Alumni Profiles

Samantha, Wistia, Quality Engineer
Master’s program: Biomedical Engineering – Undergraduate Major: Stage Management

Samantha graduated from BU with an MEng in Biomedical Engineering. During the program she attended a LEAP event and made a connection with a former LEAPer who worked at MathWorks. This connection led her to landing an internship at MathWorks while she finished her degree. After her internship, she was hired and worked with the MATLAB Graphics team as a quality engineer for a little over three years. In 2017, she moved to new position in  MathWorks supporting the MATLAB Test Frameworks team. In July 2018, Samantha joined, Wistia, a video hosting startup in Cambridge as a quality engineer.

Sara Leski, ECMO Manufacturing Leader at Abiomed
Sara Leski, a former LEAP student,  graduated from Boston University  in 2018 with a Master’s degree of Manufacturing Engineering. While completing her last two semesters at BU, Sara was fortunate enough to be accepted as an Abiomed co-op manufacturing and engineering student. Through one of Sara’s previous work experiences, she made a friend that connected her with Abiomed, where she still works now. More..

Bradley, GE Aviation, Data Systems Lead Engineer
Master’s program: Mechanical Engineering – Undergraduate Major: Economics

Brad joined GE Aviation  in the Engine Systems group supporting numerous cost improvement initiatives for the F414 and F404 product lines.  After finishing his Master’s Degree, Brad joined the TF/TJ Performance Group.  In  this role he focused on engine test and cycle model development, supporting numerous production and development programs.
In 2017, Brad transitioned to a Lead Software Engineer in the Lynn Data Systems Group.  In this role he owns and develops the software that collects and processes engine data from all Lynn test cells.

Eliana, Smith & Nephew Endoscopy, Manufacturing Engineer
Master’s program: Mechanical Engineering – Undergraduate Major: Political Theory

 After graduating with a degree in political theory, Eliana pursued several other avenues of employment (finance, law, etc.) before returning to school for engineering. Currently, Eliana is a project manager with Smith & Nephew. After graduating from the program, Eliana was offered  a position as a project engineer working on large transfer programs and managing two recently hired project engineers. She then received the opportunity to move to the Global Process Optimization group as a project manager. In this role, Eliana manages and supports multi-site, global projects.

Gabriel, Pratt & Whitney, Structures Engineer
Master’s program: Mechanical Engineering – Undergraduate Major: Philosophy

Gabriel Smith earned his BA from Thomas Aquinas College, in a unique program most similar to a traditional major in Philosophy with a minor in Math. After graduating, he took a year off, and spent a year and a half in graduate studies for Philosophy before leaving to begin math prerequisites at a community college.

During his time at BU, Gabriel worked as a research assistant in the Mechanics of Slender Structures lab, where he was was mentored and contributed to publications. He completed his MS in Mechanical Engineering and  joined Pratt & Whitney as a Structures Engineer in the Advanced Engines Group, Compression Systems division. As a structures engineer his primary responsibility is performing structural analyses and evaluating them against fatigue, vibration, and static criteria.

Dana, Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP, Staff Scientist
Master’s program: Biomedical Engineering – Undergraduate Major: Biochemistry

Dana is a member of the Choate, Hall & Stewart’s Intellectual Property Department. Her academic training and professional experience in life sciences and engineering offer a unique perspective to a variety of clients. Dana is a biomedical engineer with a broad technical background. Her areas of experience include orthopedic, endovascular surgery, and surgical robotics supporting patent prosecution, landscape and freedom to operate analysis.

Michael, MITRE, Infrastructure Engineer
Master’s program: Computer Engineering – Undergraduate Major: Music

DuringMichael’s studies at Boston University, he interned at KPMG, analyzing data in support of a large-scale software test effort.  Following graduation, Michael began work at the MITRE Corporation as an Infrastructure Engineer, supporting teams developing networking and security solutions that allow federal government sponsors to conduct their missions under degraded conditions.  His current work includes modernizing command and control networks and designing moving target defenses for enterprise architectures.

Prior to becoming an engineer, Michael worked in music education and performance.  A trumpet player by training, he attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and currently performs with The Chicken Slacks, Boston’s hardest working funk, soul, and r+b band.