Academia, Industry, or Other?
Considering their future career options, many PhD students can imagine a daunting fork in the road: choosing between a career in industry or academia. For these students, however, career opportunities for bioengineering students aren’t limited to just these two options—and we’ve called in some experts to shine a light on these opportunities.
Five bioengineering professionals who work in non-profit and government roles joined a professional development panel to give their career tips, wisdom and advice to bioengineering PhD students at the Swanson School of Engineering. One in particular, Mahiyar Nasarwanji, talked about that fork in the road and how it helped him understand his future.
“Toward the end of my PhD, I struggled to figure out what I wanted to do,” Nasarwanji said. “I thought I could do industry work, which a lot of my peers were doing, or look for academic positions as a professor, but I didn't really enjoy industry because of my interest in research, and I felt like academia was so demanding.”
Ultimately, Nasarwanji ended up choosing neither and landed a job with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As a student, he was working on a NIOSH-funded project with his advisor when he decided to reach out to a NIOSH collaborator and inquired about employment.
Nasarwanji is now in his tenth year and is a senior service fellow who works to improve the health and safety of those working in the mining industry by using his expertise in human factors, ergonomics and musculoskeletal disorders for injury prevention. What he enjoys about his career is being able to work a traditional job while still pursuing research.
“My favorite part of my job is helping people—I think it's really rewarding when you can take what you've learned and actually apply it to change somebody's life,” Nasarwanji said. “I truly enjoy the whole scientific process and figuring out a way to answer questions, and then providing evidence-based information to the industry to help improve health and safety.”
Nasarwanji also emphasized that federal bioengineering jobs are available to non-U.S. citizens, and that current salary information is publicly available on the U.S Office of Personnel Management website. Other panelists at the session included Anahid Ebrahimi, Health Program Specialist at National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), Laurie Meszaros Dearolf, Operations & Administration Manager at the Bethel Musculoskeletal Research Center, and Fernando Aguel, former Assistant Division Director of the Office of Cardiovascular Devices at the FDA and current Vice President of Heart Failure & Circulatory Support Regulatory Affairs at MCRA, LLC.
These panelists spoke about their personal career journeys and encouraged students to:
- Research and connect with people who interest them on Linkedin
- Take advantage of their current Pitt connections and alumni network
- Explore different types of fellowship opportunities
- Have grace with themselves if they “fall out of love” with their envisioned career path
- Stay true to their passions and research interests
The panel was moderated by Kurt Beschorner, associate professor of bioengineering and associate chair of graduate student professional development, who encourages students to think outside of the box when exploring their future opportunities. Like Nasarwanji, Beschorner’s research is in health and safety, particularly preventing slips, trips, and falls.
“Don’t limit your options prematurely,” Beschorner said. “Many students are unaware of career opportunities in government and nonprofit organizations and can overlook other compelling opportunities. Having conversations with people in a wide variety of careers can help you understand how they selected their careers and can help you figure out what is important in your own life.”
A full recording of the panel can be found on Panopto.