Name: Seth Berbano
Year and semester of graduation: May 2011
Summary of career path: Went directly to grad school at Penn State (Ph.D. in Materials Sci. & Engr.), had a summer internship at Taiyo Yuden between my 4th and 5th year, and started with Murata in September 2016.
Current place of employment: Murata
Day-to-day tasks:
- Planning and performing hands-on laboratory research to make ceramics at lower temperatures (<300 C rather than 1000 C) and shorter times (<3 h rather than 20 h).
- Supporting university collaborations. Communicating project outcomes, opportunities, and challenges between professors, postdocs, grad students, industry managers, and industry engineers.
Both academia and industry are interested in the fundamental materials science questions that will make future products possible. Having a strong technical background gives you credibility when you work between academia and industry (whether you are in R&D, marketing, open innovation, an analyst, engineer, quality, or business development). Of course, entrepreneurship, government (policy, national labs), non-profits, and many other sectors will benefit from someone who knows their materials.
Fun fact: ISU alumnus and NFL quarterback Seneca Wallace attended one of my high school basketball games after he played in the Super Bowl.