Alumni

Samantha Planas

Samantha Planas is a Systems Engineer at Fresenius Kabi, where she specializes in new product development of devices that ensure a safe supply of blood and blood-derived therapeutics. Previously, she worked at Baxter and Fenwal in the areas of peritoneal dialysis, cellular therapies and therapeutic plasma exchange. Sam is currently the INCOSE Chicagoland Chapter president, previously serving as vice president, membership chair and communications chair. Prior to completing her MEM degree, Sam received a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Milwaukee School of Engineering.

Sam feels the MEM degree helped her to move up in the Fresenius Kabi organization. She received a promotion prior to graduation and has been given more technical leadership roles since completing the program.

Sam’s fondest memory of the MEM program is the coordination with her peers. Whether developing a marketing strategy for a healthcare advertising company, strategically managing an automotive company or patenting technology for consumer products, she enjoyed working with engineers from different industries and backgrounds to deliver an end product that leveraged each of their strengths.

Organizing for Innovation was Sam's favorite course, which bridged the gap between technical skills in courses like Decision Tools for Managers and the soft skills learned in Leadership and Organizational Behavior. It is this breadth of subject matter that offered her the greatest value in the MEM program.

Her advice to prospective MEM students is that the hardest part is getting started. Once enrolled, she found the program to be thoroughly engaging and applicable to her everyday work. Sam would advise students to see the program as a networking opportunity as well as an educational one.

Sam is currently the INCOSE Chicagoland Chapter president, previously serving as vice president, membership chair, and communications chair. Prior to completing her MEM, Sam received a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Milwaukee School of Engineering.