IEEE CASS Young Professionals Career Development and Networking Forum

Dr. Marie Obien is Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at MaxWell Biosystems. Marie leads the company’s global commercial strategy, sales, business development, marketing, product management, channel partnerships, and customer success. An electrophysiologist by training, she has extensive experience with microelectrode arrays, patch clamp, acute brain slices, and in vitro neuronal models. Her work has followed the evolution of the field from rodent and primary models to human iPSC-derived cultures, organoids, and other complex in vitro systems, with a particular focus on signal quality, reproducibility, and biologically relevant functional readouts.

Marie co-authored a widely cited review on microelectrode array technology and previously conducted neuroscience and bioengineering research at both ETH Zurich and RIKEN. She earned her PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Japan. 

Marie Obien’s career began in electronics engineering in the Philippines and led to neuroscience and bioengineering research in Japan and Switzerland. From there, she moved into entrepreneurship as co-founder of MaxWell Biosystems, where she serves as Chief Commercial Officer and leads a global commercial team of more than 30 people.

In this talk, she reflects on the decisions and turning points that shaped this path. For early-career scientists weighing their next move, she offers practical advice on recognizing transferable skills, staying open to opportunities beyond academia, and making career choices with incomplete information. She also discusses how the transition from scientist to leader calls for new ways of working, including delegation and building strong teams.

Drawing on experiences across three countries and several disciplines, the talk is intended for scientists and engineers at any career stage, especially those early in their careers, who are considering paths beyond traditional boundaries. It encourages them to view a nonlinear career not as a detour, but as a path that can be shaped with curiosity, courage and purpose.

Dr. Chihiro Ikuta is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the National Institute of Technology (KOSEN), Suzuka College, Japan. He received the B.E., M.E., and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Tokushima University, Japan, in 2010, 2012, and 2016, respectively. From 2012 to 2015, he was a Research Fellow (DC1) of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). In 2015, he joined the National Institute of Technology, Anan College as an Assistant Professor, and in 2018, he joined the National Institute of Technology, Suzuka College.
His research interests span artificial neural networks, nonlinear engineering, evolutionary computation, and optimization. His early research focused on glia-inspired neural networks, and his recent work has expanded toward reservoir computing and efficient AI architectures for edge and engineering applications.

Since my student days, I have participated in many international conferences and had three short-term study abroad experiences at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China. These experiences showed me that international activities through research offer valuable opportunities not only to deepen academic knowledge, but also to experience different cultures and build connections with people from around the world. In this talk, I will share some of these experiences and discuss the value of taking a step toward international opportunities.