The visit, hosted by MIT Career Advising & Professional Development (CAPD), offered participants an opportunity to learn more about economic consulting—engaging in candid conversations, participating in consultant panels, and seeing how analytical work translates into practice across market and policy contexts.

Paths into the field

The visit included a tour, a panel discussion, and individual conversations with consultants. During the panel, employees answered questions and shared insights into their paths into economic consulting, including transitions from academia and the collaborative nature of their work.

Senior Energy Analyst Nathan Felmus described a recent case involving PJM’s electricity market, where his analysis informed pricing decisions across large regions of the country. “It’s amazing to know that my work is informing such impactful policy decisions,” he added.

During the visit, participants walked through Brattle’s in-house library, complete with a dedicated librarian—a resource consultants described as central to their work. In conversation, they shared that much of their growth comes from taking on new cases, learning deeply as each project unfolds, and building expertise through hands-on experience supported by mentorship.

Reflecting on fit and career exploration

For students early in their academic journeys, these conversations added valuable context. First-year student Maria Calvo shared that learning about Brattle’s roles, structure, and recruitment timelines helped her better understand how opportunities might unfold over time. “The visit sparked my interest in energy consulting and made me aware of upcoming recruitment cycles I hope to participate in when I’m eligible,” she said.

By the end of the visit, participants left with a clearer picture of what economic consulting looks like in practice at The Brattle Group and of the paths for growth within the field. Experiences like this, supported by CAPD, allow students and postdocs to explore careers through firsthand exposure—meeting professionals, seeing workplaces, and considering fit, whether for an upcoming hiring cycle or opportunities still ahead.

On behalf of the participants, CAPD thanks The Brattle Group for hosting a thoughtful and engaging visit.

Related Links

• Students: “Connecting with Employers“
• Employers: Explore Scheduling an employer program or event to learn more about CAPD opportunities. If you are interested in hosting MIT students at your workplace, reach out to the Employer Relations team at hiremit@mit.edu.
• Article: “Exploring robotics, scale, and systems through a Symbotic site visit“

From code to full-system testing

The visit, hosted by MIT Career Advising & Professional Development (CAPD), offered participants a close look at large-scale engineering work—meeting engineers, walking through active testing spaces, and seeing robotics and software operate together in a real-world setting.

As the group moved through the facility, Symbotic engineers shared how robotic systems are tested, refined, and supported as the company grows. Participants observed full-system demonstrations alongside focused component testing, while engineers answered questions about system design and the coordination required to keep hundreds of robots operating smoothly. Watching robots in motion—and engineers troubleshooting in real time—helped connect classroom concepts to practical engineering work.

Mechanical engineering junior Daniel Nwazue was particularly struck by the scale and rigor of the testing environment. Seeing scaled-down warehouse lines and long-term wear testing underscored the importance of understanding how individual components perform within a larger system. “It really showed how valuable it is to understand each component thoroughly so the whole system performs well at scale,” he shared.

Adapting to growth

The visit also provided context for the evolving nature of Symbotic’s work and physical spaces, giving students a clearer sense of how growing companies adapt as they scale. Jena Hook, a Campus Recruiter at Symbotic, explained that as customer needs grow and products advance, the site has shifted toward testing, repair, research, and design—helping explain the construction and new spaces students encountered during the tour. “Seeing the systems in action helps them picture how they could contribute here,” she noted.

By the end of the visit, participants left with a clearer sense of how robotics, software, and engineering teams collaborate at scale. Experiences like this, supported by CAPD, allow students and postdocs to explore careers through firsthand exposure—seeing workplaces up close, engaging with engineers, and reflecting on fit, whether for an upcoming hiring cycle or opportunities still ahead.

On behalf of the participants, CAPD thanks Symbotic for hosting an informative and engaging visit.

Related Links:

• Students-Connecting with Employers
• Employers-Schedule an employer program or event (employers)

Education

• MIT, SB – Bachelor Of Science, 17 – Political Science
• MIT, PD – Post Doctoral, GSL – Global Studies and Languages
• MIT, PHD – Doctor Of Philosophy, STS – Science, Technology, and Society

Bio

Amah Edoh has been: an MIT professor (of African Studies and Anthropology), co-founder of a racial justice nonprofit, associate dean for a global gap year program, a coaching curriculum writer for first-generation college students, an arts festival producer, manager of a community-based health program, and more. Amah has long favored the scenic route: As an undergraduate at MIT, she changed majors five times, ultimately majoring in Course 17 with a minor in African Studies. Amah finally felt at home in the social sciences and humanities, though, and went on to be a Fulbright Scholar to Zambia after college, before returning to the US to pursue an MSc in Global Health at Harvard, and after that, a PhD in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology, and Society (HASTS) at MIT. Along the way, Amah has lived, studied, and/or worked in Belgium, Brazil, France, The Netherlands, Togo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. She is a runner and a quilter, a meditator and a sometime procrastinator, and she’s eager to remind you that it’s OK not to know exactly what you want to be when you grow up.

