What do you do for a living?

[Dave Wells]

Ha, no just very, very ignorant, arrogant, idiot companies that couldn't care less who creats the art.

[jj]

Just photo-shoots, then?
I've seen some of your stills and they're very good.

[Dave Wells]

Same, I've shot hundreds of photo sets for just about every magazine there ever was and most of the time whoever the cheque was paid to usually got the credit. I was just a hired hand.

[Deano!]

We use HPLC valves in some of our applications (only because we need their ability to switch in a 'clean bolus' of liquid into a flow). Ultra violet light is used in a couple of our experiments both for treatments and in histopathology for revealing special stains. Electron microscopy is certainly used for some work, although confocal is the go with biological samples. As for your other abbreviations - well I'm not quite sure....some of them could stand for anything. 'RAMAN' is a filter innit?

Most of my work involves making special one-off set ups for research experiments with the physiology and pharmacology side of visual science. You are several levels of evolution further up the ladder than I will ever get and I want you to know I respect you for that.

[supsim96]

Dean?

No need to show reverance for someone based merely on paper qualifications. That can often be a mistake. Always best to judge a person on their actions and whether they deliver results I find.

I'm the only person in my immediate family to have continued in education post 16 years of age. When I was doing my BSc I continued to believe that academics were "untouchables", superior beings compared to mortals like the rest of us.

On day one of my doctorate I had a rude awakening, I had a kick-off meeting with my academic "supervisor". After 50 minutes of discussions, I meandered out of the building, coffee in hand, lit up a cigarette. Sitting on the steps, drink by my side, I put my head in my hands and whispered to myself: "you total fucking idiot, alright you found that degree a doddle but a PhD's a whole new ball game and you've chosen to do one with a bloke who doesn't even seem to be very bright!".

He made it to Professor in the end. The longer I worked with him the less respect I had for his academic capability. I left University after my doctorate, 100% disillusioned. I felt cheated. Here was a guy, a person who I'd "rumbled" early on, who society would classify a genius "Professor".

The job that I have now for the NASA spacesuit filter brigade has introduced me once again to a different UK academic from a different University. She is ranked a "Senior Lecturer" with a very high profile at her establishment but it's "deja vu all over again" as far as I'm concerned. Her level of academic and scientific knowledge is shameful, woeful in fact.

So, don't even take an academic's position as a sign of competence or intelligence and don't assume a Professor even to be especially intelligent. Words, actions and deeds are all that count in the end!

[Deano!]

I appreciated that take on the world of academia. I must admit that while I respect the abilities of most of our research scientists, their everyday practical abilities can sometimes be hilarious. An utter genius in the field of say, the retina, might be unable to use a digital camera without forcing the simm card in back-to-front and jamming the zoom.

My job is to design and make all sorts of equipment for them and they all think I'm clever. However, a few years ago I had a scare with my left eye whereby it seemed I might be losing my sight due to macular degeneration. One of our ophthalmologists was able to inspect it and find it to be another far less worrying condition due of all things to a common flu virus. It can cause a kink in your visual field which is an early symptom of macular degeneration.

This is when I feel grateful for the people smart enough to know these things.

[bristolian]

I work for a small aquatics centre on the Solent and we train see bass

[supsim96]

train them to do what?