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Great jobs are plentiful for Institute of Technology graduates in today's employment market
by kermit pattison
Katie Gerbensky Serrano has a window into the future of biomedical technology.
Serrano, a 2005 graduate in biomedical engineering, serves as a biomedical engineer at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. Her division funds biomedical research and uses government incentives to help address future technology needs.
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| Katie Gerbensky Serrano (BME ’05) worked as an engineering intern at Boston Scientific in Plymouth, Minn., after her junior year. In December 2006, she moved to the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering in Bethesda, Md., and now works as a biomedical engineer. She is the recipient of the Katherine E. Sullivan scholarship, which funded a year-long study abroad program in Ecuador. She plans to earn a graduate degree in public health, particularly related to technology. |
“We’re setting policy on the future of health care by funding grants that will feed the technology pipeline,” Serrano said.
Her education positioned her to do just that by arming her with problem-solving skills, a global perspective, and ethic of service. Biomedical engineering associate professors like Victor Barocas stimulated her interest in bioengineering. She also gained valuable research experience by working in the Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, under associate professor David Odde in a project involving stem cells.
Her education also prepared her for the world outside the lab. Serrano did a double major in Spanish and volunteered to teach computer skills to Latino immigrants. After graduating, she went to Ecuador under a scholarship from the Katherine Sullivan Foundation and worked in the Ecuadoran ministry of health designing an HIV/AIDS prevention system. Even in this job, which required her to master unfamiliar problems such as computer software, she drew on the skills honed by her engineering education.
“The most important skill I learned at the Institute of Technology was how to problem solve, how to be curious about things and ask the right questions and take a problem apart, and tackle the pieces so the whole problem is solved,” she said. “They give you so many tools to do that.”
These skills have served her well in the workplace. After her junior year, Serrano worked as an engineering intern with Boston Scientific. She helped troubleshoot problems with the Maverick balloon angioplasty catheter, helped devise ways to improve efficiency of the manufacturing line, and designed and ran experiments to analyze the performance of the Maverick laser welds. She describes the internship as “the single most important thing I did as an undergraduate.”
Internships have become particularly important among millennials. Sorenson-Wagner said internships are no longer seen as educational programs or sources of cheap labor; now they have evolved into feeder programs for recruiting young talent. More than 50 percent of interns are offered jobs, he said.
“More students are figuring out how to get connected to these industries while they’re in school,” said Sorenson-Wagner. “Internships have become more important. Now you’re starting to see people with two or three internship opportunities.”
Indeed, Serrano’s internship led to a job. Boston Scientific hired her as a regulatory affairs specialist immediately after she returned from Ecuador. She worked in the vascular surgery division preparing regulatory submissions for products such as artificial veins and patches.
In December 2006, she began working for the National Institutes of Health. She hopes to eventually earn a graduate degree in public health, particularly related to technology, and perhaps work abroad. (Her husband, Mario Serrano, a Bolivian whom she met during her time abroad, works as a lawyer for the Organization for American States.)
Serrano is hardly alone in her desire for service. Sorenson-Wagner said that today’s students show a strong impulse to give back. He cites the emergence of student groups like Engineers without Borders. “We’re seeing this generation asking, how can I use engineering and sciences to make a difference in the world?” he said.
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