Allison Peckham, Manager, Research & Development

"I encourage you to really consider how you learn best."

Education

• MBA, Syracuse University School of Management, 2002
• Master of Science in Engineering Management, New Jersey Institute of Technology, 1991
• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, 1987

What I Do
Manager, research and development (R&D) for the home healthcare group within a medical device company
New Jersey, USA

I am responsible for the team of people who design and develop home healthcare products and their packaging components. I am in meetings about 50% of the time, with a variety of people, including project teams, other R&D people, and marketing and market research staff.

Words of Advice for This Career…
For R&D management, you need creativity, attention to detail, a willingness to see things from other viewpoints, good people skills for the team product development approach, and an understanding of the need for accurate and honest timelines.

… And Choosing an MBA Program
I encourage you to really consider how you learn best. I am an engineer and tinkerer by nature—I learn well if someone gives me a book and lets me figure things out mostly on my own. Conversely, my husband, who is still in his part-time MBA program at Rutgers, felt that he needed the constant interaction of being in class, so he decided to get an MBA over four years, one or two classes at a time.