My first week at Boston Scientific is complete! A surprising challenge this week was to reflect on the experience; I think this is because the project I’m joining encompasses topics and skills that are new to me, and because I did a lot of acclimating and learning by observation. This certainly contrasts with the creative output of last week’s design course. The end-of-week assignment was to formulate well-defined goals for the summer, which helped me focus on what I aim to accomplish as I look forward to the next seven weeks.
What I can say about my project is that I’m working on a cool product with neat people in the Process Development department. The product is a guidewire, and it’s at a stage of development that involves various other skills and departments. I interact with quality engineers, spend time on the production floor, see products go through newly designed process units, check product specifications, and later in the summer, I’ll validate production units. Of course, there’s also plenty of paperwork to go along with this, which brings me to the more immediate part of the internship – training.
I’ve got a long list of training documents to complete. At first, I was intimidated when my supervisor told me I would spend a month in training, but then I took it as a challenge to get it done faster. Also, my supervisor explained the special importance of training for me. She wants me to contribute and get experience by completing work that full-time engineers do, and in order for me to contribute acceptable work, I need to be instructed properly. I’m thankful that my supervisor has a great vision and really cares about me. She has already advised me on strategically getting trained so I can start using one skill while continuing to train on another skill.
I also am working with other process development engineers who have been helpful and kind. With processes or information that’s new, and especially with Spanish, people have been inclusive and patient to explain what I need to know. Workplace culture is another factor. I’ve noticed that things get done with less urgency than I expected from a corporate atmosphere. Projects still move ahead, but it will be a helpful training exercise to self-motivate and to keep up my personal productivity and healthy sense of urgency. I hope my supervisors will see this as a positive attribute and not as a divisive point, especially if I elect to work while others take a break. Again, navigating this will be good practice for tactfully handling real-world situations. More details to come next week once I get underway with more project-specific work!
In the meantime, the adventure of the week was a Saturday outing to Irazú Volcano with some friends from work and from last week’s class. The views were incredible, and both the flowers and the earth were sporting vibrant colors. Plus, there was fun terrain to climb and jump on. Here are some of us just monkeying around!
