Alumni Profiles
Purdue's Engineering Management master's program is designed to give students depth of technical skills in engineering while building leadership skills, preparing them to take on management roles in industry. Due to the varied professional experience gained in this program, our engineering management students consistently secure competitive job offers from innovative companies and Fortune 500 corporations prior to graduation.
These are their testimonials.
2022
Vivek Arora
Graduated May 2022
Current: Amazon, Pathways Operations Manager
"As a Pathways Operations Manager, I drive creation of quality initiatives, process change initiatives, and other Lean initiatives to enable the functional area and the Fulfillment Center to meet and exceed business plan. My responsibilities include managing and leading a team of Area Managers, coaching and mentoring the team to ensure performance objectives are met, and building positive employee relations and leadership bench strength within the Fulfillment Center. Of my current projects, one that I am particularly excited about is working as Outbound Quality champion to ensure DPMO of the building is below the threshold.
Purdue MEM not only broadened my management skills, but it also deepened my critical thinking and engineering mindset. The combination of skills is a unique asset which is required to succeed in today's complex environment. The industry experience I gained through a year-long co-op is the USP of the program, which made me industry ready and prepared to excel at the highest level.
The experience at Purdue, where I learned how to be an engineering leader, has been the differentiating factor from other professionals. I am able to translate business-oriented goals and needs into actionable engineering strategies and projects more quickly, thereby effectively utilizing technical, financial and human resources.
Current Purdue MEM students should not only effectively utilize the world class resources offered by the program, but also build healthy relationships with their peers, professors, and mentors. Learning effective communication skills plays a great role in transitioning from pure engineering to engineering leader.
The thing I love about the Purdue MEM course is the emphasis on the development of students outside of academics. Sessions by Eric and Karen helped me think above and beyond, and pushed me and my fellow students to think like a leader. Purdue was definitely a HOME FAR AWAY FROM HOME. Definitely a top program for aspiring technical leaders.
Boiler Up!"
Sara Ghuratia
Graduated May 2022
Current: Barclays Corporate and Investment Bank, Business Analyst - Product Management
"I am currently a part of the Securitized Products team where, as a Business Analyst, I gather and analyze business and traders' requirements. I then define the requirements for the development teams by translating the functional requirements into technical specifications, this involves coordinating with teams across 3 regions - the US, Europe, and India. In addition, I also test out some of the critical features before releases, create documentation such as release notes, and report status to stakeholders.
My current project at the company is particularly exciting since a new trading platform is being built by our team to provide a single-channel view of trading parameters to traders, scaling the existing platform vertically and horizontally. This experience allows me to be closely involved in creating an end user-focused product while also gaining domain knowledge by understanding the nitty-grittys of financial products and their lifecycle.
What I enjoyed most about being a MEM student was that I got to attend classes at the Engineering and Management schools, which gave me the opportunity to interact with peers from not just my program, but other programs as well. And I have to mention all the free food and goodies at events around campus which was a lifesaver as a grad student!
My guidance for future Purdue MEM students is take advantage of all the services and facilities available to graduate students and the Purdue community in general. The Experiential Learning Initiative at the Daniels School of Business is a great program if you're interested in consulting. Attend career fairs and attend conferences such as Grace Hopper to network and get interviewing experience. Eric and Karen helped me out with resume reviews and structuring my coursework as well as getting connected to other alumni. There are plenty of graduate assistant positions at each school that you can apply to and help finance some part of your education.
I believe the skillset I developed was quite unique to me and helped me transition into a business-oriented role with a product focus. It complemented the skills I gained as a technology consultant in my previous role. As I build and grow in my career, I will continue to fall back on this skill set to add value to my role. The Purdue MEM program has enabled me to launch my career on the trajectory for which I was aiming."