SBME Interfaces

SBME Interfaces with Payam Zahedi

December 05, 2021 UBC School of Biomedical Engineering Season 2 Episode 13
SBME Interfaces
SBME Interfaces with Payam Zahedi
Show Notes Chapter Markers

In this special episode, Miguel Eichelberger chats with Payam Zahedi, former host and Strategic Planning and Operations Director for the school as he looks back over his time with SBME, and says farewell.

Guest:
Payam Zahedi
Former Strategic Planning & Operations Director, SBME
Current Director, Office of the Vice Principal, Research, UTM


Payam is a born problem solver and dot connector who believes that real impact only occurs when everyone is given the means to chase it. He's the Director of Strategic Planning and Operations at UBC's School of Biomedical Engineering and holds a BASc in Biomedical Engineering and an MSc and PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, from the University of Toronto. He believes we are better together and is an advocate for equity and inclusivity. In his spare time, when he's not chasing his two sons around, he's experimenting in the kitchen, reading crime fiction and untangling the mechanisms of effective leadership.

Learn more about Payam here:

Host:
Miguel Eichelberger
Communications & Engagement Manager, School of Biomedical Engineering

Miguel is an unflinching optimist. He is a communicator and writer whose work has appeared in literary magazines and on stages around the world. His most recent publications include Harpur Palate, the Literary Review of Canada, Plainsongs Magazine, and Soliloquies Anthology. He believes in authenticity; in doing and saying what you actually believe, and he is an obsessive student of leadership from the biological and anthropological perspectives. You've likely heard him rant about it, and he's not sorry.

SBME Interfaces with Payam Zahedi
On the path from lab to building and leading teams
On crossing the country to build SBME, and the importance of inspiring leaders
On creating a program on the west coast
On breaking down silos, and the potential for the new SBME building to be a beacon for interdisciplinary science
On trust as the building block for a culture that scales and lasts
On making proper time for EDI
On giving those impacted by racism and bigotry the space to communicate and speak
On how leadership is about people, period
On relying too much on metrics and data when it comes to human endeavour
On not having to always be right as a leader
On PI's as CEOs and starting a business
On crime fiction biographies as the ultimate desert island reads
On telling your 20 year old self to live, to try, to write
On shout outs to Matty Matheson
On the future of SBME programming, and heading back to UofT