UC Co-op Helps Build Career Pathways At AtriCure

More than two decades ago, Dreyer was a mechanical engineering major at the University of Cincinnati embarking on his first real-world work experience through UC's cooperative education (co-op) program .

Before graduating from UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS) in 2001, he co-oped at Enable Medical Corp., a surgical device manufacturer and the forerunner of AtriCure , a global and publicly traded medical device company with corporate headquarters, primary manufacturing and R&D campus located in Mason, Ohio, just outside Cincinnati.

"Co-op was something that was absolutely top of mind for me when I decided on going to UC," says Dreyer, who today is vice president of manufacturing engineering at AtriCure. "It was a platform for me to grow my career, and it was hugely beneficial for me."

AtriCure develops surgical treatments and therapies for atrial fibrillation (A-fib), left atrial appendage management, and postoperative pain management. The company sells its tools and systems to hospitals, surgeons and electrophysiology teams worldwide.

It is also the largest employer of biomedical engineering co-op students at UC. Co-op is integrated into all undergraduate programs in UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science, enabling students to alternate semesters in the classroom with semesters of full-time, paid co-op work.

"We utilize our co-op students as full-time employees," explains Dreyer. "They are assigned to teams and have a full workload. This is not a co-op experience where they are going to be working in a corner and given minimal tasks. They are an integral part of the team. At this point, the co-op program has expanded to just about every area of the company."

Creating a Bearcats talent pipeline through UC co-op

Since 2013, AtriCure has hired a total of 593 UC co-op students - 428 of those have been biomedical engineering co-op students, explains Raechel Scarchilli, assistant professor in the UC College of Cooperative Education and Professional Studies .

"It is a huge talent pipeline for us," adds AtriCure's Dreyer. "Co-op students come here and get great experience. We try to do the same thing as the experience that I had, which was a great platform for me to launch my career. We give that, and I think very successfully, to the co-op students today, which sets them up very well for us to hire them."

Dreyer says those co-op experiences set students up for success.

"I think UC's co-op program is second to none," says Dreyer. "Obviously, it had a big impact on me, and I know it is having an impact on our business as well as on individual co-op students - whether their experience leads them to be a part of AtriCure, to go off and become surgeons or to do other things in the world. It's a huge benefit for them as well."

UC's Scarchilli says AtriCure annually hires the most biomedical engineering students of any co-op employer. She notes that the company supports UC students in their technical and professional growth through outstanding mentorship.

"One of the most fulfilling things to see is the number of UC biomedical engineering alumni who continue their careers with AtriCure after they graduate from UC," says Scarchilli. "Seeing UC co-op alumni mentor our current students and be recognized as outstanding mentors has been amazing to observe and is a reflection of the success of AtriCure and their co-op program."

Co-op experience meets the UC classroom

Harmankaur Wadhwa, a third-year UC biomedical engineering student, is finishing her second co-op rotation at AtriCure. Her mother is a physician and her father an engineer, so Wadhwa thought of a career that married what she saw her parents doing successfully.

Wadhwa, an international outreach scholar from Ahmednagar, India, did her first co-op in product development and her second as a manufacturing engineer assisting a hybrid team at AtriCure.

"This experience taught me so much beyond technical skills, from professional communication and teamwork to learning how to ask better questions, take feedback, and grow from it," explains Wadhwa. "As an international student, this opportunity truly meant a lot. I'm incredibly thankful for the people who made this experience so positive."

Wadhwa says the co-op program at AtriCure is formalized. Students are placed in different areas of expertise such as product development, quality engineering, manufacturing engineering or process engineering. Students generally return to the company for a second co-op, but they are encouraged to consider different areas.

"You can rotate between these experiences, but they want you to have different experiences," explains Wadhwa, who is part of UC's Honors Program and active in UC's volunteer organization Enable Cincy, a student group at UC that uses 3D printing to bridge the gap between engineering and medicine.

