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Lopez received the ACS Scholars Award Scholarship as an undergraduate, and has been able to attend National ACS meetings, which he says are a great opportunity to listen, learn, and “meet a number of great people.�

David Lopez doesn’t love his job just because of his coworkers—but they certainly help! “I work with some very talented chemists who are willing to help the younger chemists,� Lopez says. “Many of the people I work with have vast experience working in the industry. In addition, they have some really entertaining stories to tell!�

Thanks to a recruiting email fromÌýAlbany Molecular Research, Lopez took an industry job immediately after earning his Bachelor’s Degree in 2012. “The aspect I enjoy the most about working as a drug discovery chemist is developing new and creative ways to overcome challenges,â€� he says. “I find it to be very rewarding to be able to help advance the team’s progress and advance the project.â€�

Today at Albany, he’s responsible for the synthesis, purification, and characterization of novel drug targets.

Typical day on the job:

My day begins at 7 AM by checking and responding to emails, countersigning notebooks, and preparing new notebook experiments (5%). By 7:30 I am setting-up reactions, monitoring experiment progress, working-up reactions, purifying compounds, and analyzing data (60-70%). Depending on the chemistry, a significant amount of time can be spent researching published literature and discussing chemistry with senior chemists in order to develop new synthetic approaches (+10%). I spend most of the afternoon continuing to work on chemistry. Other daily responsibilities include preparing progress presentations, meeting with supervisors, and attending meetings (15%). [4-5:30 PM]

Work environment:

I work in a three-chemist lab with adjoining desk section shared with another chemist (the senior chemist has an office adjoining the lab). In my lab I have the standard equipment needed to conduct synthetic chemistry or have access to the necessary equipment/instruments.ÌýÌý

Work schedule:

I am a salary employee and work 45 hours/week. The environment is fast paced.

Tools you can’t live without:

NMR/LCMS data access, combiflash chromatography, and email.

Best productivity trick:

Planning and organization.

Best career advice you’ve received:

Find what it is that you truly enjoy doing and find a way to get paid to do it.

Skills or talents that make you a good fit for your job:

I believe my work ethic, inquisitive nature, and determination to overcome challenges help make me a good fit for my job.

Essential habit you wish you’d started earlier:

I wish I would have developed the habit of reading scientific papers on a regular basis.Ìý In addition, I wish I would have started the habit of using SciFinder or other literature database search engines to explore and read about useful chemistry.

Favorite ACS resource:

My favorite ACS resource is theÌýJournal of the American Chemical Öйú365betÖÐÎĹÙÍøÌý(JACS) database.