PhD, Chemical Engineering 2010
MCSI IGERT FELLOW
When I was a student, I enjoyed hearing about the different paths alumni pursued after leaving Pitt. Since I graduated in 2010, I've been working in Research and Development at Avon Products, Inc. I began my career at Avon in the upstream research group, scouting for new technologies to drive performance in cosmetic and personal care products and conducting experiments both inside the lab and with consumers. I now lead the downstream product development in the eye and face color categories and the consumer-centric product design team for all color categories.
My experience as an IGERT Fellow in the MCSI has been invaluable to my professional journey. Sustainability is still a growing trend -a trend that I believe will become the new normal -and is now woven into consumer product design across all categories, from cosmetics to automotive to electronics. My formal education has made me more savvy in product life cycle analysis and has given me an edge over my colleagues who didn't have formal training. My experiences outside of the US, particularly conducting MSCI research at UNICAMP in Brazil, enable me to put a more global lens on product development, design and technology.