Profile: A wealth of experience

Steve Carlo's career path hasn't always been smooth, he tells Sarah Houlton, but now he's got a license to print money

They say it takes four jobs before you really know what you want to do. It's taken Steve Carlo a few more than that, but after a varied career with jobs in several different organisations, he's finally found one he really enjoys.

Inspirational chemistry teachers encouraged Carlo to study the subject at university, and after gaining a degree from the University of Salford, UK, he moved to De Montfort University for a PhD on small-angle x-ray scattering of the metalloprotein nitrogenase. 'I had no biology background, and as far as I was concerned a protein was merely a biological polymer,' he says. 'Of course, it's not that simple! I struggled with it, and chose to leave after a year. It was only when I defended my MPhil thesis four years later that I realised I'd been doing some pretty interesting stuff.' 

During this time, he was exposed to surface chemistry, and realised that this was where his interests really lay. Unable to secure funding for further study in the UK, he took a graduate assistantship at the University of Iowa, and has been in the US ever since. Initially, Carlo was attracted by an academic career but after a postdoc at Johns Hopkins University, working with a non-tenured professor, he realised how stressful the tenure process is and looked to industry instead. 'I got an email out of the blue asking if I was interested in working for a contractor at the US Naval Research Laboratories,' he says. 'They offered me a job in the optics division, where my knowledge of polymers and lasers was a good fit. But the timing was bad - I started just before 9/11, funding was redistributed, and a few months later I was made redundant.'

Four months of unemployment and a huge number of job applications later, he was offered a position with Mitsubishi Chemical America. 'I was working on organic photoconductors for use in the photoactive drum in laser printers and photocopiers - so more dyes, polymers and optics,' he says. 

At this stage, he was keen to move into a management position, so took a job in Avon's new technology group, where some of his work contributed to the Magix Face Perfector cosmetic line. Although he enjoyed his time there, he still felt he didn't really fit in. 'Had I done the same job in a different environment, it might have been another story,' he says. 

A job with a consulting company then took him back to the bench. 'Unfortunately, it was hell on earth,' he says. 'The work itself was interesting - with projects on areas as diverse as environmental stress cracking, transdermal drug delivery and even anti-tank grenade defensive concepts. But the overwhelming focus was on billable hours which, in the current economy, made for a very stressful work environment, and I was laid off again.' 

During this second period of unemployment, he began working for Tremonti Consulting, a company that specialises in intellectual asset management, technology transfer and patentability assessments. 'I've looked at some brilliant projects,' he says, 'it really helps that I'm not just a surface chemist, I've experienced a lot of different things over the years.'

Carlo now works at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing - the US government agency that prints money. 'With my knowledge of polymers, optics and laser printing, I was a pretty good match technologically,' he says. 'I started in January 2010, and I manage the technical services division. We look at new materials when they come in, setting up specifications for them alongside the materials technical contract division, and develop analytical protocols. We also troubleshoot production issues, develop ink, and help develop new security features. But the coolest thing about this job is knowing that the entire world has seen or held the product I am involved with manufacturing!' 

Sarah Houlton is a science writer based in Boston, US