Patricia Rodrigues
Medical Device Developer in a Research Environment
I would call myself a hopeless generalist with the dream to specialise in everything! That is why I chose to become a biomedical engineer – I would still learn a bit of everything with a focus on healthcare. After graduation, I worked as a parts engineer in the semiconductor industry because I wanted to learn more about the most technical side of the industry. This experience allowed me to know that I need to work in a place that aligns more with my values of using my time to make a clear difference in people’s lives. Since then, I have been working in the medical device environment, which fits much closer with my background and my personal goals. And even though, healthcare was my first love I am now looking to integrate my passion for sustainability into my work as well.
What advice would you give to a young professional interested in following your steps?
To anyone starting right now, I would say reach out to other professionals who are doing what you think you want to do – there can be many misconceptions between the job title and the actual job and nobody will know that better than someone actually doing it! If you are looking for a job in Academia, I would say that you should research very well what kind of research group you are joining – what is their expertise? What kind of scientific articles are they publishing? That will be a very good indicator of the areas where you can expect support during your project or where you will need a lot more autonomous learning. Plus, you can understand if their research is more applied or more theoretical (though there might be room for both). In any case, consider how much do you like to work by yourself (as opposed to a team environment) – this can have positives (like being able to perform many different tasks and taking the lead in the project) and negatives (you need to figure out a lot by yourself and it can get lonely). Knowing if this type of environment helps you thrive can make your decision easier.
In just one sentence, why do you want to be a Kickigai ambassador?
I know first-hand what the impact of being stuck doing something you don’t like is. I hope sharing my experience can shine some light and help in finding the right path for you.
I can help with:
Basics of Solidworks and CAD design; 3D Printing; Basics of Lean Six Sigma; Early Stage Development of Medical Devices; Risk Analysis; Ultrasound and MRI; Workshop Facilitation; Presentation/Communication skills; Shifting from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset
Languages:
Portuguese and English (fluent), Spanish and Dutch (intermediate)
