1. Tell us about your background. When did you graduate from Brown? What has your career path been like since graduating from Brown? What made you choose your employer/position?

I graduated from Brown in 2016, and I currently work as a QA Test Engineer in medical device development. I developed an interest in biomechanics as well as the clinical application of biomedical engineering while at Brown, so I decided to look into the medical device industry as a next step and have been in my current role for about a year.

2. How did your experience at Brown help you find your first position after graduation?

I'm extremely grateful for the breadth of experiences I was able to have while at Brown. The freedom to take courses in topics such as disability studies, biotechnology in global health, and humanity-centered robotics played a huge role in helping me to explore the many subfields and applications of BME alongside my engineering coursework. Additionally, a LINK award allowed me to spend a summer working directly in Prosthetics & Orthotics at Walter Reed, and mentorship from several professors was instrumental to my experience at Brown in general as well as within my job search in particular.

3. What experiences and/or personal qualities would you look for if you were in the position to hire new graduates from Brown?

I've learned over the past year that a willingness to ask questions and be proactive about learning is hugely important to working in an engineering environment. Outside of an understanding of fundamental engineering principles, the ability to communicate effectively with others is one of the most important skill-sets that someone can bring to a problem solving environment.

4. What is your current position? On a typical day (or week) in your position, what do you do? What are the toughest challenges you face? What is the most rewarding part of your job?

I'm currently a Quality Assurance Test Engineer in medical device development. I author test cases which test the performance of our products against device specifications; these test cases are ultimately used to demonstrate regulatory compliance. Additionally, I conduct and contribute to anomaly investigations to look into and disposition unexpected behavior and potential issues as they arise. Investigations into unexpected behavior can be both the most challenging and most rewarding parts of my day to day work-- I really enjoy the opportunity to work with and learn from others, think critically, and expand my knowledge of a subsystem or general principle.

5. Are there any courses at Brown that you would recommend taking as preparation?

I'd recommend "Pathology to Power: Disability, Health, & Community" in the public health department to everyone in BME, and to anyone else interested working to further their respect and empathy toward others.

6. If you had it to do all over again, what would you do differently?

It took me until my junior or senior year to begin to really take initiative in the more open-ended projects within many of my classes. Projects like these are an incredible opportunity to learn more about something that interests you within the context of a specific subject, and I would definitely recommend checking with professors if you think a topic of interest might fall a little bit outside of the assignment.