In this episode, Christa Downey speaks with Charles “Chaz” Calitri ‘81, Vice President of Operations at Kyowa Kirin North America. Chaz reflects on his 40-year career in pharmaceutical manufacturing and engineering—from leading Pfizer’s efforts to produce the COVID-19 vaccine to overseeing the construction of Kyowa Kirin’s first U.S. biomanufacturing facility. He shares insights on leadership, mentorship, and the importance of empathy, global experience, and technical depth in engineering. Chaz also discusses the evolving role of AI in pharma, the impact of collaboration in solving complex problems, and his belief that “time is life” when it comes to innovation that improves human health.
Resources mentioned in the episode:
Simpkins Family COMPASS Program: https://www.engineering.cornell.edu/selander-center-engineering-leadership/simpkins-family-compass-program/
International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering: https://ispe.org/
Transcript Link: https://tinyurl.com/ECCtranscript1
Editor: Melissa Bazley
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In this episode, Christa Downey speaks with Charles “Chaz” Calitri ‘81, Vice President of Operations at Kyowa Kirin North America. Chaz reflects on his 40-year career in pharmaceutical manufacturing and engineering—from leading Pfizer’s efforts to produce the COVID-19 vaccine to overseeing the construction of Kyowa Kirin’s first U.S. biomanufacturing facility. He shares insights on leadership, mentorship, and the importance of empathy, global experience, and technical depth in engineering. Chaz also discusses the evolving role of AI in pharma, the impact of collaboration in solving complex problems, and his belief that “time is life” when it comes to innovation that improves human health.
Resources mentioned in the episode:
Simpkins Family COMPASS Program: https://www.engineering.cornell.edu/selander-center-engineering-leadership/simpkins-family-compass-program/
International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering: https://ispe.org/
Transcript Link: https://tinyurl.com/ECCtranscript1
Editor: Melissa Bazley
From Nuclear Science to STEM Entrepreneurship: Dr. Jarvis Sulcer MS ‘95, Ph.D. ‘98
Cornell Engineering Career Conversations
45 minutes 50 seconds
1 year ago
From Nuclear Science to STEM Entrepreneurship: Dr. Jarvis Sulcer MS ‘95, Ph.D. ‘98
Dr. Jarvis Sulcer ‘95, ‘98, COO and co-founder of Lingo Solutions Inc., shares his journey from academia to entrepreneurship, inspired by his experiences in nuclear science and engineering. Initially planning a career in academia, he shifted to industry for real-world experience, eventually founding a tutoring business and discovering a passion for entrepreneurship. At Lingo Solutions, Jarvis now focuses on developing coding kits for students and educators, empowering them with hands-on STEM learning. His daily role involves B2B sales, business development, and team leadership, but his primary motivation is creating transformative educational experiences.
He can be found at:
IG: @JDSulcer, X: @JDSulcer and LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jarvis-sulcer-ph-d/
He recommends:
LINGO’s subscription model B2C customers- https://stemlingo.com/products/lingo-stem-coding-subscription-box?selling_plan=946569260&variant=42193692524588
We are STEM Leaders notebook for youth- https://tinyurl.com/WeAreStemNotebook
Transcript Link: https://www.engineering.cornell.edu/engineering-career-conversations
Editor: Melissa Bazley
Cornell Engineering Career Conversations
In this episode, Christa Downey speaks with Charles “Chaz” Calitri ‘81, Vice President of Operations at Kyowa Kirin North America. Chaz reflects on his 40-year career in pharmaceutical manufacturing and engineering—from leading Pfizer’s efforts to produce the COVID-19 vaccine to overseeing the construction of Kyowa Kirin’s first U.S. biomanufacturing facility. He shares insights on leadership, mentorship, and the importance of empathy, global experience, and technical depth in engineering. Chaz also discusses the evolving role of AI in pharma, the impact of collaboration in solving complex problems, and his belief that “time is life” when it comes to innovation that improves human health.
Resources mentioned in the episode:
Simpkins Family COMPASS Program: https://www.engineering.cornell.edu/selander-center-engineering-leadership/simpkins-family-compass-program/
International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering: https://ispe.org/
Transcript Link: https://tinyurl.com/ECCtranscript1
Editor: Melissa Bazley
