Life After Grad School Seminars | I’m no expert – embracing the dynamics of industrial research

You are an expert. At this moment, as a University of Michigan graduate student, you may be in fact, amongst the world’s experts in your field. It took hard work to get there – hours in the classroom, more hours in the lab – physical or virtual. Here you are – at the top of your game. Then you get a job in industry, and your first project – and it has very little to do with your expertise. It can be alarming and disarming. And it can be the start of an incredible ride and fulfilling career. In this edition of the Life After Graduate School seminar series, Joel will review how adaptability and agility have brought him opportunities he never imagined, and satisfaction he celebrates daily.

Bio: Joel McDonald is the Technical Director for Dow’s MobilityScience segment, where he leads Dow’s efforts to deliver innovative solutions to automakers and their suppliers worldwide. He has held a variety of technical and strategy leadership positions at Dow over the 16 years of his career, with a particular emphasis on battery materials, electronics, and coatings. Before Dow, Joel was a Senior Member of the Technical Staff at Sandia National Labs in New Mexico, where he explored fundamental reaction kinetics in energetic materials. Joel completed his PhD in Applied Physics at the University of Michigan in 2007 under the advisement of Prof. Steven Yalisove, where his dissertation focused on the interaction between ultrashort pulsed lasers and materials. A native of Michigan, Joel enjoys traveling adventures with his wife and two children, fishing the local rivers and streams with his dad and bud