a booth and engage with many interesting researchers about RISE and Raman spectroscopy. The next trip was just a little bit further away, to the Microscopy & MicroAnalysis conference, this time in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Here, I had the pleasure of working with our American colleagues, and I was able to present RISE to a host of American SEM users. It was not all business though, I had the opportunity to immerse myself in some of the American culture, culminating in grabbing a hot dog and watching a baseball game.

Left: A panorama of Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins. Right: The Oxford Instruments team at M&M 2023

Some Reflection

Now come to the present day. This last year has provided me with a wealth of opportunity to grow and develop both myself and my abilities. I have met so many wonderful people who have fantastic stories to tell and travelled to places that I would never have seen all because of this role. It has been a rollercoaster of a ride and I cannot wait to see what the next 12 months brings. 

Keep an eye out for my upcoming tutorial: Introduction to Raman in an SEM world

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