THE TECHNOLOGIST FROM ALARM CLOCKS TO ROBOTS Inge Lise Stripp Petersen has always enjoyed technology, IT and programming. Since she was little she has taken everything apart from alarm clocks to sewing machines. Today she is a laboratory technologist at Novo Nordisk A/S in the API Bio Analysis department. Here she has been privy to implementing robot technology, likewise she is responsible for data and software and the ELISA readers which are used in her department. I think it is fun knowing how things are constructed, then I can better understand what is going on and can better find faults if there is a problem. My approach to technology is perhaps a little special. Where some people take a step backwards and get flustered about something which does not function as it should, I am a little stubborn by nature because I really want to know why it is not working, and what has to be done to make it working again, says Inge Lise Stripp Petersen. ELISA is an abbreviation of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and it is the technology which robots have taken over in API Bio Analysis, not the least with regard to the health of the laboratory technologists. The robots place some protein and antibodies in different combinations in 96 well plates. It results in an enzyme reaction which can be measured in a spectrometer. It is very hard on the arms to do the work manually, and that is why robots were given priority. Gathering dust We had some robots which stood gathering dust, and nobody was using them because they 18 THE TECHNOLOGIST were too slow compared to the laboratory technologists. We had a manager who knew something about robots and realized that they could not be implemented in an off-hand manner. And he was really good. He gave three employees the time to provide this implementation, sent them on a course in Switzerland and prioritized the time necessary. It is partly due to his credit that robots have now been implemented and we use them for almost everything. It is important with support from the management and without them it is almost impossible. It requires that there is a manager who has seen the light and who says he would like to use resources to get robots to take over that part of the work which is destroying the health of the laboratory technologists who are undertaking repetitive work causing RSI, says Inge Lise Stripp Petersen. Barriers and fear She would like to break down the barriers and fear which some people have for automatization. It requires courage and it demands resources if you are going to do something other than what you usually do. The equipment is complex, and you have to believe that what you are requesting the robot to do will also be what it does. So, you have to have faith in technology. There are often some barriers there. At the start you check a lot to see whether the robot is doing it right. And of course, you have to do that. We are GMP regulated and subject to the Food & Drug Administration's regulations. So, it is a bit difficult to take in something new. It can take up I think it is fun to know how things are constructed, because then I can better understand what is going on to a year to implement a robot, because there are many regulations which have to be complied with. And of course, we have to be completely sure that we can rely on what we deliver. It could be an expensive affair for a company if what you deliver is wrong. It is far better to have a belt and braces approach. Because it can be very expensive to make a mistake, says Inge Lise Stripp Petersen. She is very happy and proud that the department as regards GMP as well as robots is a model for the rest of Novo Nordisk A/S. The department's team leader, who has just changed jobs, has used every occasion to tell the outside world how well the implementation of robots has been undertaken. Now the laboratory technologists are free of injuries and moreover they now have gymnastics as a part of their working day. Completely clean The work in Inge Lise Stripp Petersen's department lies between basic research and production. The department's primary objective is to verify that medicines are completely unadul- terated and without impurities which could cause problems for patients. We are really important because we verify that medicines are completely pure, and that the safety of patients is of the highest order. If at the same time we can see to it that the laboratory technologists do not fall ill, because purely on technical grounds we can be a model for others and show that we can use robots, then