If you are a regular reader of ToolFreak blog posts, you may already be aware that we love placing the spotlight on a variety of different job roles. We genuinely enjoy gaining greater insight into different sectors and understanding the importance of safety workwear in a wide range of industries. 

From the Medical Industry, to the Beauty Industry, to the Woodworking Industry, to everything in between, we strive to find out more and share our findings with our fantastic readership! Today, we are delighted to be joined by the magnificent Valeria Salinas from Monterrey, Mexico, whose passion for the Biotechnology and Biomedical industry is both riveting and admirable.

We will be touching on a number of topics, such as breaking into the industry, career highlights, accidents and precautionary measures, as well as the use of ToolFreak Safety Glasses in the workplace. We hope this piece can inspire and educate many to follow Biotechnology Engineer and Post-Graduate Biomedical Engineering Student, Valeria’s footsteps in securing a career within the scientific field. 

Hello Valeria! Thank you very much for agreeing to take part in one of our blog posts, we can’t wait to find out more about you and the Biotechnology industry! Let’s kickstart this piece, by finding out why it is you decided to embark upon this specific and scientific career path?

“I wanted to be able to help people, I first wanted to be a medical doctor but as a biotechnician the scope is so much greater". 

That's really interesting, how did you manage to break into the industry? 

“I had worked during my undergraduate studies as a research trainee, this gave a lot of influence on the field and so many great recommendation letters. I was never the student with perfect grades. I got a full scholarship based on these letters. I like to think that the creative side of me is what has got me several opportunities”.   

That's amazing, hard work really does pay off! How do you start a typical day at work?

“Coffee, emails check and then turning on the microscope, putting on the lab coat and taking out cells to check up on them. Always. 

If there is no experimenting that day, normally I just get to the lab and check my cells (I manage several cell lines such as breast, colon and prostate cancer cells) to see if they are good and stable, with no stressors and growing healthy. After that, normally I will just do paperwork or well… laptop work

If cells have grown enough, then it is time to experiment. I have to prepare myself, organize where I will work, gear up, and finally do the experiment I have to do. After that comes the results analysis, which usually takes days". 

And what type of roles do you like carrying out the most whilst working? 

“The best role is to be a researcher, do the science behind the technologies we offer. I also love showing my work and teaching, to undergrad students, as well as learning new techniques. 

I really enjoy experimenting. Knowing that what I am doing has never been done before the same way and that I will contribute to new knowledge is just truly satisfactory”. 

Remarkable! It's safe to say you're passionate about your role, right?

“I do love what I do, I constantly say to younger people that science is a field of passion. In order to succeed in it you have to be truly passionate, because experimenting is reporting not only the successful cases, but also all the failures and this can get to you”.   

To date, what is your greatest career highlight? Your industry sounds extremely challenging yet rewarding, please do tell us more about it...

 “Up until now, obtaining a paid and full scholarship without the required grades, my job inside the research field talked more about me and my potential than what the academia said”.  

Congratulations, that is incredible, you deserve it! Now, of course, not everyday is going to be easy, what would you say is the most taxing part of your job role? 

“The number of failed experiments. Biology is so perfect but so unpredictable sometimes, you can control so many factors while experimenting but there is always a wild card. To be able to control everything requires a lot of optimization and hard work. To repeat, repeat, repeat and then repeat again. Literally”.   

That really does sound like hard work; what type of services does the company you work for specifically offer to people?

“We offer ground breaking research. The background research for new developing technologies in the field of biomedical engineering. Our lab focuses on research on tissue engineering, lab on chip devices and point of care systems. You can visit www.alvareztrujillolab.com for more detailed information on our projects”.

Amazing! It sounds like you have a great deal to work on! Now, we would love to know how you stay safe on the job?

"We use lab coats to protect not only us from corrosive and dangerous reagents, but also to protect the cell cultures from being exposed to whatever our clothes’ fabrics may have. The lab coat remains inside the culturing chamber.

We also use gloves for the same purpose. When doing experiments, we also use protective glasses. Some liquids will spill and can splash, also, on our lab, we use UV protective wear because we do experiments with a material that needs crosslinking through UV light waves, so our eyes need to be protected too".

Have you ever experienced any accidents while working?

"Thankfully, I have never had any terrible accidents. I have spilled material and contaminated my cultures, but nothing dangerous. But in every lab there HAS to be an eyewash, for example. It is a requisite".

We are relieved that you have never had an accident in the workplace! We recently sent you a pair of ToolFreak Yellow Lens Reevo Safety Glasses, can you tell us what your thoughts are on them? We would love to know your honest opinion...

"I would rate them 9/10. I find them extremely comfortable and lightweight!  They serve their purpose, and they are very comfortable. Usually lab eye protective wear is too heavy".

Valeria wears ToolFreak Reevo Yellow Lens Safety Glasses.

What do you think of your ToolFreak Safety Glasses, in terms of safety, durability, comfort & fashion?

"They have protected my eyes in the lab when handling dangerous reagents. I feel cool with them, not like the common lab eye wear which are big, uncomfortable and really don’t look cool. They do need to make some glasses special for the protection of UV wavelengths of 480 nm approx.". 

We are extremely happy that you find them both comfortable and fashionable! Thank you for the honest feedback, we look forward to creating and manufacturing more Safety Glasses for even more uses! Keep your eyes peeled!

Thank you for joining us Valeria, it's been incredibly insightful talking to you!

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with the ToolFreak Team today!

If you too would like to wear a pair of high quality Safety Glasses in the workplace, be sure to check out our very own range of Safety Glasses!

Have a good one!