Reflection on my Practicum
For my Practicum, I interned at Potomac Photonics, a micro manufacturing company. While this was largely a technical internship fitting, I managed to convert it to an interdisciplinary falling in line with the Public Leadership practicum requirements. During my time at Potomac, I reported directly to the chief operating officer, the executive who manages the day-to-day at the company. By observing and debriefing his interactions with superiors and subordinates, I got a glimpse of a very specific area of leadership: leading in a highly technical, fast pace, results oriented environment. I learned that the intersection of these three components is a very tricky balance: you must be competent with interacting with people and machinery in a manner that does not delay customer orders. This is a skill that requires development of years in a position such as COO. However, it is simultaneously important to not lose your cool and understand your place as a supervisor. Regardless of how agitating a subordinate may be, it is imperative that you do not lose professionality in reprimanding them. But the inverse is also true: as a supervisor it is your job to reward subordinates for good work. In summary, it is your responsibility to maintain employee morale while keeping the organization moving forward.
Applications of my Practicum to my Career Path
The leadership takeaways from this internship are extremely applicable to my career. As someone currently working in a research lab and foresees himself conducting research in the future, knowing how to interact with others in a highly technical fast paced environment is extremely beneficial. In a field dominated by technically proficient individuals who lack people skills, I have found that this combination is the easiest way to stand out from the crowd. The fact of the matter is that someone who is great at science can write a great paper on the findings of their research. However, only those who also know how to communicate with others and lead in a scientific environment ever receive leadership roles. It is an imperative combination that I hope to continue to improve in my current position and future opportunities.
To demonstrate my development as a leader, I have linked a blog post I wrote during my time at Potomac Photonics. I believe that, in addition to the leadership skills I learned at Potomac, this blog post shows my commitment to scholarship and professionality in the field I wish to pursue after graduation. In the post I describe a technology I helped develop for Potomac relating the development of a microfluidic gradient for rapid prototyping. However, beyond the academic nature of the post, the research I conducted to get to a point where I can write anything publishable took weeks. During that time, I was given partial autonomy with experimentation. This freedom also came with the responsibility of seeking out those who can leave a positive impact on my project that I did not initially foresee. This experience showed me that the power of decision making also comes with the responsibility to know when you need help and seek it out.
To demonstrate my development as a leader, I have linked a blog post I wrote during my time at Potomac Photonics. I believe that, in addition to the leadership skills I learned at Potomac, this blog post shows my commitment to scholarship and professionality in the field I wish to pursue after graduation. In the post I describe a technology I helped develop for Potomac relating the development of a microfluidic gradient for rapid prototyping. However, beyond the academic nature of the post, the research I conducted to get to a point where I can write anything publishable took weeks. During that time, I was given partial autonomy with experimentation. This freedom also came with the responsibility of seeking out those who can leave a positive impact on my project that I did not initially foresee. This experience showed me that the power of decision making also comes with the responsibility to know when you need help and seek it out.
The Impact of the Public Leadership Program on my Leadership Style
After being a part of Public Leadership for two years, I have grown as a leader in ways I did not necessarily think I would going into the program. I learned, both in the classroom and through practice, that a large part of leadership is dealing with people. That being said, I also learned that a leader is different from a manager: a manager organizes people while a leader also inspires and cheerleads for those they manage. I have tried to incorporate this into my leadership style and how I portray myself to others when holding a position of authority. A great example of this is in my capacity as business manager of my a cappella group. As business leader, especially during a year where we are trying to re-emerge post covid, I am constantly communicating with prior clients and networking with new ones to expand opportunities for the group. Simultaneously, I contribute to group morale while also advising on personnel issues in my capacity as an executive-board member. I have no doubt that the lessons I learned in Public Leadership will apply to my future endeavors.
Life After Scholars
For the remainder of my time here at the University of Maryland I will most likely be conducting biomedical research. This semester, I was fortunate enough to be offered a position in the MEMS and Microfluidics Lab in the Fischell Center for Biomedical Devices and I am absolutely infatuated with the work I do. I see this is a very possible future career path for me and hope to apply the skills I learned in Public Leadership to the various projects I hope to work on.