R&D Manager Uses the Tools From His PhD

Name: Riccardo Taormina (he/him)

PhD: Nanomaterials, Politecnico di Milano, 2024

What was your main area of research?

I studied a novel material to be used as active material in a silicon anode for lithium ion batteries.

What is your current job?

I am a Senior R&D Manager for X-nano SRL in Milan, Italy.

I manage the research and the development of a novel system for the synthesis of Graphite and Hydrogen from methane. I am in charge of the project management of the team, as well as the material characterization, and machine design/simulation

What is your favorite thing about your job?

I love the freedom of being able to understand the principles behind the experiments, and being able to drive the research in the correct direction thanks to the tools I obtained during my PhD.

What is the most important skill you developed or experience you had during your PhD that now helps you in your current position?

Learning to learn

How did you build the skills necessary for your current role?

I developed my skills mostly by pushing myself to do my daily tasks always in different ways, trying new approaches, softwares, ideas, to make my learning curve always high.

How did you find this position? What were the career steps you took to get to where you are now?

The start-up I am in has been created from my research work, so I ended up in it right after the PhD.

PhD graduate ➡️ Senior R&D engineer

If someone is interested in a similar role, what would you recommend they start doing now to prepare?

Look for industry-driven PhD or collaborations, which focus outside of just "academia" scopes.

Why did you decide to not pursue a career in academia?

It felt quite easy because I have always wanted my career to have an impact on the current situation of climate related topics, and I figured out pretty soon that academia can be extremely slow in bringing ideas into realities to have a concrete impact.

What advice do you have for someone getting their PhD and looking to pursue a career outside of academia?

Make yourself valuable during your path. Always try to understand what are the needs of the market and try to match those.