My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 and battled it for 14 years. I was always captivated by the medical technologies used to fight the disease, and this played a huge role in my decision to study biomedical engineering. After graduation, I found myself working at an optics company where I could apply my knowledge in biomedical engineering while developing my skills in optics in order to help customers develop life-saving medical technologies.

My job is a bit unique as I am in the Engineering Leadership Program at Edmund Optics. I have the opportunity through this program to rotate through different departments to figure out where I am best suited, based on my interests and strengths. Currently, I am working in our Imaging Business Unit with a focus around microscopy. I have the opportunity to develop a business strategy for our microscopy products, learn how to bring a product line to the market, and test our products in the laboratory.

I think my greatest accomplishment in my career so far is the awareness around life sciences that I have created within my company. I am recognized as a subject-matter expert in this area after being at Edmund Optics for only two years. I’m very proud of this achievement, and hope to grow my reputation in this area across the wider optics community.

My biggest career challenge thus far has been having the confidence in myself to accept that I am where I am supposed to be. Coming from a non-optics background and being a woman in a male-dominated field has felt like a hurdle since I started working. What has helped me the most has been finding mentors who support me through my career, as well as making sure to speak up when I need guidance.

As engineers, we often feel that we should be the ones solving every problem, seeing it through to the end. In reality, our coworkers likely have already run into that problem themselves and have overcome it. That is why it’s important to ask for help, and I have found that I actually learn more by doing so.

My advice to women who are considering a career in STEM is to see if you can turn what you are passionate about into a career. Finding passion in your work can be very rewarding and makes you dig that much deeper into topics in which you are interested.

Rebecca Charboneau
Optical Engineer, Edmund Optics
Born in United States / Resides in United States
Educational Background: BS and MS in Biomedical Engineering, Rowan University, United States