I arrived at Notre Dame with a dream of embarking on a career in management consulting. My education through the MBA/MSBA dual degree program is setting me up for success on the academic level of management sciences. However, as a mechanical engineer by education and profession, I have realized that I need more than classroom training and peer learning to effectively transition into the management world. When looking at the opportunities to enhance my leadership and analytical skills on the managerial front, I believed that the internship opportunity offered by the IDEA Center aptly complimented and augmented my existing skill set. With the aim to make a mark in the American business world, I realized it was essential to learn more about the landscape while also improving my business acumen.
My curiosity served me well in my Technical Market Analyst role, where I have collaborated with inventors and faculty on assessing the commercial viability of their research work. As a technical market analyst, I worked on risk assessment of the idea through primary market research, inventor team collaboration and competitive benchmarking. I believe that the role has helped me hone skills that became assets during my summer internship at PwC.
Coming from an engineering consulting background, I found it easy to establish strong relationships with the inventor teams. That being said, the role posed several challenges. Working with seasoned faculty members on innovations across diverse fields was both exciting and challenging. Despite being a technology enthusiast and engineer, I found the learning curve to be steep when it came to understanding the nuances of the novelty of the inventions. Thanks to the guidance of Kunigunda Szentes, New Venture Development and Invention Program Manager, I was able to succeed in these challenges and gain greater confidence in my abilities.
My experience in the IDEA Center role paved the way for my successful summer internship experience at PwC under their Deals platform. I felt comfortable dealing with the ambiguity inherent in a large pharmaceutical post-merger integration process. The IDEA Center gave me a platform for both experimentation and exploration. My MBA education wouldn’t have been complete without this platform where I have been able to see the real time impact of managerial frameworks that were taught in classroom.
For a person like me who is interested in Consulting, desires a career of constant learning, and is highly focused on interpersonal relationships, the IDEA Center is a natural fit. After Graduation, I will be joining the Deals Platform at PwC.