Second-year MBA student Crystal Gilpin is going to work for Boston Scientific.

After earning her MBA in May 2007, Crystal Gilpin will head from the classroom into the operating room.

She's accepted a job as a technology representative with Boston Scientific, one of the world's largest manufacturers of medical devices. When doctors implant the company's pacemakers and defibrillators into cardiac patients, she'll be on hand during surgery to answer technical questions.

She says the job seems perfect for her because it will combine her desire to help people with her business know-how and biomedical engineering background. Gilpin, who interned with the company last summer, says she wouldn't have been a contender for a permanent position without an MBA, because Boston Scientific wants tech reps that can not only communicate with physicians, but also coordinate with the sales staff.

Her job will involve physician education about new products and patient follow-up. "I'm really looking forward to getting to work with the patients," says the 26-year-old native of Reston, Virginia.

"I've been blessed to have such a great education and meet the wonderful people who've encouraged me along the way," she says. "Hopefully, in the medical device industry, I'll be able to give back. My favorite quote is a Biblical verse: 'To whom much is given, much is required.'"

Gilpin once considered going to medical school but became more interested in biomedical design during her undergraduate studies at Virginia Tech, where she conducted research on cardiovascular mechanics. After graduation in 2002, she worked for a year at the U.S. Patent Office as an examiner of medical device applications before enrolling in Georgia Tech's master's program in mechanical engineering, which she completed in 2005 with a focus on cardiovascular mechanics.

A big part of what drew her to Georgia Tech was the opportunity to earn a certificate in Engineering Entrepreneurship through the engineering and business schools here. After she learned about the College of Management's dual-degree Technology Leadership Program, she decided to expand her business knowledge and professional opportunities by earning an MBA as well.

For Technology Leadership students, the number of hours required for the MBA is reduced because the coursework in the other graduate program counts as the special concentration area of study. Some students earn two degrees simultaneously, or like Gilpin, pursue them back to back.

Planning to eventually earn her doctorate, Gilpin is excited about growth opportunities in the medical device field. She hopes her role at Boston Scientific evolves into one in which she facilitates communication between doctors and engineers about how to make better medical devices. "I wouldn't actually be doing the designing, but translating what needs to be improved upon to the engineers," says Gilpin, who will be based in Washington with a region covering southern Maryland and northern Virginia.

She is thankful for all of the opportunities she's had to pursue her interest in entrepreneurship at the business school. President of the Entrepreneurship Club this year, Gilpin has participated in the Technological Innovation: Generating Economic Results (TI:GER) program, a unique collaboration between Georgia Tech and Emory Law School that brings together management, law, economics, science, and engineering graduate students in the classroom and research lab to learn how to move technologies into the marketplace. This spring, she'll also compete on teams in the Georgia Tech Business Plan Competition and Venture Capital Investment Competition.

"The MBA program has been even more than I thought it would be," she says

© 2012 Georgia Institute of Technology