Introduction
My name Eldar Shakirov, I am a co-founder of Upgrade Manufacturing. We are building a solution to support manufacturers in adoption of advanced technologies for higher productivity and profitability. We envision that eventually our efforts will enable more efficient supply chains that produce products with better sustainability, quality, and lower cost.
My career path to this point is quite focused: after getting the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in related fields, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At MIT, I looked deeper into the advancements of manufacturing digitalization and at the same time researched real problems of small- and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs). This was very insightful as it has shown the gap between manufacturing R&D and frontline operations. Mainly, advanced technologies are pushed by larger manufacturers, which, however, depend on supply chains largely represented by SMMs. This discrepancy hinders the evolution of the manufacturing industry, and this complex challenge is what our company addresses.
At Upgrade, we work with various advanced technologies, which on a software side are related to AI and simulations. As an industrial engineer, I focus more on the latter and develop our product offering in relation to simulation modeling of factory operations. One of the buzzwords in manufacturing is a “digital twin,” which is a counterpart for any physical object or system, allowing to accurately analyze its state and predict - and even instruct - its future behavior, optimizing for a desired outcome. For manufacturing systems, factory simulations are at the core of enabling the factory digital twin concept. It is an exciting application of my skills, as it allows me to keep looking deeper into real pain points of the manufacturing industry and at the same time explore the solutions at the cutting edge of research.
Industrial Engineering Fellow
career options
Industrial engineering is a broad-looking field, typically combining the disciplines of systems engineering, operations management, and production planning and control, among others. This multidisciplinarity is valuable given the increasing demand for interdisciplinary roles, allowing industrial engineers to consider a variety of career options to follow. Attempting to systematize, I am grouping the possible career paths in a 2x2 matrix, spanning from Academia and Research to Industry on the X axis, and from Engineering to Management on the Y axis. This results in four career path quadrants (see the illustration here).
Industrial Engineering Fellow
skills
What are the main hard skills you use on a daily basis in your current job?
This is a comprehensive skill combining the abilities to understand a system architecture, conceptualize its model-based representation, create the model, debug the model, design the experiments, execute the simulation experiments, analyze the results, and develop clear illustrations for the derived results. This skill would require digging into multiple fields, including manufacturing engineering, systems engineering, programming, and engineering research methodology. In my case, it is needed in developing new approaches for factory simulation, both priorly while doing research at MIT and currently in developing state-of-the-art solutions at our startup.
This is one of the most critical skills allowing an engineer to address a wide variety of problems. I got introduced to it through courses and projects related to design of manufacturing systems and space systems. Honing this skill might take some time but then you can apply it to anything you see around.
In simulation modeling, programming is a core skill allowing to accurately model a system's behavior. And if you pursue a research-oriented path, coming up with new engineering tools and capabilities would also need good coding skills, allowing you to realize your ideas.
What are the main soft skills you use on a daily basis in your current job?
Preparing a clear slide deck, and then presenting it convincingly is a key communication skill that is critical in conveying new ideas, updating on your work, or delivering the project results. I’d say it is as important in achieving the intended outcomes as the technical skills mentioned above.
In systems engineering, the concept of ‘emergence’ reflects the true value of a system: a new behavior or function that emerges when the system operates as a whole, which its individual parts can’t achieve on their own. Teamwork - being proactive and supportive in maximizing team capabilities rather than prioritizing individual performance - is essential for the emergence of unique team capabilities and is therefore a key soft skill for successful group projects.
Another “skill” I find important is to be empathetic - respecting and accounting for the needs of others - when communicating and, especially, working together. It plays a big role in facilitating teamwork, and eventually comprehensively achieving the intended project results, where all involved stakeholders have their needs addressed.
Eldar
’s personal path
Tell us about your personal journey in
Industrial Engineering Fellow
:
My immersion into the manufacturing field started at Bauman Moscow State Technical University in Russia, where I was fortunate to learn the foundations of traditional manufacturing, mechanical engineering, and manufacturing systems design. During those studies, I had the chance to complete internships and part-time jobs as a manufacturing engineer at an automotive assembly line, aerospace manufacturers, and also as a technical sales assistant at a machine tools distributor. Later, I entered a Masters program of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech), also in Russia, where I learned more about the fields of advanced manufacturing and product development, and went through an internship at a manufacturer of advanced mechatronic products. As part of the program, I studied for a semester at MIT’s Mechanical Engineering department, which provided a great opportunity to learn more about best practices in engineering and research. At Skoltech, I also began my journey into entrepreneurship.
Having an exceptional experience with Skoltech M.Sc. program, I decided to pursue a Ph.D. in Engineering Systems there. This allowed me to take a deep dive into academia and develop my research skills. During my studies, I collaborated with research groups from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) on engineering and manufacturing change management, and had the honor of being a visiting research student at the TUM Institute for Machine Tools and Industrial Management. In parallel, I collaborated with an MIT research group on the topic of additive manufacturing. We began our work within the scope of the “Work of the Future” project, representing the advanced manufacturing track, when I had a great privilege to be a visiting research student to the MIT Industrial Performance Center.
After receiving my Ph.D. at Skoltech, I joined the MIT Mechanical Engineering department as a postdoctoral researcher. As I mentioned, this presented me a great chance to both study advanced technologies and to work with the industry and learn their pain points. Eventually, seeing an opportunity to apply research-based knowledge and maturing my entrepreneurial intentions at MIT, I stepped onto the path of building a startup together with my research colleagues.
What would you tell your younger you regarding building your current career?
Certainly, follow your passion where you believe you can have the most positive impact on the world. Remember that any endeavor will inevitably include parts that are less enjoyable, so be prepared to navigate through those challenges and stay focused on your goal.
Final thoughts & tips
Industrial engineering is a fascinating field that becomes even more exciting with the advent of digitalization. It requires interdisciplinary talent and demands proficiency in digital skills as much as any other field. This makes industrial engineering a great fit for individuals from various backgrounds, offering the opportunity to apply existing knowledge and acquire new skills across multiple industries. If you’re already in the field, get excited about the future and continue following your passion! If you’re not yet involved, consider applying your expertise to an industrial engineering challenge — it could lead to a great discovery.
Resources to dig in more
The Industrial Evolution: Paving the Way for a New Wave of Good Jobs
Overview of new career opportunities by a venture capital firm, Eclipse (focusing on physical industries), and a labor analytics firm, Lightcast. This is to get a better (quantitative) feeling of upcoming transformations in industrial labor markets and required skillsets.
Manufacturing Update, by Manufacturing@MIT
Insights from articles and reports on manufacturing technology, management, policy, and economics in the US and abroad. This is to get a comprehensive, large-scale, techno-economic view on ongoing industrial transformations.
How They Make Money
A great business breakdown newsletter with beautiful visuals, overviewing the operations of leading companies across various industries. This is to build a stronger connection between technological advancements and their economic viability.
