How MBP Opened My Eyes To Cutting-Edge Opportunities

Stephanie Wiegel (MBP '17) arrived at Northwestern's Master of Biotechnology program (MBP) prepared to hone her engineering and biological knowledge in order to prepare for a career in bio-pharma. What she discovered, though, was a plethora of new opportunities.

In addition to her core biotech education, Wiegel pursued multiple classes in Northwestern's Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and also did a product design independent study through the Segal Design Institute. 

Today, Wiegel works with robotics and surgical navigation as a senior product specialist at Medtronic. She started in her current role this past February. Wiegel recently took time to talk about what she does at Medtronic and how she applies lessons she learned during her time in MBP. 

What exactly are you doing in your current role at Medtronic? 

I'm an upstream product manager at Medtronic. Product managers are responsible for marketing of a specific product line.  Upstream marketing is all the marketing before a product launches and downstream is all the marketing after a product launches (think sales training and making brochures for downstream). Upstream marketing includes going out in the field, observing cases, going to conferences and talking to surgeons, assessing technology readiness (is augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) technology ready for the operating room?), completing strategic and financial assessments that help the company decide what new directions to take for a product line.  

So that's what an upstream product manager is. The product line that I work on is called the StealthStation by Medtronic. It's a surgical navigation device used by brain and spine surgeons.  It's like having GPS for surgery. A use-case example would be if a surgeon is planning a case where they will need to resect a brain tumor. They can't just open up the skull wide and cut the brain open to see where the tumor is. They will be operating through a tiny burr hole that their instruments can fit through, but they can't see anything with their eyes. Their "eyes" are the navigation device. Think of the pre-op CT or MRI as the map. The instruments are tracked (like the car or cell phone), and the satellite is an infrared camera on the StealthStation. 

What do you enjoy most about the job? 

There's a lot to enjoy! It's great working with team members who are so patient-focused and passionate about improving our technologies so patients can get better treatment. I also enjoy that a big part of my job is keeping up with new, cutting-edge technology to assess how we can incorporate it. This includes doing assessments and working with companies who work on AR/VR, machine learning, robotics, and data analytics. Every year, I go to the big consumer tech trade show in Silicon Valley and get to see the latest and greatest. As a technophile, I love this part of my job.

What led you to want to make the job change? 

I really enjoyed engineering and science in school, but being an engineer in real life just wasn't the same. It was repetitive. I spent a lot of time with CAD files and on a computer, and it really felt like the people and relationships side of my job was lacking. Marketing is a way better fit for me. I still get to use my technical skills, but now I'm out in the field more, talking to surgeons, talking to potential partner companies, working cross-functionally with engineers and other disciplines. 

How would you describe your MBP experience? 

EYE-OPENING! I went to a small rural high school with 86 people in my graduating class, then went to a small community college in Iowa, then went to a small state school in South Dakota before coming to Northwestern. I got a great education along the way, but it wasn't until MBP and Northwestern that I saw what was on the cutting edge in science, engineering, and entrepreneurship. Since the experience was so eye-opening, I found myself wanting to try a lot of new things while in the program. I got a great core education in biotech and bioprocess engineering, and I also got to try entrepreneurship, medical device / biomedical engineering and even got to dabble in design a bit. The flexibility of the program was perfect for me while I was going through a discovery time of my life.  

What are two or three of the most important lessons you learned in the program? 

How to work as a team and learning more about my own dynamics on a team. The team-building exercises in the program were so valuable and have helped me so much in getting started in my career. I learned a lot about research and engineering projects getting over 1,000 hours of hands-on experience. I even got to file a patent on my project! I also got to learn a lot about business and startups since I did both my research and internship with a biotech start-up that was associated with a Northwestern lab.  

How do you apply what you learned in MBP in your current job? 

While I don't use my technical knowledge of bioprocess engineering, I still used a lot of technical and soft skills learned in the program. The MBP curriculum focused on critical thinking and reasoning, which I still apply in my everyday work! I've even made an argument map, which we learned as a critical thinking tool in MBP, in a presentation to management to explain a new competitive strategy. MBP also introduced me to how to create forecasts and how technology gets commercialized from a corporate perspective.    

What advice would you give to a prospective student considering MBP? 

I highly recommend this program! It has something for everyone. It's great if you know you want a job as a bioprocess engineer, but it's also great for those who want the flexibility to explore and grow in new directions.  

Is there anything else you'd like to add? 

I loved that MBP was flexible enough for me to explore new areas of interest and curiosity. I don't think many grad programs are so flexible and have so many different areas to specialize in.