June 10, 2009

:: Video Special ::

Bringing a touch of glass to Yale

The university’s scientific glassblower uses old-world methods to aid researchers in the pursuit of 21st century knowledge. He’s also teaching the next generation of glassblowers.

At this most modern of research universities, with its particle accelerators, radiochemistry facility, and pioneering stem cell center, a lone craftsman in a small workshop helps unravel today’s scientific mysteries using techniques developed centuries ago.

Daryl Smith is Yale University’s scientific glassblower. Working out of the Yale Glass Shop, on the first floor of the Sterling Chemistry Laboratory, Smith helps scientists and researchers custom design the scientific equipment they need for their experiments.

“Anything they see in a catalog I can make and customize to fit their specific needs,” says Smith, who came to Yale in 2005 after working for private glass companies, including Kontes Glass Co., in Vineland, N.J.

Smith got his undergraduate degree in aquaculture from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, and studied scientific glass technology at Salem Community College in Carney’s Point, N.J. “I like working with my hands, but I like the science part of it, too,” he says. “This is the perfect combination for me.”

While he spoke, Erdem Karatekin, associate research scientist in the lab of James Rothman, chair of the Department of Cell Biology, arrived to pick up a cover slip holder Smith had fashioned out of Pyrex to withstand the rapid temperature changes it would face in Rothman’s lab.

Smith also teaches a course at the glassblowing shop called Introduction to Scientific Glassblowing, which covers laboratory set-up and the skills and techniques of glassblowing. He focuses on the manipulative skills and dexterity needed to be a glassblower as well as the tools, materials, and equipment that are used. Recently, the six students in this semester’s class watched a brief demonstration by Smith before beginning to work on their final project, a Hero’s Engine—a device that propels itself by shooting steam from one or more orifices.

Many research universities don’t have resident glassblowers anymore; they send their work out to private companies. But Smith says there are advantages to having somebody on site: he can meet face-to-face with researchers to develop customized products, and he can create or repair a device the same day, if necessary. But perhaps most important, Smith’s loyalty is to Yale, so when he and a researcher develop a new design, he treats it as proprietary information; he won’t share it, as an outside contractor might.

When Smith isn’t creating or repairing scientific equipment at Yale, he enjoys the artistic side of glassblowing, creating glass ornaments and gifts at his home studio. Not surprisingly, the Christmas season is his busiest time. “You’ll find me sitting in front of my bench torch,” he said, “instead of going to the mall.”

—Jennifer Kaylin

Photos by John Curtis

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