Caltech’s glass blower

Caltech’s scientific glass blower, Rick Gerhart, has been working at the Pasadena campus since 1992. His craft is slowly dying as more of this type of work gets outsourced to third-party facilities.

Caltech’s scientific glass blower, Rick Gerhart, right, speaks with graduate student Chris Roske. Gerhart is retiring soon, and the Pasadena campus has been on a massive search to find someone who can replace him.

When Rick Gerhart transforms a researcher’s doodles into intricate laboratory equipment, craftsmanship is king. No two pieces of scientific glassware are the same.

Rick Gerhart shows some of his glass work under a filter to check if there are any weak areas. He then heats up the glass in a giant kiln. “He’s a somewhat dying breed,” said Sarah Reisman, who relied on Gerhart to create 20 maze-like contraptions for her synthetic organic chemistry lab.

Glass tubes on Rick Gerhart’s desk. The glass blowing profession peaked after World War II, when booms in oil and government-funded research opened up numerous glass blowing jobs in many a lab.