The BME Grad Podcast

Brian Kim was the first guest of the BME Grad podcast. He is a 2019 graduate of the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC and NC State and ***spoiler alert*** he is going to be the new co-host for season 2! Brian talks about why he's looking forward to being a part of the podcast, gives some words of wisdom, and covers his career progression over the past 2 years up to his current role at as a Sr. Process Engineer at Stryker, Advanced Operations. For more information on The BME Grad Podcast, visit the Joint Department of BME at UNC and NC State's website: bme.unc.edu/home/news-events/the-bme-grad-podcast/ Connect with or reach out to Host, Allie Mitzak, on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/allie-mitzak Connect with or reach out to our new Co-Host, Brian Kim, on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/briandonginkim/

Jordan Joiner received her Bachelors in Chemical and Biological Engineering from the University of Alabama in 2015, and she is currently a 4th year Pharmaceutical Sciences Ph.D. Candidate in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Uniquely, before pursuing her Ph.D., Jordan worked at Evonik, a specialty chemical company, as a Process Engineer for 3 years. On this episode Jordan dives into how she made the decision to go back to university for her Ph.D. after 3 years of working in the industry, and what it's been like along the way. Links mentioned in the episode are below.  Dayton Lab website: https://daytonlab.sites.unc.edu/ Benhabbour Lab website: https://benhabbour.web.unc.edu/ Jordan's Journal of Immunology paper, Focused Ultrasound for Immunomodulation of the Tumor Microenvironment: https://www.jimmunol.org/content/205/9/2327 For more information on The BME Grad Podcast, visit the Joint Department of BME at UNC and NC State's website: bme.unc.edu/home/news-events/the-bme-grad-podcast/ Connect with or reach out to Host, Allie Mitzak, on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/allie-mitzak

Isabella Watson is a 2019 grad of the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC and NC State and is now an R&D Engineer at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a global biotechnology company. Before this role, she worked as an R&D Engineer and Field Service Engineer at a smaller company in the biotechnology space, Cell Microsystems. Isabella compares/contrasts working in biotech R&D at small and large sized companies.   Check out Isabella's engineering portfolio website: bellawatson.me  For more information on The BME Grad Podcast, visit the Joint Department of BME at UNC and NC State's website: bme.unc.edu/home/news-events/the-bme-grad-podcast/  Connect with or reach out to Host, Allie Mitzak, on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/allie-mitzak

Ryan Facer graduated from the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC and NC State in 2018. He is now a Product Development Engineer II at AccuMED by Lear Corp., a contract manufacturing company to medical device companies that specializes in textile-based class I/II medical devices. Ryan joins Allie and Grace to talk about his role and project experiences.  For more information on The BME Grad Podcast, visit the Joint Department of BME at UNC and NC State's website: bme.unc.edu/home/news-events/the-bme-grad-podcast/ Connect with or reach out to Host, Allie Mitzak, on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/allie-mitzak

Allie and Grace explore the 5 main concentrations of BME and discuss that within these 5 concentrations BMEs typically take either a research or industry path. They further break down industry paths: departments and roles they see BMEs end up in and what those mean to a business.  For more information on The BME Grad Podcast, visit the Joint Department of BME at UNC and NC State's website: bme.unc.edu/home/news-events/the-bme-grad-podcast/ Connect with or reach out to Host, Allie Mitzak, on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/allie-mitzak

Philip Summers is a Software QA Engineer at FUJIFILM Medical Systems as well as a 2019 grad from the Joint Department of BME at UNC and NC State. Philip joins Allie and Grace to discuss his current role and his experiences previously in the Teleflex Summer Mentorship Program in Morrisville, North Carolina.  For more information on The BME Grad Podcast, visit the Joint Department of BME at UNC and NC State's website: bme.unc.edu/home/news-events/the-bme-grad-podcast/ Connect with or reach out to Host, Allie Mitzak, on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/allie-mitzak

Danlee Brown is 2020 alum of the Joint Program of Biomedical Engineering at UNC and NC State. Danlee joins Allie and Grace to discuss her career to date, including her role as a Validation Engineer at Barry-Wehmiller Design Group, and now, her role as an Associate Specialist, Engineering at Merck. For more information on The BME Grad Podcast, visit the Joint Department of BME at UNC and NC State's website: bme.unc.edu/home/news-events/the-bme-grad-podcast/ Connect with or reach out to Host, Allie Mitzak, on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/allie-mitzak

Maureen Desmond is a 2019 grad of the Joint Biomedical Engineering Program at UNC and NC State University. Maureen joins Allie and Grace to discuss her role as a Field Clinical Specialist for Cardiac Device Implants at Boston Scientific.  For more information on The BME Grad Podcast, visit the Joint Department of BME at UNC and NC State's website: bme.unc.edu/home/news-events/the-bme-grad-podcast/ Connect with or reach out to Host, Allie Mitzak, on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/allie-mitzak

Zane Kaiser graduated from the Joint Department of BME at UNC and NC State University in 2019. He is currently a Post Market Development, Nonconformance Engineer at Cook Medical, a privately held, global medical device manufacturer.  Zane joins Allie and Grace to talk about his role, and the benefits of exploring industry jobs before medical school. For more information on The BME Grad Podcast, visit the Joint Department of BME at UNC and NC State's website: bme.unc.edu/home/news-events/the-bme-grad-podcast/ Connect with or reach out to Host, Allie Mitzak, on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/allie-mitzak

Naji Husseini is an Associate Teaching Professor and Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at NC State University and UNC Chapel Hill.  Naji joins the show to discuss what his responsibilities are as BME teaching faculty, what he enjoys, and how he became a teaching professor - he also talks about how you can start building a career to teach BME at university yourself. Naji goes on to draw the distinctions and overlaps between teaching faculty and academia, and how this may differ from a career in industry. For more information on The BME Grad Podcast, visit the Joint Department of BME at UNC and NC State's website: bme.unc.edu/home/news-events/the-bme-grad-podcast/ Connect with or reach out to Host, Allie Mitzak, on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/allie-mitzak