As a Director of Engineering at Imprivata, I recently participated in a three day recruiting trip to three universities. The goal of the trip was for about 10 high tech companies to visit a few of the top engineering schools to facilitate new talent injection. The visit included University of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon University and Cornell University. The corporate participants included a number of very early startups and a few later stage companies like Imprivata.

Patient Lily Johnson lies in her hospital bed, waiting for Dr. Barlow to write her discharge orders. She is tired. Hospitals are exhausting places where it’s nearly impossible to get a good night’s sleep. Activity swirls around her but none of it seems meaningful to her. She thought she was going home today. Dr. Barlow had come in on his morning rounds and told her she could go home. But although she calls out to the nurses who pass by her door, she can’t get any definitive time. So she waits.