Jade Jaiyesimi, a fourth-year biomedical engineering student, has been selected as a 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit Scholar. She is one of 1,000 students to receive the scholar designation, which will fund her attendance at the 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit in Detroit, October 27-30, 2019. The four-day event features speakers involved in technology, healthcare, science, and innovation.
Jaiyesimi, whose focus is on computational biomedical engineering, plans to go into industry upon graduating in December 2020. During her sophomore year, she landed a summer internship with Pfizer and this past summer, she participated in a remote hardware product sprint program with Google. She’s already using resources like LinkedIn to go after internships and practice going after industry jobs. In fact, she found out about the Forbes scholarship opportunity through LinkedIn.
“I was applying for a summer internship with Microsoft, and one of the people I connected with suggested I apply to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit Scholar program,” Jaiyesimi says.
The Forbes Scholar program was interested in finding out about Jaiyesimi’s impact and what motivates her.
“I’m passionate about access, using technology, and using my education in biomedical engineering to impact as many people as possible,” Jaiyesimi says.
Her actions match her words. She has been actively involved in K-12 outreach with the National Society of Black Engineers, and more recently, a new student organization offshoot, Black Women in Science and Engineering.
“A lot of times with these engineering outreach events, we cater to young males in these schools, but it’s important to me to make girls, especially girls of color, feel welcome in STEM too.”
Jaiyesimi in part credits her mother’s involvement in STEM with prompting her decision to choose biomedical engineering as a career path.
“My mom is a physician, a geriatrician, specifically. She didn’t push me into the medical arena, but I saw that she liked what she did, and I knew I wanted to be involved with medicine somehow. I like how biomedical engineering combines technology with medicine. It’s innovative, and I know I’ll never be bored,” she says.
Jaiyesimi also credits emulating others who are successful with leading her to her own accomplishments. She learned about the importance of networking from a graduate student who told her he had more success in finding a job by connecting with people than he did through online applications alone.
Her advice to classmates: “Use LinkedIn to get your name out there. Don’t be afraid to talk to people who work at companies you’re interested in. When you’re applying for jobs online, it’s a black hole. Employers can’t see who you really are, but by connecting with people and striking up conversations on LinkedIn, you can get around that.”
