Jack Selengue, a professor in UK's chemistry department, says Babbitt is indispensible to him and many of his colleagues. Jeff has built virtually all of our vacuum lines and Schlenkware. He is able to build to our exact specifications, and often helps us design our apparatus. Jeff has modified many pieces of standard bench-top glassware, such as quartz cells for spectroscopy, with glass joints or stopcocks for inert atmosphere use. Selengue adds that Babbitt is one of the top scientific glassblowers in the United States and that a major benefit of having him in the department is saving time.
Commercial glassware can take over a week to receive, even when it's in stock.
Custom glassware can take months. Jeff can help us out quickly, sometimes the same day in emergency situations. Babbitt has been a glassblower for over 20 years and learned, as many glassblowers have learned, from his father. I didn't know he was that interested until one day after high school he announced that he really wanted to get into it. As rewarding as this work is, it's not without its dangers.