A Day in the Life of an Analytical Chemist

Nathan Camilleri 

Technical Manager of Organics at SGS

Hello fellow RACI members! I’m Nathan Camilleri and I work for SGS (www.sgs.com) as the Organics Technical Manager for our Industries and Environment team at Alexandria. In this short article, I’d like to share with you my journey so far as a chemist, what a typical work day looks like for me and what I think students should do now to prepare for analytical chemist position in the future.

I actually started university wanting to do a medical degree, but playing with animal organs in my first year Human Biology course taught me pretty quickly I wasn’t cut out for that! I shifted my focus to Chemistry and completed a Bachelor of Advanced Science in 2013 with a keen interest in Analytical Chemistry. Throughout my undergraduate years, I was always looking for more opportunities to learn and started volunteering in an academics laboratory to assist him with his work performing chemical analysis for clients outside the university. I’d always talk to him about different career opportunities available after study and one area that always came up was the need for skilled instrument chemists in industry.

With this in mind, I pursued my Master of Research in Analytical Chemistry under the supervision of the same academic, investigating a novel technology for improving the separation efficiency of HPLC columns. I then switched gears with my PhD on a completely different topic, identifying and developing methods to quantify a carbohydrate found at trace levels in cane sugar, which has a major significance in the soft drink industry. Throughout this project, I became proficient in GC-MS/MS and even built my own custom instrument, including design, construction and programming, to quantify the carbohydrate. On the side, I was also repairing instruments and other laboratory equipment for various clients which only broadened and deepened my instrument knowledge and experience.

I then left the academic world and joined the Industrial and Analytical Services team at SGS in the beginning of 2020 as a Technical Specialist performing a wide range of non-routine chemical analysis. A little over a year later, I made the shift to Organics Technical Manager of the Industries and Environment team, which is responsible for the routine analysis of soil and water samples. As a Technical Manager, I lead our organics section on all technical matters and continuous improvement projects to ensure my team executes high quality chemical analysis and meets the fast turnaround times required by our clients.

The work I perform on an average day can really be broken down into one of three main categories, method development, improvement projects and training. At the moment, the majority of my time is taken up by modernising the methods we use to perform our chemical analyses. A key focus of this work is shortening our analysis time to ensure we meet our clients’ deadlines. There’s a lot of work involved with method development which requires not only a thorough understanding of the capabilities of a range of instruments, but also their limitations to ensure the quality of the analysis is maintained.

While the methods we use for our analysis are vitally important, various other systems in the laboratory, from tracking jobs to managing ordering and inventory, are just as critical. As Technical Manager, it is my role to identify and execute various projects to improve the operations of the laboratory. A great example of this is the comprehensive instrument maintenance schedule I developed for our team. Having fast and accurate methods are great until the instrument doesn’t work when an urgent analysis is required. The last main type of work I do on a typical day is training and mentoring my team. I truly believe no matter how good the methods and systems are, a laboratory is only as good as the people working in it. It is my job to ensure that every person on my team is proficient in their role and able to perform at or above the required standard. Sharing my knowledge and skills is one of the more rewarding parts of my job.

From my experience, I would recommend two considerations to any students looking to prepare for an analytical chemistry position in the future. The first is “begin with the end in mind”. Think about what area of analytical chemistry you want to work in. You may prefer organics, inorganics or even pharmaceuticals just to name a few. You also need to know if there are jobs in these fields and where these jobs are located. Some industries are relatively small compared to others and can also be very localised. Conferences like those held by the RACI often have a networking session at the end that provides a great opportunity to meet with a wide range of people from various industries and sectors.

Secondly, I would say “prepare for that role”. What does that job require in terms of knowledge and practical skills? For example, if you are interested in organics, understanding and working knowledge of GC and/or LC techniques are essential. Take any opportunity you can work with these instruments and ask why things are the way they are to better understand their operation. Volunteering in a laboratory at your university or looking for casual work in a commercial laboratory are great ways to acquire this type of experience. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading a little about my journey so far as an analytical chemist and learnt a little about what my role is within my awesome team at SGS. I also hope I’ve been of some help to any students out there who are looking at a career in analytical chemistry. I wish you all the best in whatever stage you are at in your journey. If you’d like to get in contact with me, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn and say hello!

Click here to go to Nathan's LinkedIn