It has been 23 years since I graduated from Rensselaer and several years since I have set foot on the campus. I am currently a principal in a telecommunications startup venture employing several Rensselaer alumni. So, in many ways Rensselaer remains very close to my daily life, though in others it is light-years away.

I will attempt to compile some of the thoughts and lessons that may have value to you as you embark upon your career.

As complex as your life may appear at Rensselaer, rest assured that things only get more complex from here. The demands of career and family will place a high premium on your time. Friendships that are forged at this time will probably last a lifetime. Many of my friends met their spouses at RPI (as did I). Frankly, I am somewhat jealous—all possibilities are before you; the die is not yet cast.

OK, let’s turn our attention to the world that you will enter once you leave Rensselaer ....

Your greatest resource and challenge will be people. There are some amazingly talented people out there—your challenge is to find a way to work with them. You will learn more than you can imagine.

One of the most important considerations should be to find a mentor. Many years ago, I worked for an electronics company called Analogic. My mentor was a principal engineer by the name of Geoff Haigh. Geoff is truly one of the most brilliant engineers that I have encountered in my time. One day, we were designing a filter for incorporation in a patient monitor. Geoff said, "You go off and analyze this your way and then come see me." After several hours of transformations, I returned with a plot. He looked at it and said, "Well, that is almost correct—it really looks like this." Of course, he was correct.

But the astounding thing was that his analysis was based totally on an implicit understanding of the characteristics of the devices. My mathematical representation was less accurate than his knowledge of how the parts behaved. That exercise conditioned how I thought about design for years. Even when I would simulate a circuit, I made sure that I had that level of understanding first.

You would be surprised by how many of us go though our careers with no notion of where we are going or what we want to achieve. It is all too easy to progress from one job to another, in search of a bigger salary or lucrative stock options. Think about where you want your career to go. What do you envision doing in five years? 10 years? As they say, "If you don’t know where you are going, anywhere is fine!" You need to manage your own career; no one is going to do that for you.

Another area that seems to trip us up is the notion of leadership. Everyone wants to lead; most people don’t seem to know how. I will let you in on a little secret: Leadership is about taking full advantage of opportunity. Leadership is not about title or entitlement; it is about taking the point position, and anyone can do it. I have seen a junior engineer aggressively make technical suggestions to a seasoned engineering team. Ultimately, he became the de facto leader—it was a group dynamic, not a coronation!

Finally, always continue to build the depth and breadth of your skills. We are living in a world where the rate of change is unbelievable. In my industry, the window of opportunity for a product may be months, not years. Disruptive technology seems to be all around. The trick is to have the breadth of skills to cover a lot of ground. Specialization is nice; but be careful not to fall victim to a market or technology that disappears. It can happen all too quickly!

Finally, the best advice often comes from people who are willing to talk about their mistakes. Over these past 23 years, I have made lots of mistakes. In the next 23 years, I know that I will make many more—and so will you!

Editor’s Note: Bruce D. Miller ’77 is Executive Vice President of Technology and Advanced Development at Astral Point Communications in Chelmsford, MA. Write him at BMiller@AstralPoint.com.