Doug Smith is proud to point out part of his paperweight collection among the clutter of newspaper and magazine clippings on his desk.

"I think this one's my favorite," he said, pointing to a glass ball. To anyone else, it might just be a paperweight. But to Smith, it's a work of art.

Inside are pieces of green glass fashioned so delicately that they represent underwater plants. Striped blue glass fish seem to swim in their small tank. Tiny bubbles rise up from their mouths, each one crafted as meticulously as everything else inside the paperweight.

Smith is considered one of the last of a dying breed. He is one of two glassblowers on campus and works in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.

The purpose of the glass shop, which is located in the basement of Steidle Building, is to "fabricate and repair lab glassware that students might have broken," Smith said.

His job consists of making pieces of glass to fit the needs of graduate students working toward their master's or doctoral degrees.

"If you break something, come in and get it fixed," he said. "If you need it right away, I might stay the night to repair it."

Libby Kupp (graduate-ceramic science) said Smith has helped her connect tubes for her research.

"He's real creative; he can look at a problem and figure out a solution," she said.

Smith first cuts the glass to fit the student's experiment. Most students need glass tubes. Wearing goggles, his foot pressing on a pedal, Smith slides a glass tube into the shop's round blade.

To keep the glass from shattering, the saw lightly sprays water, which Smith said is the equivalent of a dentist's drill spraying water at an ultra-high speed.

After the glass is cut, Smith begins work at the lathe, where the actual blowing occurs.

The glass gets so hot that it becomes liquid and has the consistency of chewing gum or taffy, he said, adding he uses natural, propane or hydrogen gas, depending on the type of glass he is working with.

Blowing into the glass prevents it from collapsing and makes it easier to work, he said.

The last process is known as annealing, which Smith describes as similar to kneading bread dough to get everything uniform. This process requires that the glass be free of all impurities.

In the seven years that Smith has worked for the University, he has received several other job offers, but he has no intention of leaving Penn State.

"It's the people that keep me here," he said. "I really sincerely look forward to coming to work every day. I don't know how many people can say that."

In 1966, Smith began work at a company called Nuclide in State College. The glass systems never made it to the company in one piece, and they had to wait for them to be fabricated.

At that time, a University glassblower named John Daly was helpful in teaching Smith the trade. Smith remembers asking Daly to teach him enough so he would not have to wait for the parts and could fix them himself.

Smith said Daly gave him a book called Scientific Glassblowing and told him, " 'If you learn everything in this book, you'll be a glassblower.' I was essentially his apprentice, even though I was an engineer."

When Daly was about to retire, he said to Smith, "I've seen your work; you're a glassblower."

By that time, Smith had 15 years experience and began work in the glass shop.

"The work he does is really good . . . he's a real friendly guy and really pleasing to deal with," said Sanjay Monie (graduate-ceramic science).

"You make friends . . . when they leave it's like a member of the family because you've helped them with their research . . . it puts a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye," Smith said.