Why did Ms. Green choose Agilent?

“Agilent is a company whose mission is to improve the human condition,”. Green says.  “Our employees are passionate about being able to contribute to this every day, because their work connects directly to helping patients with cancer.

“Serving these patients makes it very personal.”

Nina Green was recently profiled by Fairygodboss, an online resource dedicated to improving the lives and workplace for women.  In a wide-ranging interview, Green discusses her career and offers advice for women seeking jobs.  She also talks about what makes Agilent unique.

“Agilent is an innovative company with a long history and track record of success,” Green says.  “Our culture of innovation encourages employees to stay at the top of their game through continuous learning and development.

“It is truly a privilege to work with so many smart and talented people who – through their unique talents and diverse experiences – create and deliver products and services that have a positive impact on the world.”

Are you ready to join the Agilent team?  Check out our Careers page!

For more information go to:

• Agilent Pathology Solutions
• Agilent pharmDx Products
• ‘Focus on the People’ Savvy Advice of 1 Agilent VP Who Leads the Team That Fights Cancer
• Why Agilent
• Agilent Careers

Dennis Episkopos is senior director of Global R&D for Agilent Software and Informatics.  He talks about “How to Score an Entry-Level Software Engineering Job, According to an Agilent Hiring Manager.”

“I look for a candidate who is eager to learn new things,” Episkopos says, “who enjoys the challenge of solving complex problems and who can bring different perspectives and background to the team.  And personally, I also look for a good sense of humor!”

Episkopos shares his perspectives on career satisfaction, Agilent’s culture, and what he thinks is the best job.  (Hint: it’s software engineering.)  He also talks about why everyone should come and work at Agilent.

Dennis Episkopos is Agilent senior director of Global R&D for Agilent Software and Informatics

“At Agilent, you’ll be using the latest and greatest technologies,” Episkopos says.  “We also offer unique challenges and great growth opportunities.  We also offer a flexible work environment.

“Agilent helps our customers make the world a better place.  We have a strong culture of innovation, and talented employees who make amazing things happen every day!”

What are you waiting for?  Agilent is hiring!

For more information go to:

• How to Score an Entry-Level Software Engineering Job, According to an Agilent Hiring Manager (Glassdoor)
• Dennis Episkopos (LinkedIn)
• Agilent Careers

Only 77 U.S. patents were credited to women from 1790 to 1860.  In contrast, 4,773 patents were issued to men in 1860 alone.  (Khan)

So on July 8, 1873, the Patent Office hired Anna Nichols as its first female patent examiner.  38 men and 7 women competed for positions, but only five men and Miss Nichols passed the scientific qualifying exam.  Contemporary accounts called it “the first and only such appointment ever given to a lady.”  (Horowitz)

The office hoped this would “possibly encourage women to submit inventions that they might have feared would be viewed with less sympathy by male examiners.”  (Khan)  Indeed, on July 14, 1885, Sarah Goode became (arguably) the first black woman to obtain a U.S. patent, for a folding cabinet bed (a precursor to the Murphy bed).

Some other noteworthy things invented by women:

• Circular saw (Tabitha Babbitt, 1810)
• Grocery bag (Margaret Knight, 1870)
• Windshield wiper (Mary Anderson, 1903)
• Coffee filter (Melitta Bentz, 1908)
• Computer compiler and COBOL computer language (Admiral Gracy Murray Hopper, 1950s)
• Kevlar bulletproof material (Stephanie Kwolek, 1964)

At Agilent, we value diversity in our workforce and support initiatives that advance women in technology.  Our employees actively participate in industry groups such as the Society of Women Engineers and the Association for Women in Science.

For more information go to:

• ‘Wonder Woman’ Set to Become Top-Grossing Live-Action Film Directed by a Woman (The Hollywood Reporter)
• The Democratization of Invention (Google Books excerpt)
• The Englishwoman’s Review of Social and Industrial Questions: 1873 (Google Books excerpt)
• Sarah E. Good (biography.com)
• 5 Female Inventors Who Changed Life as We Know It (biography.com)
• Top 10 Things That Women Invented (How Stuff Works)
• Women Inventors (Smithsonian)
• Agilent Careers: Why Agilent

But this is a good occasion to remember that Agilent owes its existence to engineers.  Two engineering graduates – Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard — started our predecessor company in a garage in 1938, giving birth to Silicon Valley.  The rest is history.

(The word “engineer” comes from two Latin words: ingeniare – “to contrive or devise” – and ingenium – “cleverness.”)

Today, many of Agilent’s 12,500 employees around the world are specialists in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

What’s the difference between an engineer and a scientist?  The National Academy of Engineering puts it this way (though they may be slightly biased):

“A major difference between science and engineering is that scientists deal with the world that is, while engineers envision the world that could be.

It is the job of the engineer to determine what people need or want, and figure out the best way to provide it.”

The engineers of yesterday helped enable just about every aspect of our modern lives.  And the engineers of today will play a major role in shaping our futures.

Want to help?  Maybe your next job will be at Agilent!

