Rebecca Volovsek '00
Marketing Product Manager
Position Description:
I work in the life science industry for a company that makes telemetry and physiologic monitoring equipment mainly used in medical research. In my position, I work to understand existing and prospective customers' needs and desires for products and what the products allow them to do. I make proposals for how meeting those product needs would be good for our business. I then work to translate needs into requirements that product development engineers can use to define a new product or product improvement. I work closely with engineers throughout the product development to make trade-off decisions and work with customers to get feedback on design prototypes. As a product approaches development completion, I work on commercialization plans that cover all aspects of how the product will be delivered to the market.
Necessary education or experience:
At my company, all the product managers have engineering degrees, but this is pretty unusual. At most companies, product managers have business degrees.
A variety of work experience is useful, such as technical support, sales, marketing communications, operations, product development since all of these give different insights into the use of a product and its potential market success. For my particular industry, my BS and MS degrees in biomedical engineering give me credentials with lifescience researchers and product development engineers. I have had to work on learning the ‘business' skills.
Key skills that are necessary to be successful in your position:
Strong communication skills: I need to effectively communicate with management, engineers, sales reps, and customers. All of these groups need different information at different times and usually presented in different ways. I need to be able to write and present clearly AND listen well.
Strong problem-solving skills: you use these skills whether you're trying to find a solution to a product design problem or determining how to improve sales of a newly launched product.
A description of your path to your current position:
I attended graduate school full time for two years before joining the tech support dept of my company. After 15 months, I moved into product management and have been doing that since. I finished my MS degree part time.
Good (and bad) aspects of your current position:
Work is different every day. This keeps work interesting but can make task/time management more difficult. Another challenge is making recommendations for which projects should go forward - we always have way more product ideas than we have people or money to work on them. But this is a good problem to have.
What do you enjoy about your current position?
I enjoy working on a project from its infancy as a concept to seeing the product succeed in the market.
On MSOE and Biomedical Engineering
Do you think a degree in BE is a good choice?
Yes, especially if you enjoy math, physics, chemistry and biology, since it is combination of these disciplines. Also, the medical field and especially the medical device industry, continues to grow.
Do you think MSOE is a good choice of colleges?
Yes. I appreciated the labs and hands-on experience I received at MSOE, and
especially the work on my senior design project.
Why did you choose MSOE's BE program?
It's strong reputation, the fact that I didn't have to pick a specialty. Coming into MSOE, I would never have guessed I would have liked any electrical engineering class, but those turned out to be some of my favorites. If I would have had to pick a specialty too soon, I might never have realized this.
What did you like about MSOE?
I really appreciated that the teachers were most concerned that you learned
the material, and made great efforts to explain the material in different
ways until you understood it. I liked being able to actually work with the
professor when you needed help with homework.
What did you like about the BE program?
The professors were excellent. The senior design experience also is very unique
since you start the project when you are a freshman. You are exposed to many of
the realities of work place research and development.
What did you like about the student activities and student life at MSOE?
I enjoyed playing on the women's soccer team and participating in intramural sports.
Now that you have graduated and are in the workforce, are
you happy with the education that you received in the BE program at MSOE?
Very happy. I think it gave me a solid command of engineering principles and problem solving. I continue to appreciate how much I understood about good design process upon starting my career. A good foundation makes trying to improving my performance easier.
| For information about MSOE's B.S. in Biomedical Engineering program, contact interim program director Dr. Charles Tritt at (414) 277-7421. |