Bend+Research+Review+Heather



My experience at Bend Research was both motivating and insightful. Upon hearing the descriptions of how drugs were created and the chemical syntheses required for their creation, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I actually understood a little of what they were talking about, thanks to organic chemistry and Carol Higgenbotham. Prior to the visit I did not know of the complexities involved in drug synthesis and safety standards. Therefore, I am now aware and appreciative of the time and effort required of such work. The labs in Bend Research appeared much as I would have expected. They appeared orderly, for the most part, and contained machines and equipment that cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars. The chemists and engineers working there appeared very well educated in their fields of research and described their responsibilities and job related duties in a understandable way.

What was of rather great interest to me was the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance instrument and the description provided on how it interprets molecular structure. The NMR instrument was expensive and massive and the spectrum it creates is difficult for most to accurately interpret. NMR interpretation appears to be an art all its own. The chemist I wrote my research project on had an enormous role in NMR research when it was in its infant stages and I have gained a new appreciation for its complexities and for those who choose this area of chemistry to be their life's work.

Also of great interest and another aspect of the experience at Bend Research worth noting was how exactly drugs are created with a time released mechanism that allows the drug to be slowly released into the system. Though the mechanism seems rather simple to explain it involves much time and testing to create just the right about of polymer to react and release the drug at a particular rate. I found this personally interesting as I am pursuing medicine and will benefit from this knowledge.

The individuals working at Bend Research were all friendly and appeared quite intelligent in their fields. I found the graph on the employees educational backgrounds to be surprising. I would have assumed prior that most Bend Research employees would have masters degrees or PhD's. But, over half the employee's have bachelor's degrees. So.... if I don't get into a physician assistant program my first year maybe I too can be a chemist!

Thanks for your comments, Heather. It is fun to take you all out there, and to hear your impressions. I am fascinated, too, by how much engineering can go into what seems like such a simple thing as a drug tablet. Carol

Thanks for the field trip, it was fun.