As the only 2006 Marshall Scholar from a Georgia public university, Ryan Haynes will get the chance to sharpen his business skills at the University of Cambridge later this year as he pursues a master's degree in nanotechnology enterprise and a degree in bioimaging sciences at Imperial College London a year later.

"I feel that a lot of really good basic science research just stays in the laboratory when it could be out there helping patients," said Haynes, a senior in biomedical engineering. "I like clinical work because it gets things to patients more directly. I feel business is the avenue to translate basic science to clinical applications."

The program at Cambridge, Haynes said, will prepare him to take nanotechnology and biotechnology solutions into the marketplace. The Imperial program will allow Haynes to apply the things he learns at Cambridge to medical imaging technologies, potentially benefiting patients with neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease.

A President's Scholar, Haynes has made the most of the opportunities offered at Tech in biomedical engineering, working in the neuroengineering lab of assistant professor Steve Potter and at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

In Potter's lab, Haynes is testing how networks of neurons respond to different amounts of the chemical dopamine, which is involved in drug addiction, Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia.

At Children's Healthcare, Haynes is using a software program that renders the brain's cerebral cortex as a sphere, allowing doctors to measure the thickness of the cortex in various patient groups.

"We're trying to figure out what the normal thickness is and then measure children who have frontal lobe epilepsy, figure out what atrophy occurs in what area and correlate that with cognitive tests to see if there is a certain area of the brain that's more affected than others," he said.

First impressions are never more important than during job interviews.

"You have seven seconds to make a first impression, whether good or bad," Marge Dussich, assistant director of Career Services, told Tech students during a business etiquette seminar, an information-loaded program offered once each semester.

Arrive five to 10 minutes early for an interview, she advised, and decline a cup of coffee or glass of water while waiting. "It's a spill waiting to happen."

Dussich said eye contact is essential, but don't invade the interviewer's personal space and stare him down. Stand an arm's length away. Carry a portfolio in the left hand so the right remains free for handshaking. When shaking, use a firm grasp and one or two pumps of the hand.

Stand up — and sit up — straight. Dussich said good posture exudes high energy and confidence, while stooped shoulders project negativity and laziness.

Good hygiene is a given, but even a deodorant-wearing interviewee will reek of a lack of business sense if he or she is wearing ill-fitting or revealing clothing. As for jangling jewelry, forget about it, Dussich said. "And those things in the tongue — would you get rid of those!"

She asked rhetorically whether a bad first impression could be undone. "Do you get another opportunity? Not in an interview. It takes at least 10 meetings to undo a bad first impression."

Interviews conducted over lunch can be daunting, particularly when the table is set with a menagerie of glasses and utensils. Dussich handed out a place setting quiz — which fork is for which course, which glass is for which kind of wine.

To avoid confusion about where the bread plate is, Dussich recited a simple tip: "liquids right, solids left."

"When everyone is seated, place the napkin on your lap with the crease toward you," Dussich said, adding that it is key not to begin eating until the entire party is served — unless the host tells guests to commence.

Don't order the most expensive item on the menu. Don't order the least expensive either, she said. "As a rule of thumb, go for the midrange meal or follow the host's recommendation."

Dussich said if a napkin or utensil falls on the floor, leave it and get another when the server comes to the table. If a diner must get up during the meal, that person should leave only between courses and put the napkin on the chair or to the left of the place setting.

Food is passed to the right after first being offered to the person on the immediate left. Never serve yourself first, Dussich instructed, adding that bread and rolls should be eaten by breaking off bite-size pieces and buttering them individually.

Pass salt and pepper together, but don't season food without tasting it first to avoid being labeled as a person who makes "rash decisions," Dussich said.

Open sugar packets three-fourths across and when emptied place them on the saucer or under the rim of the bread plate. Never use more than two sugar packets. "Otherwise you may appear excessive. You're being observed," she said.

The lunch guest also should not appear to be starving for a job. "Always leave a piece or two of something on your plate," Dussich said. When everyone at the table is finished eating, the napkin should be set to the right of the place setting.