38 by 38 recipient Toler credits success to Women in Engineering and BME community support
Krista Toler nearly walked away from engineering over a deceptively simple circuit assignment.
The gut punch of a 36 percent on her first test made it feel insurmountable. And with minimal direction for her — and the over-400 students in one of her engineering seminars — the task compounded the panic that she wouldn’t make it past First-Year Engineering (FYE).
But she did.
Through mentorship, perseverance and an encouraging community in the Women in Engineering (WiE) Program, Toler launched into a prosperous career. The Purdue biomedical engineering (BME) alum and associate director of research and development at Zimmer Biomet was recognized as a 38 by 38 innovative alum in October 2025.
Around the time she was notified of the recognition, Toler was in West Lafayette, Indiana, sharing her Purdue experiences and career path with the Women in Engineering (WiE) Seminar (ENGR 19400) of first-year engineering students.
Speaking to the WiE course is a full circle moment for Toler every time she returns, since she was one of those wide-eyed new students in 2005.
“Every time I speak in the WiE seminar class, I see at least one student who really needed to hear my story,” Toler said. “That’s when I know the impact is real, and it reminds me of how I was inspired by some of those women when I was sitting (in the seminar) with no idea what engineering really was.”
Salutatorian at Bishop Luers High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Toler came to Purdue with high expectations. When a professor mentioned in one of Toler’s 400-plus classes, one of every three would drop from engineering by the end of the semester, Toler was confident she would be the last one standing.
And then she failed her first test.
“I wanted to quit,” Toler said. “I looked at my test and thought, ‘It’s me. I’m going to drop from engineering.’
But Toler wanted to become an engineer. Opting out of the tough parts was not an option.
Toler’s best defense was to find community — fast.
Fortunately for the first-generation college student, WiE found her first.
When Toler came to West Lafayette to sign up for classes in Summer 2005, her advisor recommended ENGR 194. Through it, she was introduced to the Mentees & Mentors (M&M) Program and new friends, including Christine Krueger (BSBME ’09), who would become a BME compatriot, lifelong friend and pillar of support.
Every time a new challenge presented itself in coursework, Toler was reminded of the friends she’d met and women she’d learned from in ENGR 194. They had faced similar struggles and made it through. Surely she could do the same.
She was drawn to the competitiveness of BME and the promise of designing medical technology, even if a clear career path hadn’t yet emerged.
“I didn't know what exactly I wanted to be, but I knew a Purdue Engineering degree would open doors to almost anything I could imagine.”
The long haul
Toler spent her sophomore and junior years wondering if BME was really the place for her.
Though she acted as a mentor for new WiE students through M&M and was constantly in the BME building, studying and socializing with classmates, Toler had yet to find a spark of inspiration. She had taken internships for the experience and talked to other BME students, including Krueger and fellow student Jason Toler (BSBME ’09, MSBME ’10), about their experiences and passions. But none had confirmed BME as the right path for her.
Then came the summer of 2008. Krista Toler’s internship fell through at the last minute. Her parents suggested she go to companies, door-to-door, with her resume and see what happened. Toler, desperate for work, gave it a shot.
One of the companies she handed her resume to was Biomet, a medical device company specializing in orthopedics and joint reconstruction. Toler didn’t have a particular passion for musculoskeletal health, but development of products that could alleviate pain and improve mobility seemed like a worthwhile endeavor.
That was 17 years ago. Toler is still at Zimmer Biomet.
“Sometimes your parents really do have good ideas,” Toler said.
After graduating with a master’s degree in BME, Toler became a full-time research scientist at Biomet and quickly moved to a managerial role in 2013 and to associate directorship in 2018. While engineering has never been in her titles, Toler is constantly applying what she learned at Purdue to develop, test and market new breakthroughs in medical device creation.
“Purdue Engineering teaches you to thrive in ambiguity,” Toler said. “You learn to work with unknowns, make smart assumptions and build solutions from scratch. You have to take some risks and set up a problem on your own. You can apply that approach to just about any job.”
The approach laid the framework for Toler’s research in identifying and preventing infections in following joint replacement surgery. Decades earlier, her grandfather had suffered a severe infection in a joint replacement, leaving him in chronic pain with limited mobility and a diminished quality of life.
“I landed in orthopedics without looking for it, but it ended up connecting to an important part of my life,” Toler said. “Being able to connect my work to my grandfather’s experience — and help other families like ours — is incredibly meaningful.”
Alongside her confidence and problem-solving skills, Toler took another BME resource with her upon graduating: husband Jason. Years of studying together and Jason’s patience helping her gain confidence in the material showed her that a key component of a successful career was having a supportive and accomplished partner.
“Having a supportive partner has been essential,” Toler said. “Some of the women in ENGR 194 showed me that you can have both a fulfilling career and a strong family life, and that stuck with me. Jason’s steady support gave me the confidence to keep going when things felt overwhelming. I’m deeply grateful for his presence in my life — he’s been my anchor through it all.”
When Toler speaks to 194 about her experiences, she emphasizes balance, the importance of community and mentorship, being bold to take risks and cultivating the courage to stick it out, even when it’s tough. That's one of many qualities that make her one of 2025's 38 by 38 honorees.
“If sharing my story helps even one student stay the course in engineering, it’s worth it,” Toler said. “I am so glad I stuck with it.”
