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HIGHL IGHTS A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | O C T O B E R 2 0 2 0 5 1 EMERGING PROFESSIONALS Graduate School to Industry: Transferable Skills Brittnee Mound-Watson, EPC Co-chair Recently on LinkedIn, I have hadmultiple graduate stu- dents reach out to me asking for advice on how to translate the skills developed in graduate school to an industry role. Here is a list of some of those skills that are transferable from academic life to working in industry: • Identifying a problem and having the motivation to solve it: Motivation is a key word here. Hiring managers want to hear about how you were curious about the issue at hand and what tools you used to obtain the information to solve the problem. To prepare for an interview, list some problems you solved and bullet points on how you solved them. In an interview, you may be asked why your research is important to them. This is an opportunity to showcase your research on the company and highlight your problem-solving abilities. • Organization: This is very simple, but I have learned that it is a skill that can set you apart from others on a team. As a graduate student, you have a lot going on: research, courses, conferences, professional society meetings, and football games. Discuss in an interview how you can manage multiple tasks at once and what you do to ensure each task is completed on time. • Documentation of technical instructions: As an engineer or research scientist, you will need to write standard operating procedure manuals on how to perform a process. Being able to accurately document and capture important steps in a process are needed skills in industry. Not all graduate students had the opportunity to write such manuals, but all graduate students had to write a dissertation or thesis. Demonstrate that you can communicate scientific results and technical instructions to a wide audience with various backgrounds. There are many more skills that could be listed. If you have anything else you would like to add, send Brittnee Mound-Watson a message through the Directory on ASM Connect! If interested in the EPC or helping with future emerging professional programming or projects, contact Drew Fleming at drew.fleming@asminternational.org. WOMEN IN ENGINEERING This profile series introduces lead- ing materials scientists from around the world who happen to be females. Here we speak with Patricia Silvana Carrizo, chemical engineer, National Technological University Mendoza Re- gional Faculty, Mendoza Province, Argentina. What does your typical workday look like? I teach in the department of chemical engineering at UTN FRM as Professor of Materials Science Practical Works, and I work as a researcher in the electromechanics depart- ment within the metallurgy laboratory year-round. What part of your job do you like most? I particularly enjoy working in the area of archaeomet- allurgy where I examine and investigate the past of historical metallic objects by studying how they were manufactured, and the processes and raw materials used. These analy- ses are also useful when teaching metallurgy and metallo- graphic techniques to students. The artifacts have a story to tell, and if you know how to read and more importantly interpret, you can extract very important information. Our metallurgy laboratory is a resource for failure analysis tests in the western part of the country, and I serve as a failure analyst mainly for the oil industries that bring their case studies to us. What is your greatest professional achievement? So far my greatest professional achievement was being hired by the Municipality of Luján de Cuyo to give advice and take charge of the restoration and external inspection of work on the old iron bridge over the Mendoza River, built in 1890. I enjoyed the magnitude of the work, the experi- ence, and even though I was in charge of around 25-30 men, they collaborated well and respected the protocols and the instructions that I gave them. To my surprise, the workers there told me, “Patricia, you are no longer a boss for us, we highly esteem you and you are already part of us!” Favorite motto or quote: “The eye never forgets what the heart has seen.” – African proverb Are you actively engaged with ASM or its affiliates? I have belonged to the ASM Failure Analysis Society on the International Relations Committee since 2019 and I’ve recently joined ASM’s IDEA Committee. Do you know someone who should be featured in an upcoming Women in Engineering profile? Contact Vicki Burt at vicki.burt@asminternational.org . Carrizo WOMEN IN ENGINEERING