Any suggestions are appreciated. Thank you!

Wendell Su
(address here)
(phone number here)

EDUCATION
Boston University College of Engineering, Boston, MA
Masters of Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Expected May 2013

University of California, San Diego Department of Bioengineering, San Diego, CA
Bachelor of Science, Bioengineering, June 2012. Cumulative GPA: 3.6/4.0

Relevant Coursework
Computer-Aided Design, Physiology, Product Development, Process Modeling/Control, Biochemical Laboratory, Bioinstrumentation Design, Organic/Physical Chemistry, Mass/heat Transfer, Biomechanics.

WORK EXPERIENCE
Biolegend (San Diego, CA) – R&D Intern June-August 2012
- Completed development of a novel ELISA Kit, from initial antibody pair selection to kit reagent optimization.
- Presented development progress and final report at weekly lab meetings to senior management.
- Assisted in production, assembly, and quality control of ELISA kits.

RESEARCH/PROJECT EXPERIENCE
Product Development (Boston University) Fall 2012 – Spring 2013
- Designed chronic cough monitor to facilitate physician diagnosis.

Senior Design (UCSD): “Microelectrode array for stem cell differentiation” Fall-Spring 2012
- Designed on AutoCAD prototype microelectrode array design to direct stem cell growth via electrical stimulation.
- Performed MEA fabrication via photolithography and thin metal deposition.

Genomics and Systems Biotech Laboratory (UCSD) Jan 2011- Jun 2012
- Independently developed MATLAB standalone program to characterize theoretical behavior of fluorescent microscope under different component combinations (gsbl.ucsd.edu/imaging.html)

LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
Engineers for a Sustainable World (UCSD) – Project Manager 2009 – 2011
- Worked with Biomatrica, a local company, to reduce the number of -80C freezers on campus by replacing them with their company’s dry room temperature storage to save energy costs on campus.
- Visited labs and hosted presentations to inform lab managers and principal investigators.
- Successfully retired 4 freezers from 3 separate biological labs on campus.

SKILLS

Laboratory: Mills, Bandsaw, Drillbits, Lasercamm, Soldering, Oscilloscope, Breadboard, Multimeter, Chromatography, ELISA, Western Blot, Gel Electrophoresis, Photolithography, Thin Metal Deposition

Computer: AutoCAD, Solidworks, Labview, C/C++, MATLAB, JAVA, SIMULINK, STATLIA, SOFTMAX

Also, for a person just graduating from school, should i have an objective or qualification summary at the top? Thanks again!

Hi Wendell,

Here are my thoughts on your resume. I'm not the resume expert, but I did do biochemistry, so I'd like to think I can speak from experience. Take from this what you find helpful.

1) To start with your last question. Since you are at the start of your career, I would not call it a career summary, but either an objective or qualifications summary would definitely be a good idea to include. I would lean towards using the qualifications summary. It summarizes the most relevant points and high points from your resume and tells the reader what you're looking for. Basically the cliffnotes version for readers who are short on time. Definitely use it.

2) I see how relevant coursework is relevant, but I don't see how those courses specifically help you in your targeted career. You might want to go into a little more detail about the things you learnt from those courses.

3) Watch your spelling/grammar. Your courses contain a lot of stray capital letters (probably because they did when you followed those courses), but you want to be consistent, so either use them on "Mass/Heat" as well or cut them everywhere, where they really don't belong. You spelled the same thing as both "ELISA Kits" and "ELISA kits" under the same header. The same goes for -80C freezer. Don't forget to include the degree sign. Also, every line has a period except the one at the end of your skills listings.

4) I'd like to see more details about the chronic coughing monitor. What skills did you use? Which tasks did you perform? What was the end result? Any idea how many people are using this new product now?

5) You say Biomatrica is a local company, but you didn't give a location for that job. So where is that? Also, for my own curiosity, how can you not store biologicals at -80 and have them not degrade? How is that dry room keeping those materials safe?

6) In your skills section you list chromatography without being specific. There's a massive difference between thin layer chromatography and high pressure liquid chromatography -- at least for employers. If you can, you might want to be more specific about the sort of chromatography you've used.

One final comment. If you're in a job interview, make sure you know the technical understanding of your conversation partner. Some people in human resources don't have that know-how despite their recruiting for technical companies. If this is the case, make sure you tell them your background in terms they understand, but don't dumb down to a level they call into question your own knowledge.

Good luck!