Marek Adam Joseph Domin

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Marek Adam Joseph Domin

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Name:

At A Glance

Licensed Body:

RSC

Region:

International

Location:

USA

Job:

Director

Age:

Home:

Chestnut Hill

Works For:

Boston College

Superpower:

I would like to have the power to impart knowledge

Links:

www.bc.edu/schools/cas/chemistry/facilities/mass.html

Big Picture

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was growing up I always knew I wanted to work in science, I just did not know in what area.

Who or what inspired you to become a scientist?

I had very good teachers when I was in secondary school who opened my eyes to the wonderful world of science.

What do you love about your job and being a “scientist”?

I love to see the look of amazement when I run an experiment for a class, which they have never seen before

What would you change?

Would like to see more big pharmaceutical companies donate their surplus equipment to schools, so the kids can have access to analytical instrument at secondary school and not have to wait until college

Education

What qualifications did you take at school?

I took O levels followed by A levels. I then took HNC and HND before my MSc. I also undertook a PhD, transferred from MPhil to PhD but left for a better job before completion

Why did you choose your first degree subject?

My first degree was my MSc, after working for many years I just wanted to learn more, so headed back to school part time

Do you have a Masters or PhD? If not, was it difficult to demonstrate Masters-level equivalence in order to achieve CSci?

Yes

Job

How do you describe your job when you meet people at a party?

I just tell people I’m a scientist, as they don’t seem to know what a mass spectrometrist is

What is ‘cutting-edge’ about your work?

I get to improve and develop new ionization techniques and design new ways to perform samples analysis

Describe some of the highlights of your average day.

Performing an analysis on samples which were unable to be run elsewhere

Describe briefly how your career has progressed to date.

Well after getting into mass spectrometry by accident, I was given an opportunity to work at the School of Pharmacy in London, were I learned my craft. Then after carrying out the rest of my education on a part time bases and changing jobs a few time within Britain (small pharm and other colleges) I went to work in Switzerland and then on to Boston College USA were I currently still work

How is your job cross-disciplinary?

I do a lot of work with chemists, biologist and local hospitals

How well is your job compensated? What is the starting salary for your field, and how much can this be expected to rise?

What is the starting salary for someone in your field, and how much can this be expected to rise? You can expect to start around $57,000 rising to ~$100,000

How do you see your field developing over the next 5-10 years?

With new and improved instrumentation, mass spectrometry will continue to expand and most areas of current applications

What’s the most unexpected thing about your job?

The widely different types of samples I’m asked to analyze

What’s the biggest achievement of your career so far?

Heading back to school to finish my MSc and then undertaking my PhD

Life

Would you say you have a good standard of living/ work-life balance?

I have a great balance between work and home, I start work at 7.30 and finish at 3.30

What do your friends and family think about your job?

With most of my family coming from Poland after the second world war, they did not have the opportunities I had, so they are pleased with my progress

What kind of hobbies or extracurricular activities do you do to relax?

My dad was a builder and I spent much of my childhood, on a building site, were I developed a passion for making furniture, as I use to make bird boxes out of scrap wood- woodworking.

CSci

Why did you choose to apply for CSci and what do you value most about being a Chartered Scientist?

I knew that I wanted to work abroad and not having a PhD I thought it would help in my job search

Advice & Reflection

What words of wisdom would you give someone interested in getting into your field?

Knock on doors and ask around to see if you can get an internship, spend some time working on these instruments as there is a need for good mass spectrometrists

What would you do differently if you were starting out in your career now?

I would obtain all my qualifications first, before going on to look for work. Also obtaining a HNC – HND is also an alternative

What would you like people to remember about your life as a scientist?

Someone people could talk to and ask questions no matter how stupid they think the question is, as there is no such thing as a stupid question

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