Introduction
Biotech Defined
Merriam-webster.com defines Biotechnology as: “the manipulation (as through genetic engineering) of living organisms or their components to produce useful usually commercial products (such as pest resistant crops, new bacterial strains, or novel pharmaceuticals).”
Johns Hopkins Advanced Academic Programs shares how biotechnology is “Biotechnology is fueling advancements in healthcare and beyond.” They continue to share how “biotechnology is about making discoveries that make the world a better place, and about bringing those concepts to life… and into the market.”
Biotech Life Design
For the last 3 years, I have tried to get more experience learning about Biotech as an industry and what I have learned is that it is ever growing in its multidisciplinary approach crossing various industries to get the job done!
Fall 2024, 40 individuals (19 students, 6 HR professionals, 13 industry leaders including 4 JHU alumni, and 2 JHU staff) gathered to explore biotech as an industry at Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research and Thermo Fisher Scientific in Frederick, Maryland.
Below are insights on the importance of centering your purpose, how to get into and thrive, and industry inspiration. Bonus, you can hear more from the students directly at the end.
Importance of Centering Your Purpose
In biotechnology, you have for-profit and not-for-profit entities that may work on behalf of the government to explore areas that the government isn’t able to. As Dr. Ethan Dmitrovsky puts it: “Tackling problems that can’t readily be done by others.”
It is important to explore your why. Whether or not you explore a doctorate degree to do research, having a focused purpose helps towards success.
“If you are hesitant about a Ph.D., then it’s not the time.” ~Colin Paul
With this in mind, finding the right company for you is determined by your why including your goals, purpose and finding organizations that have a shared interests.
How to Get Into Biotech and Thrive?
Some typical majors in the biotechnology industry? Some majors that correlate to biotechnology include: Biomedical Engineering, Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering, Material Sciences, Biology, Neuroscience, Chemistry, Physics, Mech Engineering.
There is a misconception that you have to be a subject matter expert to thrive in an industry. This is true in some sense yet in many instances, any industry has many sectors to help the industry and/or organization succeed. Leaders during this tour talked about how operational success can help the organization do things it hasn’t been able to do. Moreover, if you have a maximizing mindset and skillset, operational branches of an industry could also be a space in which you could thrive.
To highlight this even more, leaders shared:
“Adding automation helps operators able to do other work. It speeds up things so folks can fit more into a day.”
“Your career can be different than your major.”
Things to do while at Hopkins to hep succeed in the workplace:
- Learning the content
- Getting exposure to manufacturing
- Being able to pick things up quickly
- Apply previous knowledge into the job as you see fit
One conversation had folks thinking, “How do we turn these experiences into hires.” This question lead to thinking about more conversations to build an experience that could do just that.
It’s a weekly occurrence to not have things work.
~Nikki Fer
Industry Inspiration & Lessons Learned
Throughout the experience, folks shared insightful perspectives about their experience and journey’s. Below are some things I found applicable for anyone interested in biotech or just interested in exploring skills necessary to thrive in the workplace:
- Being able to pick things up quickly.
- “It’s a weekly occurrence to not have things work.” ~Nikki Fer,
- “Not failing in science is not an option.” ~Dr. Kedar Narayan
- There are entry-level roles at awesome companies, you just have to look for them. Talking with folks at the company can help you understand how they are named in job postings and what job titles to be o the lookout for.
- Sometimes, you must get your foot in the door to further get experience in what you love doing.
- Collaboration is key.
Iheoma ‘26 shares her insights learned through the trek:
“One of the highlights of the tour was witnessing the diverse teams of scientists working side by side, all united in their mission to advance health for all. It was truly amazing to see the collaboration and dedication that goes into each project.”
~Iheoma Anaemeribe ’26
More student stories can be found in this blog post: Student Stories on Biotech Exploration
Written by Clifton E. Shambry Jr.
