Scientific Glassblower

Think about the scientific equipment you might find in a lab. A surprising amount, like test tubes, beakers, and flasks, is made of glass. Some common glassware, like petri dishes used to grow bacteria and graduated cylinders for measuring the volume of liquids, can be purchased ready-made. But sometimes an experiment calls for a specialized piece of equipment. That’s when researchers turn to scientific glassblowers like Ryan Tate.

Tate works in the glass shop at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. There, he repairs, modifies, and creates custom glassware for the school’s science departments. He does this by shaping molten glass into designs that are often complex, sometimes requiring him to fuse together dozens of small parts. Each piece is one of a kind. Recently, he spoke with Science World about how creating unique glassware helps make scientific breakthroughs possible.

How did you become interested in glassblowing?

I’ve always loved creating things and the process of crafting and assembling. What I do now feels like playing with LEGO pieces. I first learned about scientific glassblowing by working with my uncle, who’s a glassblowing artist. Then I eventually completed a scientific glassblowing program at Salem Community College in New Jersey to become a certified scientific glassblower. It’s a very small field. There are only about 2,000 scientific glassblowers in the
United States.

How does houseware glass differ from scientific glass?

I mostly work with something called borosilicate (bor-o-SIH-luh-kayt) glass. Like all glass, it’s made by melting silica—a hard mineral that’s the main component in beach sand—with other ingredients. In this case, I add the chemical boron oxide (B₂O₃). Borosilicate glass isn’t like the glass you’d find in typical food jars or bottles at the grocery store. It’s much more durable, clear, and resistant to changes in temperature—qualities that make it the ideal material for lab ware.

What is the process for making custom glassware designs?

First, a researcher comes to me with an idea. Sometimes, they’ve already come up with a complete design. Other times, it might just be a rough sketch. When that happens, I need to turn that hand-drawn sketch into a blueprint with real dimensions. All measurements must be incredibly precise so the parts fit together perfectly. Otherwise, the liquid or gases could leak out of the glassware.

When it’s time to build the apparatus, there are two techniques I use. The first is to attach a piece of tubing glass, which is a hollow glass rod, to a piece of hose. Then I heat the glass with a blowtorch. Borosilicate glass has a melting point—the temperature at which a solid becomes a liquid—of about 1,650°C (3,000°F). Once the glass softens, I blow into the hose, which causes the glass to expand. Then I use heat-resistant tools to hold and shape the glass.

The other method I use is to attach the tubing glass to a lathe, a machine that turns at high speeds. Then my hands are free to hold tools and torches and shape the hot glass as it spins. Once I’m done, the researcher tests the equipment. They often come back to me with requests for changes. We keep revising the design until we get it right.

What was your most interesting glassblowing project?

One that stands out was for the medical research department. They needed a custom piece of glassware with a very polished surface and specific shape that they could grow cells on.

What are the most challenging and rewarding parts of your job?

My job is a hard one to master. I might spend weeks building a complicated design just to have it shatter. So my job requires patience and resilience. When things don’t go right, I just try again. I love that my job lets me be creative. It’s also rewarding to work with researchers and watch them run such cool experiments with the glass pieces I build.