In particular, Powers was honored for her efforts to grow Georgia Bio's Emerging Leaders Network, which strengthens connections between growing and established established life-sciences professionals in the state.

Powers works as a regulatory affairs specialist for CardioMems, where she is responsible for application filing and handling government interactions pertaining to the regulation process for medical devices.

CardioMEMS, a medical device company, is commercializing wireless implantable blood sensors that are designed to improve the management of severe chronic cardiovascular diseases. Powers worked at the company for several years as a biomedical engineer until moving to the regulatory side in 2007.

Transforming Her Career with Evening MBA

Powers says she loves her current job so much that she didn't want to leave it to pursue an MBA degree. Therefore, she chose Georgia Tech's Evening program because it would continue to help her shift her career from the laboratory to business operations.

"As an engineer, I had a very specific focus on the delivery system," she explains. "I wanted to have a higher-level business overview, looking at the product life cycle from beginning to end."

She believes that the MBA will help her advance much further by expanding her knowledge of all functional business areas. "Taking classes while working is especially beneficial because I can apply the latest management theories and insights directly to my current workplace," she says.