INTERVIEW
In today’s busy world of technology, we were fortunate enough to spend a little of our time having a very pleasant interactive session with Mr. Andrew Upton, Managing Director of the Seaward Group and Mr. Vinoj Purushothaman, the CEO and Managing Director of Oregon Healthcare, representative of Rigel Medical in India and neighboring countries. Rigel Medical is a division of Seaward Group which manufacturers biomedical testing equipments. Here’s what they have got to share with the future engineers.
Q. What is your current outlook on the field of Biomedical Engineering?
Upton: I’ve been in and out of India for 17 years and I’ve seen a great change in infrastructure and progress as compared to early changes. There has been a drastic improvement in living standards and lifestyle here. We are currently witnessing an exponential start. Lack of engineers having enough skills is one of the few problems that we face nowadays. We are still struggling to get a good handhold in this market.
Purushothaman: In the last two years we have seen a tremendous growth and we now see very high potential towards quality and calibration in this country.
Q. Are startups good or bad? In your opinion, what are the basic skills that we as engineers need?
Purushothaman: The most important skill that I can think of is smartness. It involves meeting the right people at the right time. One must have a very good concept. And it must must come early, that is by your 6th semester. Effort can bring it if that is the time. Another thing to note is that in interviews or when you present your ideas in places for stuff like jobs or investments, you may or may not get called back. But that doesn’t mean you should stop trying. Linkedin is a very important part of your lives. Through that you must let others know what you are doing without backing away from it.
Q. What is your inspiration to be in this field?
Upton: We are people who can be said to be literally said to living in the market. We spend a lot of time in the field. The main objective of course is to have fun. There is lots and lots of demand in this field. Time is critical. Work efficiently. People that have weight become tired easily(People that have external factors such as stress, overwork, etc ).
Q. Which is the hardest — Finding a problem or the solution?
Purushothaman: It’s somewhere in between. It’s like the old story of designing a very high tech pen to take to space instead of just sending a pencil. We need simple solutions. In the olden times service used to be in the components level. Now nobody has the time for that sort of stuff. Now if I want you to test something, i just want you to point out the part that has been damaged, instead of pointing out the component like for example the resistor. There is absolutely no need of over engineering and there is zero tolerance for it in the field.
Q. When you were in college or before it, did you have any interest in the field that you currently work in?
Purushothaman: When I was in college, my interests were different. You may just ask your lecturers. *laughs* I was just an average student. See, if you have an idea in your head, it must not stay there. It must come out of your mouth.
Q. Is there any project that you are particularly excited about?
Purushothaman: I do have one, but I am not in the liberty to discuss about it. I will inform you all through the channels in your college as soon as it’s all been sorted out as soon as possible.
We express our sincere gratitude towards Mr. Andrew Upton and Mr. Vinoj Purushothaman for their generosity in spending time speaking with us and sharing their insights in building a career. We are extremely grateful that they took their time to steer us in the right direction. Thank you.