Wadhwa found her co-op through a UC career fair, a helpful resource for many students. She says her team of colleagues at AtriCure was very open and welcoming. Training during the first two weeks for first-time co-op students is also very extensive, allowing them to grow accustomed to operations and procedures. Co-op students from across the company sit together at lunch and talk about their experiences, providing insight into different rotations and procedures.

"I loved the work that I did during my co-op experiences," she says.

Nolan Williard, a fifth-year UC biomedical engineering student, echoes similar sentiments about AtriCure.

He's finishing his fifth co-op rotation at the company, this one in product development for capital products. Williard is also part of the ACCEND program at UC and is working on his master's in engineering.

"My experience has been nothing short of amazing," adds Williard. "I have been provided with so many opportunities to learn and experience different and new things across so many aspects of the company."

Each of his rotations - research and development, process engineering, product development and quality operations - helped sharpen Williard's skill set. They complemented what he learned in the classroom, which offered a baseline of skills. He found a couple of core undergrad classes, Electrical Circuits, and Sensing and Measurements, helpful when working on electronics projects at AtriCure.

"After my senior year I would definitely like to be working at AtriCure," says Williard. "AtriCure has provided me with some great tools and experiences, and it really helped me make connections. They will be really useful for me once I enter the workforce."

Williard says he didn't know much about which companies to choose for his first co-op, which he pursued at AtriCure because of a recommendation from a fellow student who has gone on to work for the company.

"I am glad I ended up here because it has been awesome," he adds.

Co-op at AtriCure provides springboard for UC alumni success

Carol Mata, a senior product development engineer at AtriCure, has been with the company for seven years. She was a biomedical engineering major at UC and graduated in 2019. While working for AtriCure, she returned to UC to earn a master's degree in mechanical engineering.

"I've mentored many co-ops. I've run the co-op program and gotten involved with recruitment and going to career fair programs," explains Mata.

"So many people value the work that co-ops provide, so we have them in every department and on every team," Mat a says. "I help make sure they are partnered with a mentor and a manager. If they have questions and issues, we can get them handled."

As a student at UC, Mata remembers going to her first career fair and all the excitement of finding her first co-op. It wasn't at AtriCure, but it was still life-changing for her. She keeps that in mind when recruiting talent for the company and can see past students' nervousness as they give their elevator pitch.

"I can help flush out those nerves and we can talk as individuals," she says. "My time before AtriCure definitely set me up for success here. I was in different design and development roles, and I continued that within AtriCure."

Mata says AtriCure hired 10 co-op students as full-time engineers just this year.

"I firmly believe in the co-op program, and I think it has set me up to be the engineer that I am today," adds Mata. "It helped me learn what engineering opportunities are out there. Before the co-op program, I didn't know the difference between a quality engineer, a product development engineer and a manufacturing engineer. There are so many facets, and you really get to explore those options."

For Jonathan Raj, an associate biomedical engineer at AtriCure, co-op has been foundational in determining what it means to be an engineer. Part of the ACCEND program, Raj graduated from UC in 2024 with a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering and a master's in mechanical engineering.

Raj, a NEXT Innovation Scholar at UC, completed five co-op rotations at AtriCure.

"The marriage between co-op education and my classroom education really helped me be successful once I started working full time," adds Raj. "I rely on a lot of the skills I developed as a co-op in my day-to-day work, especially some of the relationships I built while co-oping at AtriCure. They are useful to me even today."

Raj says he doesn't interact with co-op students directly in his current role, but they are integral to AtriCure's different departments. He says the experience helps young professionals determine the kind of individual they want to become.

"Going through the experience of working full time, being given important responsibilities and connecting with people who have years of experience in the field you're interested in - or people who are invested in your development - can really change the way you think about your future and what you think you can become," adds Raj. "Sometimes that can completely change that trajectory for yourself."

Co-op advisers at UC were helpful, and courses at CEAS offered Raj a great foundation.

"There are lots of stories of people who have co-oped here in a department that they weren't exactly interested in to begin with and didn't know much about, but they left with a new degree plan or a new set of classes that they want to take, and it is a complete change from where they thought they were going," he adds.