(WTNH) — On this edition of Nyberg, we feature a man from Killingworth who has made his living as a scientific glassblower for decades.

It’s an essential part of supporting science.

Daryl Smith works closely with scientists, researchers and graduate students around the state. His laboratory is in the department of chemistry at Yale University.

When any type of scientific glassware is needed, no matter how intricate, Smith is the guy to talk to. He finds his work completely rewarding.

“The researchers come…This is kind of standard apparatus so I may just get an email or a phone call and [they] say, ‘Hey, can I get a piece of apparatus?”‘ Smith explained. “Sometimes, they come with some modification of a preexisting type of apparatus that I’m familiar with and sometimes they come with completely new designs and you’re looking it up. So you basically work with a torch…It’s a gas oxygen torch. You’ll see waves on there that I can adjust to get a different size and temperature flames, very thin or very broad depending on what I need to do.

Smith teaches a graduate-level course at Yale to get others interested in the field.