What influenced your choice of undergraduate major? How has it shaped your career choices and professional ability?

It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to study. Ultimately, it was taking an anthropology class and feeling like, for the first time, I was in the right place – the kinds of questions we were addressing in class were the kinds of questions I was interested in. I didn’t major in anthropology in college (I got a PhD in it later), but that class marked my official shift into the social sciences and humanities, and my practice has unfolded across these disciplines since then.  

What influenced your choice of graduate program/programs? How has it/have they shaped your career choices and professional ability?

I pursued a Masters in Global Health because right after college, I did research as a Fulbright scholar on the response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Zambia and I thought a graduate degree would give me the tools to do this type of work better. But I realized after the Masters that I was less interested in doing global health programming myself, than I was in the people and institutions that implemented these programs. And so I decided to pursue a PhD so that I could do research on my former field of practice. Having direct experience of the field I intended to research helped me articulate questions that were grounded in lived experience (rather than theory) first, and for me that was important. 

Is there anything you wish you had done differently or more of while you were at MIT?

I took advantage of the many travel opportunities and traveled every break, and studied abroad for a semester. I would highly recommend that every MIT student do the same!

Last edited: March 2026

Education

• MIT, SB – Bachelor Of Science, 8 – Physics
• MIT, SB – Bachelor Of Science, 14 – Economics

Bio

Ada Glover is co-founder and chief product officer at Zus Health, a healthcare data platform offers providers a real-time, comprehensive view of each patient’s care history. As Chief Product Officer, Ada leads Zus’s product, design, and clinical teams in creating care team experiences that are simple and relevant.  Ada has nearly 10 years of product development experience, having previously led teams at athenahealth and Zearn. Passionate about mission-driven work, she enjoys setting strategy, digging into data, and helping longitudinal care organizations solve operational problems with technology.  Ada studied economics and physics at MIT and started her career at Bain & Company. She lives outside Boston with her husband and two children.

What influenced your choice of undergraduate major? How has it shaped your career choices and professional ability?

It’s not often you see someone combine a double major in physics and economics. I always knew I was interested in the business world and having a hands on experience building a product and organization, but also had a passion for the elegance of physics in understanding and modeling the world that stemmed from my high school experience studying the subject.  In the end, my physics degree challenged me mathematically, stretched my ability to abstract and solve problems, and gave me experience collaborating with others in the lab or working side-by-side on a challenging problem set.  I think it gave me the confidence to navigate the challenging and unfamiliar in my career.

What motivates you to do the work that you do?

There are a few things that motivate me.  First, the work that I do has an impact on real people in this world.  Allowing physicians to have a more complete picture of their patients gives them the tools to offer more proactive care and impact lives.  Hearing those stories is so powerful.  I felt similarly earlier in my career working in the education space and seeing impact on student learning.  Second, I have the opportunity to engage in really interesting intellectual problems and learn every day.  Last, and perhaps most important, I am motivated by forming relationships with those I work with, whether it’s someone I mentor, partner with, or am guided by.

Is there anything you wish you had done differently or more of while you were at MIT?

I wish I more fully engaged in some of the research opportunities MIT offers, including developing stronger relationships with some of the faculty and staff.  I poured my time and effort into many student activities and trying to navigate the professional world beyond MIT, but could have more effectively engaged with the brilliant research happening around me.

Making decisions, especially important-feeling career decisions, is really challenging for people at all stages of their career. What strategies have you used to make career decisions? 

The thing I’d offer is to have a clear narrative for who you are and what you want.  Even if you’re not 100% clear on these statements, taking the time to articulate what is important to you makes it that much more likely that you will focus your search, successfully solicit support from others, and negotiate for what matters to you.  Moreover, having a draft of such perspectives can help unearth where you lack conviction in your priorities and can guide towards intentional informational interviews, self reflection, and other means of hypothesis testing.  

Last edited: March 2026