A Myth-Busting Experience

Kyssia Ruth Mendoza (MBP ‘25) began her career believing two myths about what it meant to work in the sciences.

Her first thought was, to be a scientist, you had to work in a lab. The second was that scientists needed to develop a narrow niche to pursue professionally.

Mendoza was thrilled to see both beliefs were wrong. Now, after spending three years as a field application scientist, she is a student in Northwestern Engineering's Master of Biotechnology Program (MBP), where she plans to become a more well-rounded professional.

“I was surprised to learn that there are roles that exist for scientists where you don’t need to be at the lab bench everyday yet still are involved in the scientific process,” Mendoza said. “That was a really exciting discovery for me.”

Prior to joining MBP, Mendoza worked at 908 Devices, a Boston-based company that develops handheld and desktop devices to identify unknown and invisible materials. The company's life sciences division offered process analytical technologies for real-time monitoring of critical process parameters in manufacturing recombinant proteins.

In her role, Mendoza worked with the company’s bioprocessing division focused on biologics, cell therapy, and gene therapy. She provided hands-on customer training about how to use devices and software, optimized workflows, collaborated with the sales team, and communicated customer wins and challenges with internal stakeholders.

"In a nutshell, it required wearing many hats and an intuitive sense of problem solving," she said.

It was amid those myriad responsibilities when Mendoza busted her belief about needing a narrow niche.

“I had a misconception that you needed to specialize in only one or two skills and utilize those skills in whatever team you end up working in,” she said. “But I was often asked to work on projects that involved doing something I had little to no experience with. While there is still so much value in having a unique qualification or expertise, versatility and the ability to learn quickly and adapt to project needs is equally important.”

Increasing that versatility is why Mendoza turned to MBP.

She was initially attracted by the program’s reputation and distinguished faculty, all of whom bring their own notable academic or professional reputations to the classroom. Learning from industry innovators matters for students who want to find the greatest success in their careers, Mendoza said, whether their future is in academia or industry.

Mendoza is leaning toward the latter. She said she is exploring the possibility of becoming a product manager following her MBP graduation.

“My goal is to keep growing and making impactful contributions along the way,” she said. “I am more than confident that my experience as a field applications scientist coupled with my experience at MBP will equip me with a breadth of skill sets that I can employ in product management.”

Mendoza is excited about what’s to come during the remainder of her time in MBP.

She recently finished the Principles of Synthetic Biology course, taught by Professors Julius Lucks and Krishna Shrinivas. That class gave her a deeper and wider foundation in bioengineering, from DNA sequencing and artificial intelligence-guided protein design to cell-free biology and metabolic engineering.

It also taught her how to redesign biological systems to make a difference in the world around her.

“I’m looking forward to continuing to learn how synthetic biology can be harnessed in the advancement of cell and gene therapy and hopefully applying that knowledge in my research training,” she said. “At MBP, I can continue to expand my expertise in these innovative fields so that I can contribute more effectively to my future team.”

Mendoza is currently taking a product management course to help her toward what she believes will most likely be the next stop in her career.

“I’m developing core skills such as understanding customer needs, conducting research, and building market-ready products,” she said. “I will continue working toward my goal by understanding and analyzing customer challenges and crafting engineering-driven solutions to address those needs.”