Eric Roeder

Kite Pharma
Associate Director, Business Operations Support

Education

University of Michigan, BSE Chemical Engineering, 2003
Duke University, The Fuqua School of Business, MBA, 2011
GMAT, 2008
ASQ Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification, 2014

Career Summary

Eric has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for nearly twenty years, experiencing the intricacies of life as a Process Engineer, as well as the high-level business management side of the industry. As a Process Engineer, Eric worked on downstream purification processes for drug substances, automated chilled water and high pressure steam systems, and performed process validation for three new drug substance purification processes. Eric worked in various high-up management positions for several companies, with responsibilities ranging from planning special projects and analyzing risk management to coordinating global functions and ensuring operational excellence at drug substance production facilities.

Career Timeline

Kite Pharma
Genentech
Pacira Pharmaceuticals
Amylin Pharmaceuticals
Wyeth Biotech
Eli Lilly

What excites you about your career?

I love being on the cutting edge of gene therapy and biotechnology to help people live happier healthier lives. I’m also driven to help grow the number of good manufacturing jobs in the USA.

What do you like to do outside of work?

Running, volunteering, and gardening

Time spent at U-M

Likes
The variety of Central and North Campus, all of the amazing students on campus, Concerts at Hill Auditorium, Spring and Fall in Ann Arbor. UM is a very special place and I feel very fortunate to have learned so much while tons of fun and meeting so many great people!

Dislikes
Winter in Ann Arbor, parking tickets

Favorite Student Orgs
Marching Band, Habitat for Humanity, Pi Kappa Phi

Favorite Events
Hockey games at Yost, Ann Arbor Art Fair

Favorite Classes
Organic Chemistry, Differential Equations, ChemE 341 (Fluid Mechanics), ChemE 360 & 460 (Labs), ChemE 466 (Process Controls), IOE 425 (Lean Manufacturing)

Advice to Students
Take advantage of every minute you have on campus, there are so many great things to do!

To be effective, engineers need to be able to translate technical, complex information into “plain English.” Give your tech comm lectures and lab presentations their due attention.

If you test into the honors sections of the required LSA courses (calculus, chemistry, physics), don’t hesitate to take them. The classes are smaller, instructors are better, and the curve is much more forgiving.