On March 17th, 2014, biology and chemistry students embarked on a trip to Genzyme located in Cambridge, MA.  Students participated in a questions and answers session held by an alum of the institution and employee of Genzyme. It was an incredible opportunity for students to find out more information on how they could break into the field of biotechnology, which continues to grow larger each year.

Genzyme was founded in 1981 in Boston and has evolved from a tiny start-up with just a handful of employees to one of the world's leading biotech companies.  Acquired by Sanofi in 2011, Genzyme now benefits from the reach and resources of one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. They have long been known for their expertise in rare genetic diseases and they have also expanded to other disease areas such as thyroid cancer and multiple sclerosis.

The tour of the facility was a great way to students to see where their science degree from Salem State could take them. After the tour, students felt like having the opportunity to view a research lab was a great way to connect their classroom experience to real world setting.

On Monday, March 3rd, 2014, Salem State University biology students took part in a field trip to the Broad Institute in Cambridge MA.  The Broad Institute is a genomic and biomedical research center which is affiliated with MIT and Harvard University.  It's areas of focus include the Human Genome Project, research in cancer, inherited disease, and infectious diseases. 

Salem State students arrived at the Broad Institute around 1:30 pm. Our tour guide, Matt, introduced us to the building that was home to Budweiser ten years earlier.   The tour comprised of various rooms with complex machines that take on small projects like clinical treatments as well as large projects like the Human Genome.

After the tour, many students attended the “Ask an Alum” event at Gulu Gulu café in Salem. Alums from the SSU biology department gave some great advice to current students about how to get into the science industry. They spoke about the challenges and frustrations of job hunting as well as the importance of internships to gain valuable experience in the field.

Being a Computer Science Department Faculty, I was interested in taking my students for site visits, for a more real world experience. It's interesting that when I was thinking about this that the associate director of employer relations, Angelique Kim, contacted me regarding discussing about Computer Science department and I happened to ask her regarding the field trips. She quickly responded and we ended up taking my Computer Science introduction course students to Microsoft's Research Center in Cambridge, MA. Students had a great fun and learning experience during this trip. Thanks to Employer Relations at SSU and to Angelique Kim. 

Location: PCI Synthesis, Newburyport, Massachusetts

Participants: 15 students from the STEM programs and the employer relations graduate assistant

Career services partners with academic departments to make connections for students with employers in their field of interest. We engage employers in a variety of programs to make those connections and give students an inside perspective and to expose them to opportunities. One of these programs is student tours, which takes groups of students to a facility.

On Monday, April 6, 2015, a group of students visited PCI Synthesis’ headquarters and facility in Newburyport, Massachusetts as part of the STEM Tour Program. PCI Synthesis specializes in the chemical manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API). In the first half of the tour, the students walked around the main production area wearing hard hats and safety goggles and viewed the manually controlled reactors, while the tour guide Matt explained the purpose and process of the reactors. The tour continued to the warehouse, which is the quality control (QC) holding area for their finished products. In the warehouse, Matt explained the high standards that are required for passing before the product is shipped.

The students also went into the QC Laboratory, where the second tour guide Glenn explained the equipment and materials that assist the analysts make about 50 products per year with 1,000 different methods. Glenn stressed the importance in communication with his QC colleagues due to the complexity of making batches of the products, which is why there is an hour overlap in shifts.

At the end of the tour, President and CEO of PCI Synthesis Edward Price greeted the students and personally thanked them all for coming to visit. Price gave additional information about the company and highlighted entry level positions and internship opportunities.

By touring PCI Synthesis, students were able to visualize how the work that they do in their courses and labs translate to future career paths. One student noted:

 “The PCI Synthesis tour was amazing! It was very helpful to visit a company which works in the field that I am interested in. In addition, it was great to hear about the different opportunities that they offer entry level graduate students, as well as the available opportunities for undergraduate students. I am sure that this event has also provided some of the graduating students with an employment opportunity. I really liked how the CEO of PCI Synthesis met with us and answered all of our questions.”

To learn more about PCI Synthesis, visit their website by clicking here.

Career services facilitates student tours throughout the year.  Check out CSO for details.