In November, over 100 members of the Rensselaer community gathered for the Life Sciences Business Symposium presented by the Lally School of Management in collaboration with the Center for Career and Professional Development. The event included a panel discussion with representatives from Regeneron, Curia, and AngioDynamics, followed by a networking opportunity with 15 participating life science companies with internship, co-op, and full-time openings.

“The sage and honest advice offered by our panelists at the Life Sciences Business Symposium was valuable for Rensselaer students,” said Brett Orzechowski, lecturer in the Lally School of Management and program administrator of the MBA in Life Sciences Entrepreneurship. “There are so many regional career opportunities in fields like medical device production, pharmaceutical sales and development, machine learning and artificial intelligence, business analytics, and more, and our students are being educated to marry their scientific and technological skills with business acumen to fill these important roles. This event offered an insider’s perspective on what hard and soft skills give candidates an edge in these fields.”

Jamie Grabowski, vice president of portfolio and sourcing at Curia, lent his perspective in the panel discussion.

“The main message I tried to share was to be hard-working, focused, and constantly check where you are and where you want to go in your career,” Grabowski said.  “Career paths are never a straight line.  You need to be flexible and prepared, through development and hard work, to be ready for an opportunity when it becomes available.”

Julianna Manning, Rensselaer’s associate director of employer relations, oversaw the networking portion of the event.

“I was extremely impressed with the professionalism and enthusiasm that our students showed in engaging with the company representatives, and enjoyed getting to be a fly on the wall for the many fascinating conversations that were taking place,” Manning said. “My hope is that some lasting connections were made and that our students were able to gain confidence and clarity in pursuing their own unique career goals.”