{"id":66406,"date":"2020-06-17T09:06:36","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T13:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=66406"},"modified":"2020-06-18T12:12:04","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T16:12:04","slug":"local-lab-founded-by-retired-brock-prof-providing-valuable-experience-for-brock-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2020\/06\/local-lab-founded-by-retired-brock-prof-providing-valuable-experience-for-brock-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Local lab founded by retired Brock prof providing valuable experience for Brock students"},"content":{"rendered":"

In just six weeks, <\/span>third<\/span>–<\/span>year<\/span> Biochemistry co-op student<\/span> Priyanka <\/span>Seenauth<\/span> from <\/span>Mauritius<\/span> has learned a number of new skills and boosted her <\/span>confidence <\/span>working at<\/span> Norgen<\/span>Biotek<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The local<\/span> microbiology firm<\/span> was<\/span> founded by retired Brock University Professor of Biological Sciences Yousef Haj-Ahmad<\/span> (BSc \u201980, MSc \u201982)<\/span>. <\/span>They <\/span>produce collection, purification and preservation devices for samples of all types, such as saliva, soil, urine and DNA.<\/span> More recently, they\u2019ve adapted their equipment to manufacture testing kits for COVID-19<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Seenauth<\/span>\u2019s<\/span> role<\/span>s at the lab as a co-op student include operating a <\/span>centrifuge <\/span>a<\/span>long with<\/span> working as<\/span> a<\/span> capper and filler for t<\/span>h<\/span>e production of saliva preservation solution. Th<\/span>e <\/span>latter<\/span> is used <\/span>when<\/span> s<\/span>wab samples<\/span> are collected<\/span>, such as ones admin<\/span>istered by health-care professionals during COVID-19.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe industry experience I got is incredible,” says Seenauth.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cI was guided through the whole process in lab.\u00a0<\/span>I have been able to come across new terms and tools that made me more confident as a <\/span>Biochemistry<\/span>\u00a0major.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Seenauth<\/span> isn\u2019t the only international student benefitting from their experience at <\/span>Norgen<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Vishva<\/span> Hiteshkumar<\/span> Bhatt<\/span>, a second-year Public Health co-op student from India, has been working at the Thorold-based lab for almost two months.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was amazed by their work regarding COVID-19 detection kits, swab collection and nucleic acid preservative system,\u201d said Bhatt. \u201cThey are a creditable organization with propel-certified next-generation sequencing service.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bhatt said<\/span> th<\/span>e part that<\/span> interested her<\/span>\u00a0the most <\/span>was their technology based on isolation, purification, concentration and clean-up of DNA, RNA, microRNA and proteins from various specimen types.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bhatt\u2019s main responsibilities as a co-op student include quality control, but<\/span>\u00a0she was also able to<\/span> learn how the <\/span>company manages its<\/span> production,<\/span> sales and marketing<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Norgen<\/span> has given me a clear understanding of my interests<\/span>,\u201d said Bhatt.<\/span> \u201c<\/span>It\u2019s<\/span> made me a task-driven <\/span>person and<\/span> helped to gain professional and technical knowledge by getting an opportunity to work in all the departments.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The connection between Brock and <\/span>Norgen<\/span> is rooted beyond just <\/span>Haj-Ahmad <\/span>and his family<\/span>. M<\/span>any of the University’s students receiv<\/span>e<\/span> their first <\/span>chance at <\/span>industry <\/span>through<\/span> the lab<\/span>, including <\/span>Matthew Mueller (BSc \u2019<\/span>2017<\/span>, MSc \u2019<\/span>201<\/span>9<\/span>)<\/span> who supervise<\/span>s<\/span> b<\/span>oth Bhatt and <\/span>Seenauth<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mueller, who has worked for <\/span>Norgen<\/span> since August 2019, <\/span>recognized the benefits of staying in Niagara<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cS<\/span>taying local versus travelling to a larger city to work at a larger company has specific advantages<\/span>,<\/span> such as diversified learning opportunities<\/span>,\u201d said <\/span>Meuller<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This was particularly true when t<\/span>he demand for COVID-related products <\/span>transitioned <\/span>Mueller <\/span>from<\/span> his<\/span> desk job in<\/span> s<\/span>ales and\u00a0<\/span>m<\/span>arketing<\/span> to <\/span>m<\/span>anufacturing<\/span> where<\/span> he <\/span>work<\/span>s<\/span> as a <\/span>shift manager<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>M<\/span>y team makes components for the isolation\/purification step in the COVID-19 diagnostic workflow<\/span>,\u201d said Mueller.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On a deeper level, <\/span>Mueller has <\/span>learn<\/span>ed<\/span> how to effectively deal with challenges in the face of adversity.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe togetherness at <\/span>Norgen<\/span> is stronger than ever as we deal with daily challenges head-on to continue to provide kits needed for COVID-19 diagnostic testing<\/span>,<\/span>\u201d<\/span> said Mueller.<\/span> \u201c<\/span>This is a movement that feels really good to be a<\/span> part of.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although <\/span>his<\/span> time at Brock is <\/span>complete<\/span>, <\/span>Mueller knows <\/span>the learning never ends.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I have learned many lessons that biology textbooks simply can\u2019t teach<\/span>,\u201d said Mueller.<\/span> \u201c<\/span>I think the most valuable take-away from my time at <\/span>Norgen<\/span> is not what I learned, but how to learn.<\/span> The fast-paced environment at <\/span>Norgen<\/span> has kept me on my feet, allowing me to continue gaining career experience: not just science, but business, marketing and working effectively with others, even if they may see things differently.”<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In just six weeks, third-year Biochemistry student Priyanka Seenauth from Mauritius has learned a number of new skills and boosted her confidence working at NorgenBiotek.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":66407,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[119,41,1,4],"tags":[3333,49,159,7409,8791,1606,8811,3328,9120,650,3325,8812,3774],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66406"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66406"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66480,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66406\/revisions\/66480"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}