Biotechnology

How did BSE prepare you for where you are now? - I believe BSE was the perfect degree to launch my career since I could “personalize” my degree by selecting the Biotechnology pathway and filling my required and elective courses with topics that I still use in my day-to-day job. Unit operations taught me filtration principles I use today, I was hands-on running gel electrophoresis in my BSE labs, learned theories of chromatography – the list goes on and on!

Your day-to-day - I am a process development scientist helping customers create purification processes to transfer to manufacturing. I generally work from home until a customer comes to me wanting to implement a new technology or they are having an issue, and then I go to their site and do lab work/studies to help develop that process or fix the issue. I think of myself as a lab on wheels. I cover the Southeast USA so I get to travel to different customer sites in my region which is fun meeting new people all the time and I get to work on some REALLY cool therapeutics (vaccines, monoclonal antibody therapies, allergen shots). I love the company I work for, I have good work-life balance, and I feel respected in my position. 

Favorite classes from undergrad – Organic Chemistry 1 & 2, Fluid Mechanics, and Protein Separation Engineering.

Take a chance on a class that sounds intriguing to you, undergraduate research that sparks an interest, and internships and co-ops that challenge you to find what you are truly passionate about. BSE gave me the opportunity to find that I’m truly passionate about helping develop different therapeutics and medicines for patients worldwide.