November 7, 2017: Dr. T. Ramasami -Science and Policy

Dr. T. Ramasami visited Michigan co-sponsored by the Ford School of Public Policy, the Chemistry Department, the Office of Research, and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies. While at Michigan, he delivered talks at Ford and in Chemistry.

In Chemistry, his talk, “The Joys of Doing Useful Chemistry,” focused on his research projects that have had a direct and applied impact, particularly in India and the rest of the developing world. He spoke at length on his efforts to make leather processing more environmentally friendly, research he explained grew out of his graduate and post-graduate research on cobalt chemistry. Dr. Ramasami also talked some about his work with collagen which aimed to develop treatments for disfiguring burns. Finally, he closed with a discussion on his efforts to expand opportunities for girls and underprivileged groups to engage with science and become scientists. In fact, one of the students in the Chemistry Department received one of the fellowships that Dr. Ramasami founded. The previous day, Dr. Ramasami delivered a talk in Ford titled, “The Role of Science and Technology in Developing Countries.”

Two Michigan alumni, Joel Beatty and Mitch Keylor, came to Ann Arbor to share their experience in pursuing a career in biotech and pharmaceutical industry. Both Joel and Mitch did their dissertation research under the guidance of Prof. Corey Stephenson, and they received their Ph.D. in chemistry from U of M in 2016.

Joel kicked off the seminar by describing his experience working as a researcher at Arcus Biosciences, a new biotech start-up in Hayward, CA. He pointed out that start-up company typically has an aggressive timeline for their projects. That could mean frequent changes in project’s goal and researchers might have to switch between projects at similar pace. However, Joel also mentioned that there is a high transparency practiced by the management team at Arcus Biosciences to explain most strategic decision, which is a good exposure for the team members to gain experience in corporate decision making. In addition, the culture of a start-up company evolves overtime, and small team at start-up helps to cultivate a great sense of ownership of the company. At the end, Joel listed a few things to consider while looking for a job at a biotech, including funding situation and age of a company, which correlate to job security and opportunity to participate at different developmental stages of the company. He also encouraged people to research into the management’s track record and the leadership goals to see if the company is a good fit for them.

For the second part of the seminar, Mitch shared reflections on his experience as a post-doctoral researcher at Novartis in Cambridge, MA. He pointed out that post-doc positions are supposed to be temporary, and they are meant to help to advance the career goals of PhD graduates. Therefore, people should have clear goals in mind before they decided to join an industrial post-doc program, and they need to make sure that the program has a structured training plan as a key component. He advised people to be independent and proactive while they are participating in an industrial post-doc program. They should be pursuing research projects that are in line with their development goals, actively engage with their colleagues, and take advantage of the ample technical support and recourses that are available in industrial labs. Mitch also made a generalized comparison between academic and industrial post-doc. He pointed out that academic post-doc experience is more valuable for a career in academia, and it offers better letter of recommendation and more opportunity for publications. On the other hand, industrial post-doc offers better scientific resources, professional networking opportunity, higher salary, and good work-life balance.

On Friday, November 10, we have a seminar featuring two excellent alumni of our department, Joel Beatty and Mitch Keylor from the Stephenson group. Following receiving their Ph.D., Joel and Mitch joined the research teams at Arcus Biosciences and Novartis respectively.

Noon, Room 1706 CHEM

In this seminar, they will lead a discussion on things to consider for starting a career at a biotech startup or a big pharma.

If you are interested in the event, please sign-up here.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Tay (Jia-Hui) Rosenthal
Rackham Predoctoral Fellow
PhD Candidate (Nagorny Group)

On Behalf of CALCIUM, I would like to invite you to a seminar followed by a discussion presented to you by UM Chemistry Alum Dr. Beth Knapp-Reed from Glaxo-Smith-Kline (GSK) in 1706 on Thursday, the 9th of November from 12 pm to 2 pm.

Beth will share how we can accelerate drug discovery efforts through the implementation of high velocity learning. In her words, this approach involves mapping out and systematically discovering where time and opportunities for learning are lost in work, proposing and quickly testing countermeasures, and sharing the resulting knowledge. Beth also has experience working in the Corporate  Intellectual Property group at GSK for those of you who may be interested in the law/science interface.

Lunch will be provided. Please RSVP by Monday the 6th.

Wes Pein
Second Year PhD Student
Montgomery Lab

I am excited to announce that CALC|UM will be hosting Dr. T. Ramasami in Chemistry on Tue. Nov. 7. Dr. Ramasami is a chemist by training and the former Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology for the Government of India. His visit provides a rare opportunity to interact with a high level science and technology policy practitioner who is also be recognized as an expert by the chemistry community.

Dr. Ramasami will be giving a talk titled “The Joys of Doing Useful Chemistry” which will discuss his chemistry work in the context of how it intersects with the science and technology policy space. The talk will be followed by an hour of Q&A and discussion. Lunch will be provided for those who RSVP.

