Software Engineer Encourages You to Start Building Things

Name: Jon Strutz (he/him)

PhD: Chemical & Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, 2022

What was your main area of research?

I had 3 major areas of research.

First, I used mathematical modeling to simulate metabolic reaction networks in bacteria to try and understand how genetic modifications would impact phenotype.
Second, I used cheminformatics tools to predict novel biochemical reactions to help the scientific community more easily identify novel biomolecules.
Finally, I developed a mathematical framework to encode and decode data into and out of DNA using a novel enzymatic system.

What is your current job?

I am a Bioinformatics Software Engineer at LanzaTech in Chicago, Illinois.

I build and maintain bioinformatics pipelines to process large genomics datasets. Build tools to help scientists interpret sequencing data.

What is your favorite thing about your job?

I like to see other scientists using the tools I've built to accelerate their knowledge and discovery processes.

What is the most important skill you developed or experience you had during your PhD that now helps you in your current position?

Learning how to build useful software tools for other scientists

How did you build the skills necessary for your current role?

My PhD was really focused on building software tools for the scientific community which helped a lot. The best way to get into software engineering from a PhD, is to just start building things in my opinion.

How did you find this position? What were the career steps you took to get to where you are now?

I did an internship with my current company during the 3rd year of my PhD where I did a mix of R&D and software engineering. After graduation, I had a job (as a scientist) waiting for me. A year later a software engineering role opened up on the science team internally which I applied for and got.

internship during PhD ➡️ PhD graduate ➡️ Scientist ➡️ Bioinformatics Software Engineer

If someone is interested in a similar role, what would you recommend they start doing now to prepare?

If currently doing a PhD, find a way to build something useful for the scientific community that is also publishable.

If already done with your PhD, start building things in your current role if you can. Look for internal (horizontal) transfers to software engineering roles if possible. In my experience, that seems to be the easiest way to go from science to software engineer (SWE). It's quite difficult to land an entry-level science-focused SWE role as an external hire, especially with the job market today (2025).

Why did you decide to not pursue a career in academia?

It was an easy decision. In my experience, work-life balance and salary are both far better in industry.

What advice do you have for someone getting their PhD and looking to pursue a career outside of academia?

Do an internship during your PhD if possible. This helps a lot more than you might think. Often, employers value actual on-the-job experience more than your PhD work, however impressive it may be.