Title: Research Associate
Employer: Illumina

DaTeng is an alum of both IB and the IB292 Career Course! He graduated in 2016, and took a year after graduation to explore what he wanted to do and build his skills. He began his degree interested in medical school, but after taking the MCAT decided that it wasn’t right for him. He worked in a Medical Entomology lab to build his skills, and this is where he learned the skills he is now using in the Biotech industry.

How did he get his job? He attributes all of his success to networking! Through the Career Course DaTeng got to know Steve Caldwell, who was able to put a good word in for him at Illumina. He stresses the importance of taking initiative and talking to individuals in your field of interest. Success in the job search process is mostly about developing and maintaining relationships, and taking the initiative to follow up and utilize these opportunities to be referred into positions – even if it seems scary.

DaTeng works in the Enzyme Process Development and Characterization group at Illumina. The purpose of his group to improve upon legacy purification processes of various proteins and enzymes to meet future business needs. Looking for areas that could be optimized and scaled up could save the operator several days of work which equates to millions of dollars saved for the company! The overarching company goal is to be able to sequence a human genome for $100. To meet that goal, new innovations in protein engineering are constantly happening. His main responsibility is to take that new enzyme and design a purification process around its properties. His time in the lab is spent looking at what changes can be made and how it affects the proteins.

DaTeng would be a great person to talk to if you want to know more about how to network, how to take initiative on the job market, or what it takes to get into the biotech field. Contact Christina Swanson at alumnimentor@sib.illinois.edu if you would like to connect with DaTeng.