Mechanical Engineering Overview - Overview PDF - PowerPoint - Podcast

	BS, Mechanical Engineering, California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo
	Biomedical Engineer, designing non-invasive instruments and tools for use by vascular surgeons in the treatment of blocked arteries; works with manufacturing personnel on issues of design for manufacturing and quality control.
	Lori found her job in a specialized field by expanding her job search, first by networking through members of the local ASME chapter, and second, by direct contacts with companies in her target industry.
	"To the women engineers, I just want to say, Stick with it. It's going to be challenging, it's going to be hard, but there are other people out there that have done it. I meet women that are 62 and were engineers way back when. And gosh, I think if I had to do it back then, it would be much harder. I think the world is really opening up to women in engineering. And it can be done. And I just encourage them to stick with it."

"I started going to school at Long Beach State. And at the time, I still didn't know I wanted to be a mechanical engineer. I tried zoology, because I liked animals. I tried architecture. I decided to do mechanical engineering because I've always enjoyed taking things apart, solving puzzles, solving problems. I enjoy picturing things spatially and in 3D and things like that. And that really drove me down the path of mechanical engineering."

"I used the career center at school a lot. And I really encourage people to use the career center. But I also went outside the school and sent letters to company. Actually, I drove up to the Bay area and just drove around and actually walked in the lobbies of some companies and said can I get a brochure? How can I find out about your company? You really have to be proactive. And the job's not going to come to you, you have to go find it. And that's how I found my current job, actually. By going outside of school and pursuing that."

"And doctors will come in and they'll tell you, you know, we're having difficulty with this type of surgery and, you know, we'd like to develop a better way to do this surgery. So immediately we hit the drawing board and say, okay, how can we develop a product to do this? Engineers do a lot of designing, a lot of testing, especially in biomedical. You have to prove the safety of your device, that it's not going to hurt anybody, that it'll do what you say it's going to do."

"My first week on the job, there was a lot of learning, a lot of training. I had a lot of manuals to read through, and just a lot of getting up to speed on the devices. Just learning about company culture, because that's something they don't teach you in school."

"I think I'm still adjusting to the real world. Since I've only been out for two and a half years, it's like, you know, let's keep the ball rolling here. I think just recently, I've started to realize I need to start thinking about my next goals. It could be grad school, because I want to further my education. Part of me says I'm happy what I'm doing and this will last me for a while. But the other half of me says you got to think about the future. You're not going to be able to just sit where you're at right now forever."

"There is life outside engineering. It's as much as you make of it. I think it's very important to have hobbies and to have an outside world. We go mountain-bike riding, we do sailing. Skiing in the wintertime. I enjoy gardening, I've discovered gardening therapy. It's a great way to just get your mind off things."

Q: What is vascular intervention?
Laird: Vascular intervention. It is obstruction in the arteries or of the vascular system of your body. So a lot of our focus is removing plaque or opening up arteries that have become clogged with plaque. You've heard of the term "clogged arteries?" We develop tools to remove that plaque and open up the passageway.

Q: And you're a mechanical engineer?
Laird: Mm-hm. Mechanical engineer.

Q: How do you get from there to here?
Laird: How do you get from mechanical engineering to biomedical? Well, in school I studied general mechanical engineering. And did an emphasis on biomedical. I took more design classes. I took extra biology classes, physiology. A lot of schools now have programs that you can get a degree in biomedical engineering. Where I went to school, they didn't have that. So I kind of had to create my own degree. And I did senior projects in that area. Did design projects involving biomedical or prosthetics and things like that.

Q: Have you met other mechanical engineers in the biomedical field?
Laird: Yeah, it's a growing area, I think. Most of the people that work in my company are just mechanical engineers. But it's a growing field. There's a lot of people in this area. And it's kind of a "neat" community. You start to see the same people again and they all rotate around.

Q: And what did you think -- what was your comprehension while you were a student what engineering was and what engineering did and how was that different from what you found?
Laird: I wasn't quite sure what an engineer did when I was in school. I thought they solved problems, which is pretty much what they do, but I think I was mostly focused on how do I obtain as much knowledge as I can. And you know, "When I get to the real world, I'll figure that one out."

Q: So what do engineers do?
Laird: What do engineers do? They solve problems, I think. And in my field, we make people's lives better. And that's what I like about biomedical is, you know, you're saving somebody's life. And it really makes your job worthwhile, especially when you have a doctor come in and they'll tell you, "We're having difficulty with this type of surgery and, you know, we'd like to develop a better way to do this surgery." So immediately we hit the drawing board and say, "OK, how can we develop a product to do this?" Engineers do a lot of designing, a lot of testing, especially in biomedical. You have to prove the safety of your device, that it's not going to hurt anybody, that it'll do what you say it's going to do. So there's a lot of testing involved. That's what a lot of my job is, doing all the testing.

Q: Have you been in surgery?
Laird: Yes, I have. It's really fascinating. We do get the opportunity to go watch the procedures. And it kind of wraps everything up and it tells you, "This is what my job's about," and it really makes it rewarding. We get the opportunity to stand in the "cath" lab behind the doctor. What's really neat about our devices is they're non-invasive. So I could walk in there in my street clothes and stand over the doctor's shoulder and watch him do the surgery. And you get a real feel for what your job's about.

Q: Now, do you have a Master's degree?
Laird: I have an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering. I'm still thinking about pursuing a Master's degree, either in biomedical or possibly in engineering management.

Q: Interesting choice, whether you go technical or non-technical. Talk about that.
Laird: Yeah, I've been out of school for about two and a half years and I'm still trying to decide if I want to go technical or managerial. I enjoy working with people; I enjoy the "people-aspect" of engineering. So I think I'm leaning more towards that way. But there are so many interesting things in the biomedical field and there's so much more to learn that, you know, I'm kind of on the fence about it.

Q: If somebody's interested, perhaps, in biomedical and mechanical engineering student, where should they go to find their information?
Laird: I found out a lot of information by talking to my professors. There was one professor at my school, his focus was biomedical, and I talked to him a lot about "How do I get into this field? What do biomedical engineers do?" I researched a lot of companies, especially when I was looking for my job, my first job. I researched the companies that focused on biotechnology and things like that. There's actually, I think, like an encyclopedia of medical-device companies. And it's just, you know, one main source for all that information.

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