One of the best marketing methods I have seen in the past few years has been on a weekly comedy podcast I listen to, Bill Burr’s Monday Morning Podcast. Ad reads, scripts sent by companies for the podcaster or radio…   Read more»

I have been working as an engineer in neuroimaging research for the past 5 years, and having a good relationship with sales rep has been a great boon to our research. The equipment we buy has a large ticket price($50000-$200000),…   Read more»

A hard to quantify method of marketing that I have usually had great interactions with is word of mouth. I was in the market for a new car recently, and through 2 separate people I was recommended to visit a…   Read more»

Both smaller and larger companies can offer great benefits for fresh graduates. Starting at a large company, you may have to start off with a lesser title, but after a few years you will be able to say you worked…   Read more»

While research labs may have more room for creativity and freedom, I believe there is some downside to this that corporations can avoid. In previous lectures, we have learned that oftentimes academics are free to take on as many projects…   Read more»

I do believe that engineering students should be required to take at least one or two courses on businesses and how they are run. Similar to quality control, if an engineer only thinks about the science of a product and…   Read more»

People that complain about the cost of quality have equivalents in every step of the process. For example, during development supervisors may suggest that certain statistical checks are irrelevant and that you should skip them and move along. During manufacturing…   Read more»

Regulation and Quality are 2 separate, but equally important processes of the medical device field. Government regulation is more concerned with devices being safe for human use and implantation, and ensuring that they will not cause harm. By the time…   Read more»

Before this lecture, I had a vague perception of quality being kind of an afterthought. This lecture has shone a light on how involved and important quality is as a department. I did not realize how detailed all of the…   Read more»

There is no way to avoid some amount of bias in any regulatory body. Because of the very nature of their  purpose, most employees of a regulatory agency are required to have experience or knowledge of the field they are…   Read more»

Human differences are not only a fact of the regulatory field, but a simple fact of human life. Being able to not only navigate differences in personality, but to be able to truly connect and communicate with people that are…   Read more»

At first thought, I kind of had the same reaction you did to a career in regulatory, meaning it didn’t hold much appeal. But after thinking about it, working in the regulatory field, even if only for a few years,…   Read more»

This is probably a big reason why you see tons of articles about the next big treatment for X or Y coming out, and then the treatment/device is never heard about again. Reproducibility is and always has been a huge…   Read more»

At first glance, biomaterial selection may seem like a simple process, you pick the material that fits your use case perfectly(lasts longer then you need it too, has no adverse effects in the body, low risk of breaking/failing, long history…   Read more»

This is a great question, and I think it has to do with the timeline of benefits, and how close the general public is to the use of the animal. In the case of food, almost all of the general…   Read more»

I think one of the best ways to stay on budget and on schedule is prudence and constant vigilance. As long as you are regularly meeting with people involved at all levels of the project, then you will recognize any…   Read more»

I don’t have industry experience, but I do have 5+ years working in research/academia and have worked under many different project managers of differing skill levels. I have found that no matter what the organization level of the PM is,…   Read more»

I think pushing scope can be a great thing, as long as you are not pushing deadlines past any hard points that were set during the Initiation and Planning stages. Whenever possible, cost/benefit analysis of adding scope should be done,…   Read more»

At 31 years old, with only Academia work experience so far, I still don’t think I have the answer to this question. There are a ton of things I love about working in academia: Work/Life Balance – Deadlines are for…   Read more»

I can’t say with any authority what the most important issue is that needs tackling by Biomedical Engineers, but I do think that rehabilitation is a very interesting field that can benefit a ton of people. I think a lot…   Read more»