Today’s blog post topic was suggested by Agilent employee Laura Borland (who, by the way, is not an engineer).

For more information go to:

• Second Annual Global Day of the Engineer Set For Wednesday April 5
• Engineers: How Are You Changing the Conversation (National Academy of Engineering)
• Agilent Company History
• Agilent Careers: Why Agilent

What if I told you it was someone else?  And that this woman accomplished her feat in 1934 – more than 80 years ago?

American Jeannette Piccard was the first licensed female balloon pilot in the U.S.  She hoped to become the first woman to reach the Earth’s stratosphere, but met with considerable resistance.  “The National Geographic Society would have nothing to do with sending a woman – a mother – in a balloon into danger,” she said.  Dow Chemical even asked her to take the company’s logo off of her balloon gondola.

Finally, on October 23, 1934 – four months after getting her pilot’s license – Piccard flew her balloon over Lake Erie, accompanied by her husband and a pet turtle.  The balloon attained a record-setting height of 57,579 feet – 10.9 miles – putting the couple into Earth’s stratosphere.

The press declared Piccard “the first woman in space,” and she held this altitude record for almost three decades.  In the 1964, Piccard became a consultant to the director of NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center.  In 1998, she was posthumously inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame.

But that’s not all.

In 1975, at the age of 79, Jeannette Piccard was ordained as the first female priest in the Episcopal Church.  When the head of the church tried to dissuade her from ordination, Piccard declared, “Sonny, I’m old enough to have changed your nappies.”

Being ordained fulfilled a childhood dream that Piccard had shared with her mother at the age of 11.  “When I said I wanted to be a priest, poor darling, she burst into tears and ran out of the room,” Piccard said of her mother.  “That was the only time I saw my Victorian mother run.”  Piccard served as a priest until her death at the age of 86.

Her granddaughter (also an Episcopalian priest) said of her grandmother, “She wanted to expand the idea of what a respectable lady could do.”

Today, Agilent proudly values diversity in its workforce, and supports initiatives that advance women in technology.  The company and its employees actively participate in industry groups such as the Society of Women Engineers and the Association for Women in Science.

Today’s blog post topic was suggested by Agilent employee Jim Hollenhorst.  Not only did Jim meet Jeannette Piccard (she was 75 and he was in High School), he asked for – and received – an autographed piece of her original 1934 balloon!

Jim Hollenhorst’s souvenir

For more information go to:

• Jeannette Ridlon Piccard (International Space Hall of Fame)
• Religion Notes: Ambition Fulfilled (New York Times)
• Jeannette Piccard (University of Chicago)
• Agilent Careers: Why Agilent

This summer was a whirlwind. I could go on for paragraphs about all the opportunities I received, but I’m going to give a few highlights. I helped the Community Outreach team with Family Innovation Day. I wrote for and contributed to Agilent’s internal newsletter (including one entire issue completely on my own). I assisted with a global committee working to refresh Agilent’s brand promise and culture. I even got to work with Agilent’s CEO on some of his executive quotes! Ultimately, I felt extremely lucky as I got to do all of my favorite things in a fast-paced and inspiring environment: writing, editing, brainstorming and event management.

What I admired most about Agilent is the team-centered culture here. Everyone on my team was incredibly supportive, inviting me to sit in on every meeting and trusting me with every project possible. Other employees and interns made my experience all the more amazing. Each person I reached out to took time to meet me for coffee, talk on the phone, and answer questions about their life experiences that led them to Agilent.

Agilent is heavily invested in its intern program as an opportunity to train the next generation of workers. Beyond this, the program improves local communities by giving students the dual opportunity to work in a corporate environment and sharpen their skills on real-world projects. It specifically benefits interns because it presents an opportunity for close mentorship, meaningful and challenging work, and the creation of a community with other interns and campus hires through events, executive speaker talks and site tours.

I could not feel luckier to have been given the opportunity to go through the Agilent Intern Program. I have learned so much about Agilent, about communications, and about myself as I prepare to graduate college and enter the ever-terrifying “real world”. Thank you for reading my posts this summer!

Related Links:

• Agilent Careers
• Upcoming Agilent Campus Recruiting Events
• Interns at Agilent Technologies (video)

As both an Agilent intern and a college student, I was able to help plan the Family Innovation Day at Santa Clara, as well as experience the exciting and fun projects.

I worked at a station that involved Agilent After School (AAS) kits. AAS consists of interactive projects led by Agilent employees. By creating a physical project such as building a solar car, students are able to see applications of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) in an engaging way. Furthermore, they are able to develop relationships with an Agilent volunteer who can answer questions and provide further information about the project or related STEM topic. Best of all, they are able to keep their creations and take them home afterwards.

As a volunteer, I found the children’s excitement infectious. Many exclaimed that they wanted to take their projects to school. Afterwards, some kids wrote out the equations they had learned in notebooks and even sought to further tinker with their projects—for example, to find new applications for the solar panels.

