Northrop Grumman, Environmental Health & Safety Engineer – “I was able to specialize and prove competency in my favorite subjects. My MSE also gave me the opportunity to teach and helped me stand out against job seekers with a couple of years of work experience.”
University of Michigan, MSE Industrial & Operations Engineering, 2018
University of Michigan, BSE Industrial & Operations Engineering, 2017
I took a variety of internships each summer between school years including data entry at a healthcare company in my hometown, an Ergonomics intern for the EHS department at U of M, and most recently a NIFS intern at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. I was interested in human factors and decided to do a one-year MSE program. I was able to specialize more in Human Factors (Cognitive Ergonomics, Biomechanics, and Inclusive Design), try out multidisciplinary product development, and take some BioMed classes to better prepare for the healthcare industry. While completing my Masters, I found a job as a Human Factors Engineer at Phillips Medisize in Hudson, Wisconsin, doing R&D for new medical devices. In the HFE role, I got to travel as far as Japan for user research and usability testing. After two years in the Twin Cities, I decided to move to Ogden, Utah and took a position as an EHS Engineer at Northrop Grumman where I manage ergonomics and work to continuously improve workplace safety while supporting the development of space systems.
How does your Master’s degree differentiate you from others?
I was able to specialize and prove competency in my favorite subjects. My MSE also gave me the opportunity to teach and helped me stand out against job seekers with a couple of years of work experience.
Reflection on Time Spent at U-M
I really enjoyed the Living Arts community in Bursley Hall. I made lasting friendships, and although we live all over the country, we still make time to visit each other. Some of us even play tabletop RPGs virtually.
My advice to students is don’t be afraid to add some fun extracurricular classes – whether it’s swimming, Congolese dance, video game music, or your required humanities electives, take advantage of your time at school and read, participate, and explore as much as you can!