Paging through women's magazines might not sound like engineering, but junior biomedical engineering major Ajay Raghavan sees the science behind the articles and advertisements. With a concentration in biomaterials and tissue engineering and interests in make-up and skin care, Ajay knows all about the biomedical background that goes into products like anti-aging creams and emollients.
While the beauty industry is traditionally rooted in chemical engineering — the occupation of Ajay's parents and the direction they were hoping he would go — he wanted to do something different. He chose biomed: "Technology and a lot of things are moving toward biomed. In chemical engineering, there will always be jobs available, but for the things that I want to do with my career, I think that this is definitely the right place to be."
Ajay became interested in biomed during his senior year of high school and was invited to a luncheon at Drexel where he talked to professors from the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems. He was impressed by the faculty’s dedication to their field and their research. Although he comes from a small town in Connecticut, he wasn't worried about adjusting to life in a big city and was eager for the academic challenges of the biomed coursework.
Naturally service-oriented, Ajay was excited to see the ways in which his major and classes also focus on helping others. He explains, "I'd like to think of us as the magic behind doctors if they were wizards, because the doctors use the technology, and they do a great job of it, but you need someone to really think of the patient and think of how they’re going to respond and what their needs are."
In addition to his schoolwork, Ajay is busy on campus as a teaching assistant for a civic engagement course, a member of the Foundation of Undergraduates for Sexual Equality (FUSE), and a member of weServe — a service organization for the biomedical engineering field.
An entrepreneur at heart, Ajay plans to continue his studies and get a master's in engineering or an MBA and then work for a large company like L'Oréal or Estée Lauder until he can branch out and start his own comparable company. While at Drexel, he’s hoping to arrange a co-op in Paris with one of these companies.
You can learn more about the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems and how you can combine your interests in class and during co-op.