How Mentorship in the UC Davis Medical Device Development Program Shapes Careers

The Master of Engineering in Medical Device Development at the University of California, Davis, pairs students with surgeons, engineers and medtech entrepreneurs in a mentorship program designed to accelerate their careers. 

Each student is assigned one mentor per quarter during the nine-month master’s degree program, beginning with a clinical expert from UC Davis Health and ending with a proven industry leader in medtech.  beginning with a clinical expert from UC Davis Health and ending with a proven industry leader in medtech. 

Through clinical shadowing, hands-on engineering and industry collaboration, students gain real-world insights into what it takes to bring a medical device from idea to clinical translation that advances human health. Below, two students explore how mentorship has benefitted them.

Zhongyu “Max” Gao on the Value of Mentorship in the Master of Engineering in Medical Device Development Graduate Program

One of the most valuable aspects of the medical device development program is the mentorship pairing system. The program gives students opportunities to work directly with professionals from different areas of healthcare and medical technology in the Sacramento region. Instead of learning only from lectures and textbooks, students experience how medicine, engineering and industry interact in real clinical environments.

The Value of Clinical Mentorship for an Engineer

My mentorship experience began with clinical shadowing under Dr. Ben Waldau, a neurosurgeon at UC Davis Health specializing in neurovascular and cerebrovascular surgery. During these sessions, I observed surgeries, clinical workflows and interactions between healthcare professionals in real operating room environments. 

What impressed me most was how willing Dr. Waldau and his team were to teach students despite the fast-paced clinical setting. Coming from an engineering background, this made complex clinical concepts easier to understand and helped me connect technical ideas with real patient care.

How Industry Connections Spur Innovative Ideas

Another important lesson from shadowing was realizing how many stakeholders are involved in medical device development and clinical procedures. I interacted with residents, nurses, surgical technicians and industry representatives. 

One particularly memorable experience during the UC Davis Master of Engineering in Medical Device Development program was meeting Melissa Hanas-Murphy, a regional manager at Stryker (a leading medtech company) who was present during one of Dr. Waldau’s surgeries. During the procedure, she explained how neurovascular implants functioned and how industry representatives support surgeons in clinical settings. She also discussed current trends in neurovascular technology and described Computational Fluid Dynamics, or CFD, simulation as an emerging field with strong potential in neurointerventional applications. 

How Engineering Mentorship Helped Me Translate Insights into a Capstone Design

These conversations became a major source of inspiration for my capstone project, which focuses on software that predicts neurovascular hemodynamics and long-term healing trajectories for complex aneurysm cases. The software allows clinicians to computationally model and compare intervention strategies, particularly flow-diverter treatments for aneurysms.

In the following quarter, my mentorship shifted toward engineering with Xianglong Wang, an assistant professor of teaching in biomedical engineering. Before starting the project, most members of our team had very limited CFD experience, and the subject initially seemed intimidating because it combines physics, mathematics and computational simulation. However, Professor Wang was exceptionally effective at teaching these concepts in an approachable way. 

Under his mentorship, our team became much more confident in understanding and applying CFD methods. What I appreciated most about Professor Wang was the breadth of his knowledge and his willingness to support students in all aspects of the project. In addition to CFD, he was knowledgeable in software, hardware and FDA-related topics connected to medical device development. It was inspiring to work with a professor who was not only technically knowledgeable but also genuinely invested in helping students succeed.

Dominic Apuan on How Mentorship Has Made Him Career Ready

My clinical mentorship with Dr. Allan Martin, a spinal surgeon at UC Davis Health, was a highlight of my time in the Master of Engineering in Medical Device Development program. Because Dr. Martin shares an engineering background, he helped me see exactly how technical specifications translate into surgical precision. 

Engineers Gain Invaluable Observations through Clinical Shadowing

Immersing myself in the operating room also grounded my biomedical studies in a way a classroom never could. Watching neurosurgeons, scrub nurses and sales reps all working toward a single goal reminded me that the person on the table is the center of everything we do. 

This experience proved that to be an effective engineer, you can’t work in a vacuum; you have to step into the field and collaborate directly with the stakeholders who help turn our concepts into clinical realities. 

The Importance of Understanding the Business Side of Medtech

On the commercial side of things, working with consultant Ben Wolf gave me a fresh perspective. As engineers, it’s easy to get tunnel vision and assume the “business stuff” is a separate department’s problem. 

Admittedly, I wasn’t very well-versed in market dynamics, but Wolf changed that. My teammate put it best when he called Wolf a “fountain of knowledge.” His mentorship has been crucial in helping us look past the prototype to consider marketability, cost-effectiveness and the regulatory hurdles required to actually get a device into a doctor’s hands.

I’ve realized that while most engineers don’t come from a business background, having a grasp of the commercial landscape is vital to making real progress in improving patient outcomes. 

How the Master of Engineering in Medical Device Development Graduate Program Prepares Students for Future Careers

Entering this program, my goal of becoming an R&D engineer has always been rooted in a desire to help patients. While that remains true, my perspective has definitely evolved. It’s one thing to have the desire to help people, but the real challenge lies in designing innovative products that can successfully leap from a prototype on a lab bench to a reliable tool in a surgical suite. 

As we move through the final quarter of the program, my classmates and I are fortunate enough to see the entire product lifecycle of our capstone project from start to finish. This nine-month journey has turned my dream of higher education into a clear career path. Thanks to the generosity of my mentors, I’m graduating with not only a degree but a roadmap for making a real impact on the standard of care.