Date: Tuesday, November 7
Time: 12 pm talk; 1 pm Q&A/discussion
Location: 1706 Chem

Please let me know if you have any questions. Information on Dr. Ramasami’s other talk on campus is below.

–Rachel WallacePhD Candidate | Banaszak Holl Group

Dr. Ramasami will also be giving a talk in the Ford School on Monday, November 6 from 4-5:30 pm in 1120 Weill Hall. The title of his talk is “The Role of Science and Technology Policy in Developing Countries.” A reception will follow the talk.

BASF Site Visit on November 15, 2017

On Wednesday, November 15th, we will have a site visit to BASF in Wyandotte, MI from 8am-2:30pm, and there is a poster session during lunch.

We will need to leave Chemistry before 7am, and should be back around 3:30 pm. The poster size they request (26×40) is smaller than what we usually have during department symposiums.

Also, everyone needs to wear full clothing (close-toed shoes, full arm and leg coverage). They have room for about 15 people, so please sign up early if you would like a spot.

Please sign up here:

Thanks!

Yvonne DePorre
PhD Candidate, Schindler Lab

Patent Law – an alternative career path for science/engineering graduates

Two Michigan alumni came to Ann Arbor to share their experience in pursuing a career in patent law. Aaron Raphael received his B.Sc. in chemistry from U of M and law degree from Emory University. He is now a partner at J. A. Lindeman & Co. Joshua Ney received both his Ph.D. in chemistry and law degree from U of M, and he is currently an associate at Brinks Gilson & Lione. Both speakers appreciate the nature of their job as patent attorney, which allows them to actively engage in chemistry and collaborate with experts in the field, even though they do not work in academia. During the seminar, Josh gave a summary of job responsibilities for different divisions of role within the practice of patent law, namely patent prosecution, patent litigation and patent transaction. Aaron pointed out that patent litigators typically do not spend much time in the court as one would expect. Most of their works are done “behind the scene”, and they can be highly contentious sometime. On the other hand, patent prosecutors mainly correspond with examiners at the patent office to help their clients securing patents for their inventions.

Aaron highlighted a few patent related job opportunities for PhD students in STEM field, including examiner at the USPTO and technical advisor at private law firm. He encouraged people to explore those career options to get a feel of patent law before they commit themselves to go to law school. He also reminded the audience to take full advantage of the strong Michigan alumni network during their job searching process.

On Friday, November 3 at noon in CHEM 1200, CALC|UM + CSIE|UM in collaboration with the UM Career Center will be hosting a workshop on how to effectively create a LinkedIn profile, and how to connect with UM alumni and potential employers.

Please RSVP if you will be attending. Bring a laptop if possible. Food will be provided.

We will have a photographer at the event to take profile pictures if desired, so dress accordingly if you would like to take advantage of this.

We will have other such sessions if demand is high.

On behalf of CALC|UM, I would like to invite you to join us for a seminar on starting a career in patent law with chemistry background. We are pleased to have two alumni of our department to speak at the seminar on Friday, October 20th: Aaron Raphael and Josh Ney.

Come join us for lunch and discussion led by the speakers at 12pm in CHEM 1706. Please RSVP here.

Patent Law – an alternative career path for science/engineering graduates

We will provide our insight into careers in patent law, including those in the public sector as U.S. Patent Examiners and the private sector as patent litigators, prosecutors, and agents.  We will answer some of the following questions:   How did we decide upon a career in patent law? Why did we go to law school? How does undergraduate/graduate school compare with law school? What is the difference between a patent examiner, litigator, prosecutor, and agent? What is our typical day like? What do we find most satisfying and most challenging about patent law?  How can one begin a career in patent law?

Hope to see you!

Tay (Jia-Hui) Rosenthal, host

Becoming a Chemistry Patent Consultant

Asako Kubota, who graduated from University of Michigan in 2012, came to Ann Arbor to share her experience starting a career in intellectual property (IP). Following receiving her Ph.D. in Chemistry (under the guidance of Prof. Melanie Sanford), Asako started her career as a bench chemist at Dow in Indianapolis. She then made a career change and became a patent advisor at Cooley LLC in D.C. In her talk, Asako discussed her day-to-day responsibilities and a few case studies related to patent application which she was able to apply her expertise in chemistry to help her clients to secure patents for their inventions.

Asako cited several benefits of a career in IP, including opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge about the latest technology, flexible work schedule, job security and tuition support for law school. Furthermore, she also identified some job searching strategies and things to look out for while looking for jobs in IP.

“I really appreciated the chance to meet with Asako afterwards, and also her willingness to share direct examples from her work with us, such as using billable hours and the specific ways for how patents can be worded for different and sometimes tricky situations.” – Yvonne Deporre