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My name is Danny Wong.
I'm the lecturer-in-charge of a Chemistry PACE unit at Macquarie
University. In my unit, students actually spend two-thirds of the
time on campus but because it is also a PACE unit,
students also get a chance to visit several laboratories associated
with the university.
Because of the applied nature of this third-year PACE unit,
it does prepare the students very well for their future employment.
Sometimes working in science, especially university,
your work can be very esoteric, very limited.
You don't really understand what the purpose is of what you're doing.
You can see the science happening but you can't necessarily see what
its real-world application is.
Through my PACE unit, going to Envirolab,
and learning how to use those skills in an actual working laboratory
was very fulfilling and enlightening.
Our philosophy at Envirolab is to encourage and support the next
generation of students to fulfill their career objective.
We're an environmental testing laboratory.
We test soil, water, and air for contaminants.
The students who come here have got experience in an educational
laboratory but this is a first-time experience for them to see a
fast-paced laboratory working to meet timelines and deadlines.
My experience here at Envirolab has been a really amazing experience.
Just to see the process of a sample going from login through testing
and analysis has just been very eye-opening and a really well-rounded
and involved experience.
We logged in the sample, noted down all of its information,
made sure that it was stored correctly,
and then we got to see actual sample being prepared for the test.
Then we got to see them actually being tested in the machine's ICP-AES,
also the colorimetric spectrometers.
It was really amazing just to see these machines at work.
When the students are introduced into the lab,
we then hand them over to a team leader.
In this case, it's Tanya, formally a student of Macquarie University.
While I undertook my PACE program at Envirolab,
I found it very interesting and contacted them two weeks later to
see if there was any casual work available.
Because they knew me, they offered me a casual position and now here
I am as a full-time chemist.
The work placement I attended while undertaking this PACE unit
definitely affirmed my career choice.
I thought I wanted to be a chemical analyst but after the work experience,
I definitely want to be a chemical analyst.
The highlight to me at Envirolab?
Firstly, it would probably be just the work experience itself because
the work experience is very hard to get a hold of especially in science.
Secondly, networking with the people there.
Before I left, Matt said, "Send us your resume once you finish",
which is kind of reassuring - finding a job is hard these days.
Advanced Analytical is a private contract analytical laboratory.
We do analysis in food, environmental, and bio-analytical, as well as microbiological.
Students come here, we take them through the laboratory,
we rotate them through the various sections we have here.
It's very valuable because it gives them a real insight into what
actually happens in a real commercial laboratory.
I spent two days at Advanced Analytical Australia where I spent
most of the time shadowing different employees in different departments,
and seeing what they got to do on a day-to-day basis.
I personally didn't know a lot about what chemists do in commercial
labs, so being able to see what actually happens there was a good experience for me.
My experience at Advanced Analytical Australia has helped to reinforce
the theoretical concepts that we learned about in class.
I'm employed here at Advanced Analytical Australia as a chemist.
After completing my PACE unit at Macquarie University,
the extra lab experience was really beneficial to getting me in the
industry and getting the position I have today.
I am now part of a team that can pass on the knowledge to students
coming through the PACE unit and give them the kind of experience
that will be really beneficial to their career.
Very often, I find that students are headhunted by some of the
laboratories. In fact, some of our third-year students are being
employed even before they finish the degree program.
I would highly recommend any science student take on a PACE unit
like this that would take you to a real laboratory.
My PACE placements have enabled me to form a relationship with
prospective employers which I think is invaluable.
It gave me a lot of opportunity to use the skills that I learned
throughout my degree in the real world,
give it focus and direction, help me understand what the real-world
applications of my skills are, and make
decisions about my future employment options.
I could see what my future career could look like.
I didn't feel so unsure.
Even having any sort of experience in a commercial lab is going
to put you ahead of other candidates.
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