In addition to my station, several nonprofits also hosted stations with hands-on educational activities such as making “bristlebots” (tiny robots on the end of a toothbrush), creating waves to learn about kelp and seeing a skin biopsy under a microscope. Several tours were also available for attendees, including one through Agilent Labs, one of the most renowned research and development facilities in the world.

Other Agilent sites in Denmark and Japan have also held successful Family Days. By creating opportunities to explore STEM beyond a textbook and a desk, Agilent is showing hundreds of children the excitement that comes with scientific discovery. As one child declared afterwards, “I want another science party!”

Today’s post was written by Agilent Communications’ summer intern!

Related Links:

• International Society of Automation, “Why STEM education is important”
• Science Pioneers, “Why STEM education is important for everyone”
• The White House, “Educate to Innovate”
• Agilent Community Outreach
• Agilent Careers: Graduates and Students

The Prisoner’s dilemma goes something like this.  Two criminals, Adam and Ben, are arrested and separated from each other.  Separately, they are each made an offer by the police:

• If Adam and Ben both remain silent, they each get only one year in prison.
• If Adam betrays Ben, Adam goes free and Ben gets 20 years in prison.
• Similarly, if Ben betrays Adam, Ben goes free and Adam gets 20 years in prison.
• But if Adam and Ben both betray each other, they each get 10 years in prison.

Adam and Ben must each decide what to do without consulting the other.  The dilemma is that if they could collaborate and both remain silent, they would each get a lesser sentence.  In the absence of collaboration, they are each better off betraying the other.  Yet if they both do so, they will get a worse outcome.

What is the best course of action?

Rapoport wrote a small program that played iterative games of the Prisoner’s dilemma.  First, Adam cooperates with Ben.  In subsequent games, Adam does exactly what Ben just did in the previous game.  Over time, the program ends up rewarding cooperative behavior and punishing selfish behavior.

With this program, Rapoport demonstrated that collaboration is ultimately the better course of action.  He argued that this lesson can be applied in work and life as well as in games.

At Agilent, we have a long-standing culture based on collaboration that is unique in the industry.  We believe that we achieve our best results when we work together with our customers and with each other.  This is reflected in our company’s brand identity.

Agilent’s enterprise services organization, Agilent CrossLab, has a customer brand promise of “From insight to outcome.”  As the strategic partner of choice, we are your expert advisors, from lab instrument services and supplies to laboratory operations and enterprise strategy.

And Agilent’s pathology solutions company, Dako, has a customer brand promise of “Trusted answers.  Together.”

For more information go to:

• Anatol Rapoport
• Prisoner’s Dilemma (anatolrapoport.net)
• Prisoner’s Dilemma (Stanford)
• Agilent CrossLab
• Dako: Agilent Pathology Solutions
• Why Agilent

The C&E News article includes several comments from Chris Swenson, Agilent’s vice president of Total Rewards.  “We want to be the holistic partner to the lab,” Swenson says, referring to Agilent’s customers in analytical and diagnostics laboratories around the world.  “Agilent is taking the same holistic approach to employee fitness and happiness.”

C&E News highlights Agilent’s support of employee education, career development, work-life balance and community service programs.

Swenson notes that the average tenure of Agilent’s R&D workforce is 12 years.  “Agilent wants to continue to train and keep their employees engaged,” says long-time employee Maggie A. Ostrowski in the article.  “That’s really key to retaining people for the longer term.”

Is there an opportunity for you to join the Agilent team?  Found out at Agilent Careers!

For more information go to:

• The Cream of the Crop (C&ENjobs) (PDF)
• Chemical & Engineering News
• Agilent Careers
• Why Agilent

We know that Blair was a free farmer in the northern state of Maryland, in an age before American slavery had been abolished.  Blair would earn a second patent two years later for a cotton planter.  Because he could not read or write, he signed his patents with a simple “X.”

What we don’t know is why Henry Blair was uniquely singled out for his race.  For years, historians thought he was the first African American to earn a U.S. patent, but it turns out this is not true.  In 1900, assistant patent examiner Henry Baker began an effort to uncover the contributions of black inventors.  Since this information was not recorded on any paperwork (other than Henry Blair’s), Baker sent surveys and letters all over the country.  He was ultimately able to confirm that Thomas Jennings, who received U.S. patent X3306 in 1821 for the “dry scouring of clothes,” was also an African American.

We don’t know if Jennings was a free man or a slave.  At that time, U.S. law granted patents to both free and enslaved men.  The law was changed in 1858 to exclude slaves, after a slave owner successfully argued that he owned everything produced by his slaves.  The law was changed again after the Civil War to give patent rights to all men.  (Note that this did not specifically include women, but that is another story.)

Today, Agilent benefits from the variety of cultural and individual perspectives held by our 12,000 employees around the world.  Much of our success is rooted in the diversity of our people, their contributions and their ideas.  We are committed to creating a diverse work environment, and we are proud to be an equal-opportunity employer.

For more information go to:

• Corn Planting Machine
• Henry Blair’s Patent No. X8447
• December 15th Marks the 165th Anniversary of The Great Patent Office Fire of 1836
• Henry Blair (biography.com)
• Henry Blair (about.com)
• Agilent Careers