01/26/2010

Industry Spotlight

Andrea Ippolito. As a research scientist at Boston Scientific Corporation in Massachusetts, Andrea Ippolito designs experimental assays to further understand the effects of drugs and materials from medical devices on cardiovascular cells. Her insights into the foreign-body response to medical devices will help engineering teams design safer, more-effective products. She was also identified by senior management to help lead a cross-divisional effort to develop collaboration networks across a $1 billion R&D organization.

At Boston Scientific, Andrea was chosen to launch and colead the women's network at the corporate headquarters. She became passionate about the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) as an undergraduate at Cornell, where she served as the organization's president at the school. As a professional, she serves as the first vice president for SWE Boston and leads the professional development events for the section. Her enthusiasm for her work in the bioengineering field led Andrea to found one of the first Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) industry chapters in Boston in 2008. In addition, she serves as a board member on the Cornell Club of Boston. At last year's BMES annual meeting, Andrea shared her experience as an emerging professional with students and graduate students during the meeting's Career Day.

"With their interdisciplinary education, collaborative spirit, and technical savvy, the next generation of biomedical engineers will help deliver more innovative solutions to solve and improve health-care-related problems," Andrea says. "As industry members, we need to reach out to students and recent graduates and help develop and cultivate their skills. This will take biomedical engineering to the highest level."