When Mukundan Kasturirangan enrolled at the University of Iowa to study biomedical engineering, he had a clear goal: gain real-world, industry-relevant experience — not just classroom theory. That ambition led him to Iowa MADE, and the skills he built there have carried him all the way to a competitive leadership development program at one of the world's leading medical device companies.
Starting Out: A Hawkeye with Hands-On Ambitions
Mukundan grew up in Iowa City, attended Iowa City West High School, and chose to stay close to home for college—a decision that opened doors he hadn’t anticipated. During his sophomore year, while seeking an opportunity that would translate into industry experience, he discovered a position with Iowa MADE.
"I'd heard from friends that working with Iowa MADE was a good experience," he recalls. "So I applied, and luckily I got the job."
He joined as a student product manager and worked alongside Iowa MADE’s student quality engineer to move a portfolio of medical devices through the product development and regulatory pipeline — from concept to commercialization.
"There were different products at different spots in the pipeline," Mukundan explains. "The goal was to get those products through the product development process, through the regulatory process, and eventually to market."
Learning the Real Work: Stakeholders, Ambiguity, and Setbacks
During his time at Iowa MADE, Mukundan worked on several products, including the Sindt Ophthalmic Spatula, Educational Caries Teeth, and the Sales Syringe Adapter. Some products were already on the market and needed sustaining work; others were still working through the development pipeline.
One of the most formative challenges involved coordinating sterilization validation with an external vendor — a process that seemed nearly complete before hitting an unexpected wall.
"We thought we had everything done and squared away, and we were ready to go," Mukundan says. "Unfortunately, we experienced a setback with an external partner that completely changed our direction after months of work."
Mukundan points to this setback as one of his most valuable learning experiences. Working with external partners who have different timelines, interests, and risk tolerance taught him that real-world projects rarely follow a tidy roadmap.
He also had the opportunity to work directly with physician innovators, including writing Instructions for Use (IFUs) for several products.
"The physician innovators bring deep expertise and a huge passion for what they've created," he says. "Learning to talk to them, to come to those conversations prepared, and to convince them that we were moving their product forward — that was a huge learning experience about working with people who have high expectations."
Where He Is Now: Boston Scientific and the Cardiac Diagnostics Division
Today, Mukundan is based in Minneapolis at Boston Scientific's corporate headquarters, where he's part of the Commercial Cardiology Leadership Development Program — a rotational program blending marketing and sales.
After a two-month sales shadow in Columbus, Ohio — where he spent time in hospital cath labs observing how cardiology products are used — he transitioned to a one-year downstream marketing rotation with the cardiac diagnostics division. The products he works with are heart monitors that patients wear to detect arrhythmias and other cardiac events.
His current project: spearheading updates to the company's clinical and business review platform, a tool used across U.S. accounts to help physicians and clinical staff understand what the monitors have done for their patient population.
"I am leading this project," he says. "We're coming out with new iterations, and I'm making it more effective for accounts across the country."
In January 2027, he'll move into an 18-month field rotation as either a clinical or sales representative — putting his technical and communication skills to work directly with healthcare providers.
The Through-Line: What Iowa MADE Taught Him
When asked how his Iowa MADE experience connects to his current work, Mukundan doesn't hesitate.
"Iowa MADE was my introduction to struggling through ambiguity for the first time," he says. "In school — especially in engineering — there's a defined path, a defined goal. You can test whether something works. In marketing, it's very different. You're working with people, you're figuring out what they want, and then you're defining your own roadmap to get there."
He describes the ability to sit with uncertainty — to make decisions without a clear right answer, and to learn from the results — as one of the most transferable skills Iowa MADE gave him.
His engineering background, he notes, also continues to pay dividends in marketing. His technical fluency helps him communicate across functions: understanding the data science and software behind the diagnostics platform, translating technical value to sales reps and clinical staff, and collaborating effectively with R&D and operations teams.
"Marketing is very cross-functional," he says. "Understanding what the engineers and data scientists are actually doing makes it so much easier to work with them — and to communicate that value to customers in a way that actually lands."
Advice for Current Students
Looking back, Mukundan's advice to current University of Iowa students is simple: take advantage of programs like Iowa MADE while you can.
"You're exposed to similar challenges and tasks that you'll face after college — working with different kinds of people, navigating ambiguity, figuring out how to move something forward when there's no defined path. But you're doing it in a college environment where people genuinely want to support your growth. It's a nice balance."
Mukundan Kasturirangan graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in biomedical engineering. He served as a student product manager with Iowa MADE and is currently completing the Commercial Cardiology Leadership Development Program at Boston Scientific in Minneapolis, Minnesota.