BME Alumnus, Robert “Smitty” Oakes discusses his time in the Biomedical Engineering program at the University of Utah and how it has helped to develop his career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Delaware.

 

How did your Biomedical Engineering education and research at the University of Utah impact your vision for your career?

I didn’t start my PhD with a clear vision for what I wanted to do in my career. I knew I wanted to build devices and systems to help people. My time at Utah helped me envision different paths to accomplish that goal.

I also wasn’t sure about the academic career path coming out of my PhD, but I had developed the technical and critical skills to conduct rigorous studies. Ultimately, this established the necessary research foundations for when I decided to pursue a career in academic research.

Plot your career development to your current point: Looking back, what were major determinants to put you where you are now?

I attended a small liberal arts college in western North Carolina – where I grew up – for my undergraduate education, and I didn’t realize the scale of academic research. I had never had the opportunity to see or learn about advanced research institutes or facilities. I received a Research Experience for Undergraduates award to conduct summer research in aerospace on rocket nozzle dynamics – my undergraduate degree was in physics – which was an eye-opening experience. This opportunity led me to pursue a graduate education in engineering.  Switching from aerospace to BME was inspired by a news article I read from the University of Utah on brain-machine interfaces.

This work on brain-machine interfaces led me to Utah BME and Patrick Tresco’s lab where I first started to study the immune system in the context of neuroinflammation. After completing my PhD at Utah, I did the first part of my postdoctoral training at the University of Michigan in Lonnie Shea’s lab focusing on implantable diagnostics to detect the spread of cancer. The final stage of my postdoctoral training was at the University of Maryland in Christopher Jewell’s lab where I focused on nano- and microfabricated platforms to assemble immunotherapies to counter autoimmunity.

At each of these career stages I learned different skills. For example, I had to develop an ability to see the big picture and then develop new implementation strategies. A major determinant for my career was that I had mentors that gave me opportunities to go after big ideas, and I learned to execute these independently.

 

What recommendations do you have for BME students regarding their coursework, research, presentations, or any other assets for their future employment?

Seek out mentors who will provide you with critical feedback and diverse perspectives at every stage of your career.

Build sustainable habits for reading and cataloguing knowledge that is relevant to your work. This is critical for connecting disparate areas of science and engineering to drive innovation.

 

What do you value in the best quality people who work for you?

Team-oriented mentality. The research in my lab is not feasible without team-based science.

 

What do you enjoy in your leisure time?

I love anything that I can do outdoors – hiking, snowboarding, mountain biking, kayaking. I miss powder days at The Bird… I’ll still check the mountain report from time to time. I also enjoy photography, which fits well with the outdoor activities.

 

What do the next 10 years of your career look like to you? 

I just launched my research lab (oakesimmuno.com) in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware. The next several years are going to focus on building capabilities for my team to pursue novel therapeutic solutions for autoimmunity and cancer. In these initial years we are focusing on some exciting new therapeutic platforms and my hope is that in 10 years we are working with clinicians on translating technologies that improve the specificity and accessibility of immunotherapies.