Pathways in Spectroscopy: An Industry Perspective on Spectroscopy Education

In this “Pathways in Spectroscopy” clip, Peter Larkin, who is a Manager of Spectroscopy, Thermal Analysis, and Chromatography at Syensqo, offers an industry perspective on how companies can build up their employees to become the subject matter experts they need them to be to solve customer problems.

Currently in industry, much is expected from the young researchers and scientists that are joining the workforce. Because companies are cutting back on training, it has put a greater strain on academia to provide the knowledge that the next generation of spectroscopists need to succeed in industry.

The problem, though, is this reliance on academia is causing more knowledge gaps, thanks to the disconnect between industry and academia. As a result, there is a question regarding the role that industry plays in building up this knowledge in their scientists.

Below is the transcript from this portion of the panel discussion, with Larkin highlighting the practical aspect for solving industry problems and fulfilling the needs of customers. This segment is part of a recent panel discussion that took place on spectroscopy education, which you can access here or in the literature below.^1,2

Peter Larkin: I would add an industrial perspective, and that is that our business model is to basically have highly trained analytical chemists. We want people to be within their own realm subject matter experts. And to build them up to that, we can't rely just on what the academic training is. There is a practical aspect and a detailed aspect for being able to solve industrial problems that we need to have a core amount of knowledge transferred to a recent graduate.

There's a certain turnover that occurs intrinsically in industry, so we are always looking to challenge our people, develop our people, and train our people. And so, we need to do that cost-effectively, and we need to be current with what the present knowledge is and be ready to solve our customers' problems.

References

1. Wetzel, W. Previewing a SpecAcademy Roundtable Discussion. Spectroscopy Online, 2026. https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/previewing-a-specacademy-roundtable-discussion (accessed September 25, 2026).
2. Miseo, E.; Carrabba, M.; Larkin, P. J.; D’Agostino, J.; de Haseth, J.; Wetzel, W. What is SpecAcademy and What Need Does It Fill? Spectroscopy Online, 2026. https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/what-is-specacademy-and-what-need-does-it-fill- (accessed September 25, 2026).