Mike interruption

I thought that I would throw in a post to update everyone of my situation.  I have told Dr. Cooks that I am without a doubt going to stop with a Master's as soon as possible.  Although he is somewhat disappointed by the decision, he affirmed that he "understands" why I'm doing it.  With that being said, I am now looking for employment as a M.S. analytical chemist.  I would definitely like to stay in the Lafayette/Indianapolis area.  Thankfully there are several possibilities for me to pursue:

Griffin Analytical

Griffin Analytical was started by graduates of my current lab, and is based in the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette.  So it would be a short drive ( :  Additionally, they do the exact kind of work that I love to do: building and testing mass spectrometers.  I'm a geek, I know.  They have several positions open, and I've heard promising things about my possibly working there as a scientist.  This would be a great job, and I think that I would really love it.

Indigo Biosystems

Indigo Biosystems is based in Carmel, IN and develops software for processing mass spectrometric data.  It was also started by a graduate of my lab.  Although the drive might be ~1 hr, I think that I would really enjoy working there.  There is a position open for a "software engineer".  If I take this position, I will have to learn some new programming languages, but that's something that I've wanted to do for awhile anyway.  This job would be an interesting mix of my likes for MS and programming.  I am admittedly not a formally educated and experienced programmer, but hopefully Indigo could look past that and I could learn quickly.  Plus, I would get to work with an old friend, Amy Tabert (who happens to read this blog regularly...Hi Amy).  Amy has forwarded my resume to the president of the company, and I look forward to hearing from them.

Prosolia

Prosolia is based in downtown Indianapolis, and was (surprise) started by people from my current lab.  They primarily sell DESI ion sources, but they are also considering commercializing a soft landing instrument (much like the one I have built here at Purdue).  I emailed a former lab member named Brian Laughlin about the possibility of working there.  He said that they may be interested in hiring me as well.  They apparently have a lot of work coming down the pike and need more people to handle it.  Although this job would not be as much strict instrument development, I think that I would still enjoy the work and the company.

So, I have a few options that I'm trying to work out right now.  I have not had any offers, but none of the doors have been shut yet.  Hopefully God will make the decision clear for me in the near future.