It was an ordinary Tuesday in October for a general chemistry laboratory in the Warren J. Baker Center. The professor began cleaning up a small chemical spill because students were not trained to do so, but with the rest of the class to attend to, the professor needed help.
With his cleaning supplies in hand, Brendan Corcoran arrived at the lab and asked if any students had accidentally touched the chemical. Thankfully, nobody did.
The spill was contained to the tabletop. Corcoran neutralized the chemical with baking soda and wiped it up. He did one more inspection to ensure the space was safe to work on again.
He bagged up his cleaning materials for hazardous waste pickup, which happens once every quarter.
From time to time, the general chemistry technicians respond to more serious incidents like when a student fainted and was rushed away by an ambulance and when contact with a chemical resulted in a 15-minute water rinse and a trip to the health center.
Minor chemical spills are routine matters for Corcoran, who has worked at Cal Poly for almost two years. His counterpart, Paul Shires, started 20 years before Corcoran.
Corcoran estimated that well over 1,000 students are enrolled in a general chemistry class every quarter at Cal Poly. Two technical staff members and around 10 student assistants ensure their labs run smoothly. The technicians do most of this work behind the scenes.
Corcoran said a big part of the job is responding to the urgent needs of the students, professors, and learning assistants during labs. They put out a lot of fires—proverbial fires, that is—like when a student needs an extra beaker.
“It’s not an actual fire, usually,” Shires said. “I guess there has been a tiny one here or there.”
The role of a chemistry technician
They do more than hand out extra supplies during labs, though. Corcoran and Shires order all the supplies for general chemistry labs, including chemicals, glassware, gloves and goggles. For students who forget long pants and proper footwear, they keep extra hospital scrubs and closed-toe shoes. They prepare hazardous waste for pickup and swap out gas cylinders from research labs when necessary.
Overall, Corcoran and Shires respond to incidents and ensure students are safe.
Six technicians specialize in different types of chemistry, such as organic and biochemistry, in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department. Corcoran and Shires are responsible for the general chemistry labs. Their jurisdiction includes labs and studios in Baker Science, the Frost Center, and the Science building.
The two technicians spend much time anticipating what chemicals and supplies the labs need.
“Hopefully we have it on standby, and most of the time we do, because we like to think ahead with that kind of thing,” Corcoran said.
Then there are niche supplies that might not be top of mind in a chemistry lab but are vital. For example, a special funnel that fits perfectly on top of bottles and is easy to open and close is used for hazardous waste collection.
“In chemistry there are the things you use, and then there are the things you don’t really think of,” Corcoran said.
There are a lot of moving parts to sort out, too. Corcoran likes that every day is predictable yet different. There is enough variation to keep his job interesting.
Shires likes interacting with students and seeing their development as budding chemists. He said some who come through the general chemistry series have never done labs before.
“It’s a real big learning curve for them,” Shires said. “It’s really great to see how far along they come.”
Erik Sapper is an associate professor who has worked at Cal Poly for eight years. Shires worked in the department back when Sapper was an undergrad. Now, they work together.
Sapper recalled an incident about three summers ago when a student of his had a medical issue during a final exam. Shires sat with the student, allowing Sapper to return to his class. Shires helped call the student’s parents, roommates and the campus police while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.
“Without Paul there being a calm, peaceful presence, I don’t know what I would’ve been able to do,” Sapper said.
This quarter Sapper is teaching CHEM 124, which he has taught about 25 times. He knows that when he arrives he can count on all the necessary materials being in the studio.
“It’s such a huge help but sometimes [it] goes unnoticed because you show up and stuff works the way it’s supposed to,” Sapper said.
He compared it to how his kids wake up and all their laundry is clean or when they come home in the evening and dinner is ready. Someone does the work behind the scenes.
“Certainly our [general chemistry] courses could not run the way they do without the massive amount of stockroom help we get from those guys and their student assistants,” Sapper said.
Corcoran and Shires prepare kits with intuitive directions and supplies so students can complete their labs.
In one of the first labs for a general chemistry class, students observe the wavelengths of solutions with blue, yellow, red and green dye. Sapper teaches this experiment in CHEM 124. Corcoran and Shires make the solutions in the correct concentration levels and put them into pipettes for students to squirt out.
After students complete the lab, the kits often come back to the stockroom jumbled up. Student assistants help reorganize the kits for the next class that uses them.
“It would be hard to do the job without a lot of student help, because there are so many individual parts that we need physical hands to help us with,” Corcoran said.
Rosa-Lynn Flaherty is a biochemistry junior who has worked as a student assistant for almost a year.
She is responsible for “a plethora of things” like giving out extra glassware and doing dishes. Even though it sounds cheesy, Flaherty loves working in the stockroom and has found a good community, she said.
“Our technical staff does a lot for the program, like a lot for the program,” Flaherty said. “It’s good to know who they are and give the proper appreciation to them.”
As for that appreciation, Corcoran and Shires are happy working behind the scenes. They try not to disrupt labs or lectures because they “don’t want to be known for that by the students,” Shires said.
The technicians would rather work in the background so students can focus on learning chemistry, Corcoran said.
“Every once in a while, an instructor will introduce me and say, ‘Everyone, give him a hand. He’s doing such a good job,’” Shires said. “We really don’t want that, but I understand why the instructors do it. It’s fine, but like Brendan said, we’d rather just be behind the scenes.”
