Two leading business women in the biotechnology field, Dr. Olga Issakova and Yalia Jayalakshmi, came to talk to students about prospective careers in biotechnology during both lunches on Monday.

Dr. Issakova is the cofounder of Nanosyn, Inc. and Jayalakshmi is the Vice President of StemPar sciences. Both women stressed that their jobs involve learning new things everyday.

“It’s like riding a bicycle,” Issakova said. “If you do not remember how to peddle, you must learn it again.”

After explaining the specific requirements of their jobs, they were open to questions from the students.

“The panelists gave great advice and insight into biotechnology careers, which have hopefully helped the students who attended the panel,” said Sarina Vij (12), who organizes the career panels. “Even if some students ended up realizing that this career is not a fit for them, they came out of the panel with new knowledge that they can apply on their pursuit to finding a career.”

Senior Eric Swenson believed that while holding the panel was a good idea, the event was too short and neither expanded his knowledge of biotechnology nor offered him any advice on biotechnology as a potential career path.

“In future years, if it continues with the same people, they will realize more that Harker students aren’t your average student, so they won’t respond with an answer that they would give to average high school students, which I feel they did to a little extent,” Eric said.

At the end of the panel, Jayalakshmi expressed her views on the changes that will take place in the field of biotechnology.

“A challenge for your generation is the sustainability of testing chemicals on animals. Everyday, something new happens,” Jayalakshmi said.

The next career panel will be held the week after spring break.