First Impressions and Motivation
LI Blog: Welcome to the Yokogawa Life Science Europe Team! Could you please introduce yourself briefly—your background, current role, and what brought you to Yokogawa?
Jia Ning Liu: Hello, my name is Jia Ning Liu, and I am a Service & Support Engineer at Yokogawa Life Science Europe. I have an academic background in laser technology, which provided me with a strong foundation in optics and photonics. Before joining Yokogawa, I worked in technical support at a global supplier of optical and photonics components and later as a Service Engineer at one of the world’s leading manufacturers of laser and photonic systems. In this role, I travelled to customer sites to support and fix technical issues and gaining extensive hands-on experience with complex optical and laser-based technologies. What brought me to Yokogawa was the opportunity to combine my background in photonics with advanced life science applications. Additionally, the strong international collaboration, especially with colleagues in Japan, makes Yokogawa a very exciting and dynamic environment for me.
Supporting Customers Across Europe
LI Blog: In your role as a Service Engineer, what are your core responsibilities and how do they contribute to Yokogawa’s mission?
Jia Ning Liu: In my role as a Service & Support Engineer at Yokogawa Life Science Europe, my core responsibilities include installation, preventive maintenance, troubleshooting, and providing both remote and on-site technical support for our high-content imaging systems, such as the CV8000. Working closely with customers across Europe, I also see that requirements and use cases can differ significantly compared to other regions. By understanding these local needs and feeding this experience back to our global teams, I contribute to aligning our solutions more closely with customer expectations.
What Makes the CV8000 Stand Out
LI Blog: What makes the CellVoyager CV8000 stand out, and why do you believe it offers real value to our customers?
Jia Ning Liu: What makes the CV8000 stand out, is its unique combination of high speed, high image quality, and gentle live cell imaging. In addition, the system offers a highly controlled environment for long-term live cell imaging, including stable temperature, CO₂, and humidity conditions. This enables researchers to observe dynamic processes over extended periods with high reproducibility.
Daily Motivation
LI Blog: What aspect of your work do you enjoy the most, and what keeps you motivated every day?
Jia Ning Liu: What I enjoy most about my work is the combination of technical problem-solving and direct interaction with customers. Another aspect I really enjoy is working closely with customers in their lab environment. It gives me a deeper understanding of their applications and allows me to support them more effectively in their daily work.
It started with Laser Technology
LI Blog: What sparked your interest in biotechnology, and how has that passion evolved over time?
Jia Ning Liu: My interest in this field started with my academic background in laser technology, where I developed a strong fascination for optics and photonics. I was particularly interested in how light-based technologies can be used to analyze and visualize complex systems. During my early career in the photonics industry, I worked extensively with laser-based and optical systems. This gave me a solid technical foundation and showed me how advanced technologies are applied in real-world environments. Today, in my role at Yokogawa, I combine this background by working with high-content imaging systems that enable researchers to study living cells in detail and generate meaningful data. This connection between advanced technology and real scientific impact is what makes this field particularly exciting for me.
Collaboration Without Borders
LI Blog: What have you enjoyed most so far about working at Yokogawa?
Jia Ning Liu: What I have enjoyed most so far about working at Yokogawa is the strong sense of collaboration and the international working environment. From the beginning, I experienced a very open and supportive team culture, where colleagues are always willing to share knowledge and support each other. No matter if service, application, or product management it is always a pleasure to talk, to learn and get updated by my colleagues. Especially in a technical role, this kind of exchange is very valuable for solving complex challenges and continuously improving. Overall, it is this combination of teamwork, continuous learning, and working on impactful technologies that makes Yokogawa a very rewarding place for me to work.
LI Blog: Is there something you’d like to share with our blog readers?
Jia Ning Liu: Just want to say hi to my little but great team.
LI Blog: Thank you very much for the interview, Jian Ning!
