For two decades, Daryl Smith contributed to research projects ranging from cell irradiation to complex redox reactions. Yet his name has never appeared in a single paper.
Smith and his son, Preston Smith, run Yale’s Scientific Glassblowing Laboratory, creating custom glass equipment for Yale researchers.
After finishing his undergraduate degree, Daryl attended a scientific glassblowing program at Salem Community College in New Jersey, where the sand composition is ideal for glassmaking. He stayed there for an additional 15 years, working in manufacturing and later teaching scientific glassblowing. In 2005, he joined Yale to run the Scientific Glassblowing Lab and teach the craft.
When the University of Connecticut asked Daryl to temporarily cover a glassblowing class after its scientific glassblower took a disability leave, Daryl happily obliged. When they asked him to cover the position full-time, he knew he needed an extra pair of hands.
“I started blowing glass when I was about five years old,” Preston said. He smiled at his father, “Sitting in his lap.”
Preston, who majored in math at Central Connecticut State University, joined Daryl in the Glass Shop in 2017. Since then, the two have seamlessly blended their work lives.
Inside the Sterling Chemistry Laboratory, the two run a neat workshop. A peculiarly shaped glass apparatus lies atop the counter. Boxes are piled high, each meticulously labeled with the number and part type found within.
The Glass Shop services research departments across Yale’s schools, creating custom pieces from oftentimes odd or specific requests. Researchers come to the Smiths with very specific dimensions for a part they need.
“Sometimes, grad students come in with a complex problem, stressed out because they can’t figure it out. I just make them a little piece and it saves the day and solves their problems,” Preston said. “I help them advance their research, and it’s very rewarding to be a part of that.”
While traditional artistic glassblowers work with soft glass like soda lime, scientific glassblowers work with hard glass like borosilicate and quartz, resistant to drastic temperature changes.
“Glass has some pretty unique properties compared to a lot of other substances out there that make it pretty useful in chemistry,” Dr. Laura Herder, who teaches General Chemistry Lecture and Lab, wrote to the News.
According to Herder, unlike plastic alternatives, glass’s ability to be heated and cooled multiple times without losing its integrity makes it not only cost-effective but also environmentally friendly.
Having glassware made in-house has its advantages: it’s cheaper, faster and modifiable. Glass shipments also run the risk of being delivered broken, which Yale researchers don’t have to worry about when ordering from Preston and Daryl.
“A lot of what we do is through experience — by feel, by knowledge and visually observing the glass and what it’s doing,” Preston told me. “Automation is regimented and all about fixed values, whereas there’s kind of a lot of fluidity to [our work].”
While some artists worry about their craft being automated, the Smiths aren’t worried about robots taking their jobs. The kind of work scientific glassblowers do is very reactive and requires flexibility.
The Smiths also teach Chem 565: Introduction to Scientific Glassblowing, open to graduate and undergraduate students.
Despite the five-student enrollment cap, the class is extremely well-liked, with a 5.0 rating on coursetable.com, a website used by Yalies to rate and pick classes.
“On registration morning, we anticipate there's going to be a line out the door,” Daryl said. “It's like 20 students for two spots, waiting for concert tickets type of thing.”
According to Daryl, Yale School of Art’s Dean Kymberly Pinder asked the father-son duo to open additional sections on Mondays and Wednesdays for only MFA students.
“Everyone thinks highly of Daryl and Preston and their work and hope to take advantage of their glass shop,” Chemistry PhD student Bernie Wang told the News as he entered the workshop to inquire about additional Chem 565 section.
Steven Zhang ’25, an economics and global affairs major, discovered Chem 565 while browsing a Reddit forum for “Funnest classes at Yale” during his freshman year. He immediately inquired with Daryl but had to wait due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Unfortunately, “you can’t blow glass with a mask on,” Zhang said.
After back-and-forth emails for nearly two years, Zhang enrolled, calling the course “the most unique class at Yale” with “the most accommodating and understanding professors.”
Zhang said he didn’t realize Daryl and Preston were related until halfway through the semester. Now, he often sees the father-son duo working out together at the Payne-Whitney Gymnasium.
“Daryl and Preston are an essential part of most of the research that happens in the Chemistry building.” Ellie Stewart-Jones, a fifth-year chemistry doctoral student in the Mayer Lab, told the News. “If you don’t have glassware, no research is possible.”
Stewart-Jones had interacted with the glass shop in the past, asking for specialized electrochemical cells or for a Schlenk line repair.
After taking Chem 565 this past semester, she not only mastered specific techniques with high-grade equipment but also learned how to improvise repairs using readily available equipment.
“The final project was a Hero’s Engine, a miniature steam-powered engine that’s tested in real-time and just spins,” Stewart-Jones said. “From a fun perspective, getting to just make something with your hands is awesome.”
Daryl, who considered himself a first-generation craftsman, recently found evidence of an ancestor who pursued the trade.
“I had a great grandfather in Pittsburgh who worked in a glass factory back in the 1800s, making light bulbs by hand and all that,” Daryl said. “I saw in the census records that, at the age of 14, he was working in a glass factory by day and going to dental school at night.”
First-generation business owners, Daryl noted, have a hard time letting go of a business they worked so hard to build. He, however, doesn’t want to hold on.
“I always let you take on responsibilities so I don’t hold on to all this knowledge,” Daryl said, turning to his son. “I pass it off to him so that he feels engaged.”
According to Daryl, the apprenticeship for a scientific glassblower takes roughly 8,000 hours, or four years full-time.
The Sterling Chemistry Lab is located on 225 Prospect St.
Contact Michelle So at michelle.so@yale.edu.