Chemical Engineer by Trade, Boiler Businessman to Be
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
“As a chemical engineer by trade, I was expecting my MBA program to be soft-skill focused. It’s not. Everything we do at Krannert is analytical, from evaluating probabilistic returns on investment, to planning employee engagement studies.”
With ambitions of leading a team or startup company focused on bringing life-changing biotechnology to the marketplace in the next 5 years, 1st year Full-Time MBA student Steve Sanders plans on continuing his path as a businessman and engineer while focusing on using his skills and experiences to better the state and country.
Thanks to Krannert, these ambitions are realities. With the various networking opportunities available within Krannert and the Purdue alumni pool, all Krannert Masters students have a solid foundation for landing their dream job. On top of attending networking events, career fairs and guest speaker visits, Sanders is currently in contact with alumni due to his close relationship with the KPDC (Krannert Professional Development Center).
During his first year at Krannert, Sanders leveraged his quantitative background and now serves as a Student Fund Manager for the Student Managed Investment Fund, a Volunteer at the Purdue Foundry and a Graduate Assistant for the Krannert Masters Recruiting team.
In addition to these opportunities, Sanders describes his most valuable out-of-classroom experience to date as the mock case competition Krannert hosted a couple months ago, in which he learned how to work cross-culturally and prepare an analytical solution under challenging time constraints.
As a native Hoosier hailing from Argos, Indiana, Sanders says one of the most eye-opening experiences during his time at Krannert has been learning about the cultural power distance that exists in other parts of the world. Sanders goes on to say that having such a diverse group of classmates makes professional and personal discussions “incredibly powerful.”
Along with it being a diverse and enriching community, Sanders describes the MBA program as analytical, professional and intense, stating the following:
“People are constantly working on homework, presentations or club activities. My typical day starts at 7:30 AM with emails and networking and ends at 8 PM with class follow-up work and planning for the next day.”
Sanders explains that behind the long hours of preparation is a community that is fully committed to high performance education.
“The members of our program are professional. Everyone here was a leader before they came and with Krannert’s expectation of professional conduct, the group functions at an incredible level.”
As the New Year kicks off, we expect nothing but the best for Sanders and look forward to the next checkpoint on his journey to success.