Carnegie Mellon University

Integrated Innovation Institute

Engineering + Design + Business

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Students pose in a classroom with project sponsor, Jamie Talbert.

November 21, 2024

From Chemical Engineering to Product Innovation: A Career Pivot

By Mary Kilcoyne

Before arriving at the intersection of business, engineering, and design at the Integrated Innovation Institute, Jamie Talbert worked for over a decade in process engineering. 

It’s a common career path for chemical engineers that resides at a different intersection: materials science and mechanical engineering with a focus on manufacturing.

His first job was at Gore, the materials company known for Gore-Tex. His next career moves were a byproduct of actual moves—those necessitated by his wife’s graduate school studies and internship.

“My wife and I moved around a lot. Once she got a permanent job in North Carolina, I started working for a rubber contract manufacturer there, doing formulation and equipment work. After three years in an unairconditioned facility surrounded by machines running at 400 degrees, I was exhausted,” Jamie recalled.

A local opportunity in product development arose at VF Corporation—an apparel company that owns Vans, Timberland, and The North Face, among other brands. At the time, VF also owned Wrangler and Lee Jeans. 

That opportunity? Laundry Engineer.

“After 13 years of industry experience, I wanted to transition my career more towards product, and I knew I needed training in business and design. There’s often a huge gap between what marketing or product management wants and what engineers say is feasible. I saw that gap while working and felt like I could be the translator between Product Management and R&D/Product Development.

Students gather around a high-top table to dispense  paint onto paper plates
Jamie and classmates participate in orientation in August 2019.
A large pile of legos is in the center of the table; four students are visible and have started to build a structure.
His cohort was divided into groups for a team-building Lego challenge.

Jamie first considered academic options closer to home, like enrolling part-time at NC State. However, that would have taken an unappealing three to four years to complete. 

With his wife onboard to move again, the search radius expanded to the entire U.S. and, eventually, narrowed to three schools: CMU, MIT, and Michigan.

“I liked MIIPS most because it was balanced. I didn’t need more engineering education after my work experience.”  

Since the core curriculum of the Master of Integrated Innovation for Products & Services degree bridged the knowledge gap, Jamie strategically chose electives to boost his leadership skills and position him for management opportunities.

Of all his learnings, “people first” has been the key takeaway.

“I firmly believe that to have a successful product, it must be the right product for the right people. Technology should then enable that product to be realized.”

COVID-19 interrupted the degree milestones of Jamie’s last semester like the IPD Capstone presentation and graduation. 

“My team worked on a project with Emirates Airlines. What I remember most was the sheer amount of work that we put in and how exhausting that was. But then COVID changed everything.” 

Jamie was also chosen for the Student Leadership Award and delivered his acceptance speech during the Zoom diploma ceremony, a novel experience at the time.

Though the career transition that Jamie envisioned did not materialize immediately upon graduation, he was ready when the opportunity arose a year later.

“I took a job with Trex as a Materials R&D Engineer. Being in the building industry, Trex was actually growing during COVID. After about a year, a position opened for an Innovation Engineer, which I got. Since then, I have been working on a multitude of new projects, from new technology/equipment to designing new products.”

Jamie was promoted earlier this year to Senior R&D Engineer and is being mentored by his director to begin assuming managerial responsibilities.

What most excites him about his role is “the ability to create something new, and the potential impact I could have on our organization. A disruptive innovation could completely change the way an industry works, resulting in exponential growth.”

Life Beyond Work

talbert playing an acoustic guitar
In his spare time, Jamie is an avid musician.
talbert's 3 guitars upright in a stand
He designed and built these guitars. 
A gray and cream domestic long-haired cat sits on a green cushion
Ellie is Jamie's oldest cat and made the move from NC. 
A gray and black striped domestic short hair cat lays on its back
Tony is the family's newest edition.

iii: Why did you pitch Trex for IPD Capstone?

Two reasons: First, to expand our ability to research and understand opportunities that are too far outside of what we have the resources to do at the present. Second, to provide the opportunity for physical product design for the IPD program. (When I did the program, many of the products were digital or service.)

iii: Describe your experience with each phase.

The first and second phases were very good. I feel like the students still had good energy and they were eager to understand. I challenged them in a few areas, but they were very responsive. For phases three and four, I could tell that they were struggling both with their energy and also the tendencies that we all face in progressing down a path of our own choosing instead of consistently relying on previous research for guidance. But, the teams remained very responsive to challenges or suggestions.

iii: What’s it like being a sponsor? What did you learn?

It’s challenging in that I had to balance my organization’s need for good information and relevant concepts with the students’ need to learn. I really enjoyed guiding them and being able to provide advice.

iii: What expectations did you have?

Having been through the program, I felt like I had a pretty good baseline for what to expect - and most of that was correct. I knew there would be an initial learning curve, followed by eagerness to understand more, and then the inevitable roadblocks once they’re trying to get a real solution put together with a business model. I think my manager and VP were surprised by what saw. The approach and the quality were eye-opening.

iii: What value did the capstone project experience deliver to your company?

The biggest value to us was having a team of researchers pursue a topic with no prior reservations. Both our Innovation team and Product Management are so busy with our day-to-day tasks, that we just don’t have the resources to dedicate towards something like that.

iii: What would you tell other alumni who are considering pitching an IPD project?

It seems to work best when it is truly mutually beneficial and when there is a clear and specific problem to be solved. Going in with just a generic idea in mind is probably not going to work out as well for you as the sponsor or your organization.

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