On April 26th, the School of Professional Studies, oSTEM@Brown, and Graduate Students of Color in STEM hosted a Biomedical Engineering Sc.M alumni panel. Panelists Runako Daniel ‘18 ScM‘20, Jessica Powell ScM‘21, and Sheila Velagapudi ScM‘20 discussed their academic and professional histories, their experiences shifting from academia to industry, and offered advice on job search strategies.

Runako Daniel is an Engineer in the Combination Product Operations Department at Amgen. He completed his undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering from Brown University and graduated from the Master’s program in 2020. He conducted biomechanics research with Dr. Joseph Crisco and worked at the Rhode Island Hospital Orthopaedic Foundation as a Test Engineer Intern. Currently, his role at Amgen involves the development and lifecycle maintenance of Amgen’s portfolio of syringes. His day-to-day tasks vary between doing test methods work, working on FDA submissions, and conducting failure mode analysis for device designs. He started his job search 9 months ahead of graduation and his biggest advice for interviewing is to display interest in the organization. Runako emphasized the importance of demonstrating interest in the organization during the interview process and being aware of major priorities, issues, new products or acquisitions of the company.

Jessica Powell is a Marketing Manager in the Surgery Strategic Development Innovation group at BD. She holds a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University. During her undergraduate degree, she pursued a co-op position at BD in 2017 and returned full-time as an R&D Engineer in 2019 in the Biosurgery group. She worked on next generation hemostats and sealants, contributing to multiple BD patents. Jessica started her Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at Brown while working as a full-time employee. She incorporated her industry experience into her Master’s degree by conducting  a joint research project with BD and Dr. Anita Shukla’s lab. She recently pivoted into the business side of the company with the Strategic Development Innovation group where she works on evaluating new technologies and developing innovation strategy plans. Taking an Intellectual Property class at Brown further developed her interest towards the business and strategy side of the biomedical industry. Jessica’s co-op position was instrumental in helping her land a full-time role in the company. In her experience, networking and being vocal and upfront about her interest in staying at the company after the co-op helped her land a job after graduation.

Sheila Velagapudi is a Human Factors Engineer at Insulet Corporation. She holds an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and graduated with her Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Brown in 2020. During her Master’s, she did an R&D and Marketing co-op with BD where she discovered that she enjoyed product design and determining customer needs to innovate products. As a Human Factors Engineer, she works on the iterative design of insulin pumps and incorporates direct feedback to ensure safe and effective use of their products. Sheila emphasized the value of the soft-skills that she has learned from the Master’s program such as presentation skills, communication, and being able to take ownership of a project - all of which she uses in her current role. Her biggest tip for job interviews is to be genuine and confident. “You are not expected to know everything about the job but people value someone with genuine intentions to work hard, to try and learn, and to be honest when they don’t know something but also put in a large amount of hard work,” Sheila said.

After the alumni panel, Dr. Majida Kargbo of the School of Professional Studies offered a workshop about “Entering The Workforce Post-STEM Master”. Dr. Kargbo explained 5 key steps in a successful transition from Post-STEM Master to the workforce. She first highlighted the importance of clarifying your goals and research interest early on. Second, Dr. Karbo gave some helpful tips on how to prepare your professional toolbox and create a professional online presence. Then, she emphasized how creating a 4-6 month timeline can be a useful way to ensure you budget enough time to network, research, and achieve your goals.  Dr. Karbo then explained how the use of multiple search strategies can help students tap into both open and hidden job markets. The final, most important, step to entering the workforce Post-STEM Master is to execute and manage your search. Dr. Karbo emphasized the need for action and that developing a system to track activity as well as applying with purpose are great ways to maintain constant progress.  She also offers other graduate professional development webinars such as “How to Write a Standout Cover Letter” and “Polish Your Personal Brand”. Dr. Kargbo is a resource for mock interviews, managing the job search, and making career switches. She can be reached at [email protected] for career planning and advice.