[Coco] OT: Thoughts about going back to school full time.

[Jim Cox]

Tony:

Thank you for your reply.  Actually I would love to find a 
job working with scientific intrumentation such as 
oceangraphic or meteorological instruments, but never even 
considered biological instruments.  That's a great idea.

I think we have some big biomedical companies here in the 
Seattle area, maybe I should check them out.

I was thinking of both weather and oceangraphic 
instruments given the need to monitor them due to climate 
change.

I'm just trying to find something more meaningful than 
what I have now.

Thanks again, I'll check it out.

-Jim

On Tue, 6 Dec 2005 09:40:36 -0700
  Tony Schountz <tony.schountz at unco.edu> wrote:

> Jim,

> 

> I cannot speak for BSET programs specifically, but you 

>might consider  an alternative: biomedical 

>instrumentation. These programs are  specialized, but 

>expanding to many institutions. The next 30 to 50  years 

>will see a dramatic increase in microbiology, molecular 

>biology  and nanobiology. Although much is known about 

>the biology of these  fields, we do not know much in the 

>details because of a lack of  adequate detection 

>instrumentation. These areas will be of intense  focus 

>for the development of new and sensitive instrumentation. 

>For  example, I am working with a small engineering 

>company that is trying  to develop a system to detect 

>water-borne pathogens in drinking  water. They have 

>developed fluorescence sensors and I'm working on  the 

>labeling of microbial products with fluorescent dyes. As 

>with all  emerging fields, experience always gives you a 

>competitive edge.

> 

> Just my $0.02 worth.

> 

> Tony

> 

>> I realize this is OT, but there is a lot of wisdom on 

>>this

>> list and I thought that besides search the web for info,

>> I'd ask here for toughts, ideas, and strategies for 

>>going

>> back to school full time.

>>

>> Right now I am taking C programming on the side and 

>>while

>> I enjoy it, I am finding that between work and 

>>everything

>> else, I am running out of bandwidth.  I know that there

>> will be a lot of sacrifices, but I am wondering if going

>> back to school full time might be the answer.  Also I am

>> dealing with a major case of career burnout, and I mean

>> major.

>>

>> I'm looking at a program at local university for a BSET

>> degree, since that would allow me to leverage my 23 

>>years

>> as a tech plus my AAS in Electronics.  My one concern

>> though is most of my experience is in test, and I want 

>>to

>> move into engineering.  Is a BSET the right choice?

>>

>> For those of you who after working for a while, quit and

>>  went back to school full time, how did you do it?  Did

>> you take out loans or did you just save up the money.

>>

>> If you have any thoughts, I'd like to hear from you, but

>> please reply off line.  Thanks!

>>

>> Jim

> 

> --

> Tony Schountz, Ph.D.

> Assistant Professor of Microbiology

> University of Northern Colorado

> 1556 Ross Hall

> 501 20th Street

> Greeley, CO 80639

> http://www.unco.edu/schountz/

> Voice/FAX: (970) 351-2923

> 

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