it is just great, says Inge Lise Stripp Petersen. The company's control laboratory in Kalundborg has been so inspired by the success of API Bio Analysis that they have also recently begun to use robots there. It is a huge victory for us, says Inge Lise Stripp Petersen, who urges colleagues to go to their bosses if they experience that things can be done in a smarter way. It does not do any harm to say to the boss that you have seen somewhere else that they have an industrial autoclave, an electronic pipette or something else. Couldn't we try to get something like that in our department. It could be that the boss says no, but if you do not ask, then you will never be given permission. n 19 MEET 9 SPECIALISTS WHO ARE CREATING THE FUTURE THE DEV ELOPER THE IT SUPER USER DITOR THE QUALITY AU THE TECHNOLOGIST THE COORDINATOR THE LOGISTICIA N THE ANALYST THE TRAINER LABORATORY TECHNOLOGIST EDUCATION THE WORLD CITIZEN CONTENTS A PROFESSION UNDERGOING CHANGE In Dansk Laborant-Forening/HK (DL-F) we know that our profession contains a vast number of exciting job opportunities. 03 Preface: A profession undergoing change 04 The Analyst: Guarantor for consumer safety 06 The Quality Auditor: Ensures that quality THE ANALYST ANALYTIKEREN 1 GUARANTOR GARANT FOR FOR CONSUMER SIKKERHED FORBRUGERNES SAFETY THE ANALYST Eva Jørgensen has been a laboratory technologist since 1989 and has worked at the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration's laboratory in Ringsted since 2006. At that time, she was, together w THE QUALITY AUDITOR ANALYTIKEREN 1 ENSURES THAT GARANT FOR QUALITY IS OF THE FORBRUGERNES SIKKERHED HIGHEST ORDER DITOR THE QUALITY AU When laboratory technologist, Susanne Jeppe sen, is doing her job at Novo Nordisk A/S in Bagsværd it is done for the most part at a desk and in front of a compute IT SUPER USER BRIDGE-BUILDER BETWEEN RESEARCH AND IT DEVELOPMENT Since Mads Molich completed his education as a laboratory technologist in 2006, he has for the most part not had two working days that are the same. Today he works at Novozymes A/S in Bagsværd as a scientific laboratory technologist o THE COORDINATOR FLAIR FOR ORGANISING AND GATHERING KNOWLEDGE THE COORDINATOR As a working environment and emergency and security coordinator Henriette Lerche no longer works in the laboratory. Her workplace is the long corridors and offices at the Niels Bohr Institute at Copenhagen University on THE LOGISTICIAN SAY WHAT YOU NEED AND I'LL GET HOLD OF IT Laboratory technologist Heidi Irming is a buyer at DTU Biosustain, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability (CFB) in Hørsholm. She has recently been extremely busy in connection with the moving of DTU Biosustain to a completely THE TRAINER ANALYTIKEREN 1 THE LABORATORY TECHNOLOGIST TEACHES THE DOCTORS OF THE FUTURE Thousands of young medical students have over the years become acquainted with Helle Dyhrfjeld Jensen's professional guidance in the laboratories of the Panum Institute in Copenhagen. Helle is employed as a pr THE DEVELOPER I LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY Lene Odgaard Kamstrup is a laboratory technologist with the Danish-American company CMC Biologics A/S, CMC, in Søborg. The biotechnology company is a customer-based company. This means that they have many different customers which they undertake develop THE TECHNOLOGIST FROM ALARM CLOCKS TO ROBOTS Inge Lise Stripp Petersen has always enjoyed technology, IT and programming. Since she was little she has taken everything apart from alarm clocks to sewing machines. Today she is a laboratory technologist at Novo Nordisk A/S in the API Bio Analysis depa THE WORLD CITIZEN I participate in weekly Skype meetings with the Indian and Polish development departments ALL-ROUND JOB WITH AN INTER NATIONAL PROFILE Weekly Skype meetings with Indian engineers, visits to factories in Germany, France and India, courses in England and meetings with Japanese cust WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THE GENERAL EDUCATION SYSTEM WORTH KNOWING ABOUT FURTHER EDUCATION & TRAINING In Dansk Laborant-Forening/HK(DL-F) we are working on creating a transparent way through the education system. It can be in relation to mem bers, employers as well as the political system. In Dansk L ABOUT DANSK LABORANTFORENING/HK (DL-F) Dansk Laborant-Forening/HK (DL-F) is a cross-union association in HK. We organize approx. 10,000 members whose primary educational background is laboratory assistant, laboratory technologist, environmental engineer or environmental technologist; they are employ