Catherine Bartlett Matthews

"MIT’s PhD CEP program offers a unique opportunity to do engineering research and take business classes, providing excellent preparation for roles that require both skill sets."

Entering Year: 2014
Undergraduate University: Princeton University

Thesis Advisor: J. Chris Love
Thesis Title: Design of a cultivation medium for protein production in Pichia pastoris based on genome-wide biological understanding.

Why I chose the PhDCEP Program

I’m interested in solving problems at the intersection of science and business and hope to embark on a career working on products that result directly from scientific innovations. MIT’s CEP program offers a unique opportunity to do engineering research and take business classes, providing excellent preparation for roles that require both skill sets.

Work experience and activities

While an undergraduate, I worked on research projects in computational protein design with Professor Chris Floudas and neural network dynamics with Professor Yannis Kevrekidis. I completed a summer internship with ExxonMobil’s Fuels Marketing group in 2011. After graduation I joined The Boston Consulting Group, where I worked on 7 client projects over 2 years across a variety of industries and functional areas. Highlights include designing a vertical integration strategy for a medical device manufacturer, diagnosing supply chain service levels and identifying causes of late orders for a biopharmaceutical manufacturer, and evaluating investment strategies to combat febrile illness for a nonprofit global health foundation. In my free time I enjoy cooking, sailing, and traveling.