Thermo Fisher Scientific Hosts Daemen Students

By | November 2, 2021

Thermo Fisher Scientific, a Fortune 500 company and manufacturer of scientific instruments and materials, welcomed Daemen students to tour its Grand Island facility and to network with its workforce – one of the largest in Western New York. 

Students at Thermo Scientific in Grand Island

Helen Meade, a sophomore biochemistry major from Prospect, Connecticut, said the visit was valuable given that she is undecided about what she’d like to do after graduation.

“This visit cemented the fact that I want to go into the STEM field as a career,” she said. “It was eye-opening to see scientific equipment and processes on such a large scale.”

Students heard about employment opportunities at the company available to those with undergraduate degrees in the natural sciences – and spoke to Thermo Fisher employees about their scientific backgrounds and training. 

“I’ve had a lot more experiences than I anticipated meeting professionals in my field,” said Meade. “I didn’t think I’d get that until senior year, but Daemen has been good about incorporating these opportunities.”

Job growth projections for chemists and biologists are expected to outpace the national average over the next decade; students were encouraged to bring their resumes on the trip. 

Diane Ramos

For Daniela Mateo, a senior biology major and business minor from the Bronx, New York, the trip was a chance observe familiar lab processes in a professional setting. 

“It was interesting and validating to see in action the same skills and thought processes we’ve learned and use in labs at Daemen,” she said. 

While Mateo wants to eventually attend medical school, in the interim she will seek employment opportunities likely similar to those in environments like the Thermo Fisher plant. 

The 70,000-square-foot facility produces a variety of cell culture media, which are artificial environments to grow cells outside of living organisms that are used by researchers in biomedical and pharmaceutical settings.  

The visit was arranged by Diane Ramos, chair of the Department of Natural Sciences and an associate professor of biology. Students in the college’s cytotechnology master’s program also attended.