the
Analytical Scientist
Darlene Solomon took on her current
role of Senior Vice President and Chief
Technology Officer (CTO) at Agilent
Technologies in 2006, having previously
been the company’s head of research.
As CTO, she has a broad range of
responsibilities, from leading Agilent’s
technology strategy to enabling external
collaborations and partnerships. Darlene
also serves on the board of directors
at advanced materials manufacturer
Materion Corporation, and is a member
of multiple academic and government
advisory boards, and has been recognized
by awards including being elected to
the National Academy of Engineering
and receiving the Daniel J Epstein
Engineering Management Award at the
Viterbi Awards – “the academy awards
of engineering”. We spoke to Darlene
to find out more about her work at the
cutting-edge of technology.
What was your route into science?
Growing up, I was much more interested
in math. I always enjoyed science, but
applied to college as a math major – it
wasn’t until the end of the second year
of my undergraduate degree at Stanford
University that I decided to make the
switch to chemistry. I just didn’t see myself
fitting into the career paths ahead of me
in math. So, I took lots of biology, physics
and chemistry courses the following year
and found that understanding molecular
activity, metabolism, and immunity
at a chemical level was what intrigued
me most.At what stage did you move into
analytical chemistry?
In my PhD I worked as a bio-inorganic
chemist and spectroscopy formed a major
component of my research, particularly
electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR).
I joined Hewlett-Packard Laboratories’
medical products group in 1984 as a
scientist working on a biosensors project
for arterial blood gas monitoring, but when
that project concluded I soon found that the
lab’s overall focus on electrical engineering
approaches, such as ultrasound, was not
the best fit for a biochemist. I moved to
another research group within HP Labs
focusing on analytical chemistry, which
later became Agilent. After a couple ofyears in this analytical environment, I
got the opportunity to try my hand at
management – first as a project manager
and then as a department manager.
This department was soon rebranded
the Chemical and Biological Systems
Department as our focus expanded
into genomics and biology – I was in
my element!What would you advise a student or
early career scientist faced with a choice
between industry and academia?
It really depends on the individual and
their preferences – both paths provide
great opportunities. The first thing
to consider is where your motivation
lies. For me, I knew during my studies
that being a professor wasn’t for me
because the teaching aspect of the
role didn’t excite me, and while I was
hugely passionate about science, there
wasn’t one specific area I felt compelled
to pursue. Rather, I was attracted to
many areas of research and the idea of
developing technologies that make a real
difference to customers, and ultimately
to society.Industrial
Revelations:
Darlene Solomon,
Agilent Technologies
Our series of interviews with industry scientists returns to shine our
spotlight on Darlene Solomon, Agilent’s research and technology guru.
Profession
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