What was your major at Drexel?
I moved to Philly in the Fall where I entered in Drexel’s Masters Degree program in Biomedical Engineering.
Why did you select your major?
Since high school, I loved biology, but I always had a soft spot for math. I realized that Biomedical engineering was the best fit and a blend of two. I was always amazed by the biomedical technologies from a simple glucometer to a complex MRI machine.
What were you looking for when you applied to the Coulter Fellows program?
I heard about the Coulter Fellows program opportunity from my professor who taught Entrepreneurship in Biomedical Engineering. When I read the responsibilities for the coulter fellow, I realized that this was the best opportunity to work with research teams, as well as understand the industry landscape for upcoming biomedical technologies. In addition, I would get hands on experience with the commercialization process in translating a technology from University labs to the real world.
What project(s) did you work on?
I have worked on three different projects. First, I worked on Non-Thermal Plasma technology where I evaluated the current market need of the technology, prepared the competitive landscape and identified the potential hurdles. My second project had me working on novel APS scaffolds for wound healing. For this project I worked with a senior entrepreneur in evaluating cost of goods and forecasted financial projects for preparing a business plan. Most recently, I have worked on polyurethane vascular graft technology where, I performed due diligence with the office of tech-transfer to understand the competitive landscape of the technology.
Why do you think being a Coulter Fellow was so valuable to you?
The experience of being a coulter fellow is valuable because I understood the translational phase of a new technology from academia to industry. I became more confident in talking with clinicians, Key Opinion Leaders and healthcare professionals. This experience helped me professionally and developed my overall personality. Recently, I was interviewed with a Strategic consulting company, where I could associate the coulter Fellow experience to answer case interview questions.
What did you find most interesting about the Coulter Fellow experience?
The most important of being a Coulter Fellow is that, I learned how to convert insights into data and synthesize the data for making a concise market research report. Every project I worked on was different and I was able to learn about something new in the current landscape of biomedical technologies.
Who do you think is a good fit for the fellows program?
In my opinion, if you are interested in wearing different hats i.e working on different project or an inclination towards commercialization aspect of the technology I feel this can make for a great fit. Any Engineering major or MBA graduate student can be a good fit for this program.
What do you feel you gained from the program?
I have gained additional skillsets which I don’t believe I would have obtained just by being an engineering student. I learned how to perform primary and secondary market analysis, how assess the commercial potential of the technology and how to best determine the market dynamics. I developed a strong business acumen to translate a technology. Furthermore, I was even trained on technology commercialization by an entrepreneurship professor where I learned about the lean start up methodology, which is a practice for developing products and businesses based on early customer feedback.