Panel: International postdocs transitioning into US industry positions

VP Director of Human Factors · J.S. Held LLC

Dr. Rauschenberger is presently VP Director of Human Factors at J.S. Held.  For the prior 15 years, he was a Principal Scientist at Exponent, where he oversaw the Centers for Scientific User Research (CSUR).  He received his Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from The Johns Hopkins University, after which he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Arizona, followed by appointments at the University of Arizona as Research Social Scientist, at Harvard as Associate, and MIT as Visiting Scholar.  Dr. Rauschenberger also held a position as adjunct professor at the School for Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT) at Simon Fraser University during his time as Principal Scientist at Siemens Corporate Research, which preceded his position at Exponent.  Dr. Rauschenberger serves as expert in litigation and performs product research at J.S. Held’s User Research Labs (URL), advising Fortune 100 clients on the safety and usability of their products.  He is the recipient of a research grant on nonlinear effects in visual search and object recognition from the National Science Foundation and serves as reviewer on three dozen journals, and has served on domestic and international grant selection and conference organizing committees.

Advanced Chemical Engineer · Eastman Chemical Company

Dr. Raghuram Thyagarajan is a Chemical Engineer by training and is currently employed at Eastman Chemical Company. He is part of the Scale-Up & Process Innovation Division. Dr. Thyagarajan obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where his thesis work focused on modeling self-assembly of soft-colloidal materials using molecular simulations and data mining techniques. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Minnesota and later at the Georgia Institute of Technology working on molecular modeling of nanoporous materials for chemical separations and advanced energy applications. Dr. Thyagarajan also served as the Managing Director of the UNCAGE-ME Energy Frontier Research Center, a multi-institution research consortium funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and led by Georgia Tech.

Founder and CEO · Propel Careers

Lauren is the co-founder and CEO of Propel Careers, a life science search and career development firm focused on connecting talented individuals with entrepreneurial life sciences companies (medical device, biotech, digital health, and diagnostics). She has recruited for > 60 innovative organizations to help them hire talent and has coached thousands of students, postdocs, medical residents and professionals to advance their careers since co-founding Propel in 2009. Lauren presents often on career development topics to inspire the next generation of talent.  Before Propel, she spent about 10 years in life sciences advancing drug molecules through SNBL USA, Aptuit, Quintiles, and Absorption Systems. She has a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Gettysburg College and an MBA (focused in the health sector and entrepreneurship) from Boston University.  She is on Boards including: MassBioEd (Chair), MassBio, National Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases Association; and Advisory Boards: the Professional Science Masters Program at Framingham State University and NE GWISE.  Lauren actively mentors young scientists through groups like the Association of Women in Science and The international center for professional development.

Optical Engineer · Meta

Dr. Nilesh Barange is an experienced research scientist/engineer with over 15 years of experience in thin-film optics and display technology, specializing in LED, OLED, AR/VR displays, CMOS image sensors, and semiconductor technologies. He earned his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Electronics in central India and, after working briefly in a research lab there, pursued a Doctorate in Semiconductor Physics in Seoul, South Korea. Following his Ph.D., he moved to North Carolina State University for a postdoctoral opportunity, collaborating with startups and the Georgia Institute of Technology. He then transitioned to the semiconductor industry and later to AR/VR display technology at Meta, where he works as a Display System Engineer on next-generation AR glasses. Throughout his career, he has been guided by mentors and friends and is committed to giving back to the community.