MEM - Jaime Ristow

As an undergraduate student majoring in Industrial and Management Systems Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, I was able to build an engineering background that helped me start my career. Being involved in activities and organizations outside of my classes also played a big role in learning how to better communicate and work with others in teams.

One of my very favorite classes that helped prepare me for my career was the senior design class. The project I was given was to work with a local medical manufacturing company to optimize one of their production processes. Because of how much I enjoyed the overall experience, it led me to search for a career in the medical manufacturing industry.

I now work for a medical technology and manufacturing company called Becton Dickinson, based in Columbus, Nebraska at our Pharmaceutical Systems plant. I manage our engineering and technical team to make sure our manufacturing processes are running efficiently and producing high quality product every day. My team is also responsible for projects that can help improve our processes and create a better customer experience.

After some years working, I found I wanted to transition into the operations side of the business. I chose the online Master of Engineering Management degree at Nebraska, which felt like a great opportunity to learn more about business and operations within a technical field. What attracted me the most to the program was the flexibility you have in being able to customize your learning experience. I wanted become a better technical leader and get exposure to business courses I wasn't required to take during my undergraduate years. Through this program I was able to fulfill both of these goals.