How to retrain in an experimental field requiring expensive equipment?

[themasterchief]

Suppose you come up with an invention involving a highly specialized, equipment-intensive field you’re unfamiliar with, such as plasma processing or high-temperature metallurgy. You’ve already consulted experts who agree the idea is plausible, but haven’t found anyone with the relevant expertise willing to help develop a PoC. How could you acquire the necessary hands-on skills to test the invention yourself? For context, I'm finishing up a chemistry PhD and hope to eventually develop new technologies, potentially through a startup. I plan to work in industry first, but worry that years down the road, I might have a promising idea requiring expertise outside my field. I've considered several ways to acquire such expertise: switching jobs, postdocs, master’s programs, a second PhD, and shared research facilities. However, jobs may require existing expertise, postdocs may be difficult to obtain later in my career due to potential age bias, master’s programs may offer insufficient hands-on training, and independent equipment access can be prohibitively expensive (and even then, access alone may not provide the necessary training). Are there any other realistic ways to retrain in experimental fields that require specialized equipment and can’t be learned at home?

 

[berkeman]

For context, I'm finishing up a chemistry PhD

But when you posted at PF 2 years ago, you were a math undergraduate student. That's a lot of progress in just 2 years!