First-year alums look back

Equipped with technical skills, supported by lifelong friends, and motivated to solve complex, real-world problems, recent CMU ChemE graduates are off to a strong start in research and industry. Nine of them look back on the past year and share advice for new graduates.

Bachelor of Science

Malaika Alphons

Malaika Alphons is a process engineer at Universal Industrial Gases. She works on software simulations of their air separation process, calculates safety controls and process conditions, and specifies equipment including valves and flow meters. Alphons has already traveled to several plants to review construction. "Getting to climb up huge tanks and distillation columns was very cool," she says.

Recruiting for her company, Alphons has now seen the other side of career fairs and enjoys connecting with students during interviews.

Since leaving college life behind for the working world, she misses spending entire days with her friends. Alphons also misses being on campus, with so much in close proximity.

Sophia Hoch

Sophia Hoch is a Ph.D. student at Georgia Institute of Technology. In the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Hoch is focused on atmospheric chemistry research. Passing the Ph.D. qualifying exam was a big accomplishment from her first year in the program.

She misses studying in Doherty Hall alongside the Carnegie Mellon ChemE community.

Advice for new graduates from bachelor's alums

Vicki Huang

Vicki Huang is a software engineer for Eli Lilly's research labs. She helps to develop applications for internal use in research, product research and development, clinical spaces, and more.

Huang has balanced her work with a lot of travel this year. Highlights include the Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto, Japan, and Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas, NV. A future trip will likely bring her back to campus for Carnival, which is one of the things she misses most since leaving CMU.

Sanjay Johnson

Sanjay Johnson is a chemical engineering Ph.D. student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research is focused on using optimization techniques to improve power grid and energy system design and operation. "I'm currently developing an open source modeling library which will serve as a standard framework for developing various optimal power flow models which can be solved using GPU," says Johnson.

Johnson has also applied the machine learning (ML) and computational skills he learned at CMU beyond the field of chemical engineering. Over the past year, he built and refined an ML algorithm for sports betting, which deepened his interest in computational research.

"I hope that my current research allows me to continue applying the skills I have developed to new and exciting problems that aren't obviously in the chemical engineering or engineering scope, particularly within the public policy space," he says. As an undergraduate at CMU, Johnson had an additional major in engineering and public policy. "Being part of a diverse group with a unifying interest in policy was really unique," he says.

Master of Science

Yicheng Li

Yicheng Li is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on the integration of machine learning and molecular dynamics to build liquid crystal sensors for pollutants.

Among the things he misses most since leaving CMU are his advisors, Robert Tilton and Stephen Garoff, and seeing how The Fence was painted each day on his way into Doherty Hall.

Soumya Shikha

Soumya Shikha is a process engineer at Saola Energy. The engineering consultancy supports renewable energy businesses in scaling technologies like ethanol, sustainable aviation fuels, and other biofuels. Shikha's role focuses on developing, optimizing, and improving industrial processes. "I get to collaborate with production teams and external stakeholders to align technical strategies with broader business goals across a range of energy and environmental challenges," says Shikha.

One of Shikha's biggest milestones this year has been the publication of her master's research in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. Her project focused on modeling the supply logistics of carbon dioxide in carbon capture systems.

Since leaving CMU, Shikha misses the emphasis on collaborative learning, the spirit of community, and the late-night study sessions in Doherty Hall.

Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence Engineering-Chemical Engineering

Saroj Sathish

Saroj Sathish is an optimization researcher at Shell, based in their Houston Technology Center. Sathish applies mathematical programming to transform complex business problems into optimization models, enabling more informed and optimal decisions.

"Over the past year, I've worked on both innovation-driven research projects and business-focused projects," he says. "It's been incredibly rewarding to apply what I learned at CMU to real-world challenges, in collaboration with some of the brightest minds in the field."

Outside of work, Sathish has picked up tennis and recently completed the MS150 bike ride, a two-day, 150 mile cycling event that raises funds to support research and services for people living with multiple sclerosis. On Friday evenings, though, he still misses playing pool at the ChemE happy hours.

Advice for new graduates from MS and Ph.D. alums

Master of Science in Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering

Ashni Arun

Ashni Arun is a research assistant at biotechnology company Cyprotex. In the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination (ADME) department, Arun is responsible for planning and conducting routine high- and low-throughput in vitro experiments, such as plasma protein binding and reaction phenotyping. "I have taken every opportunity to absorb as much as I can on a daily basis," she says. The skills Arun developed at CMU have provided her the foundation to learn new areas, like drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, and new techniques, like using liquid handlers to run high-throughput experiments.

Each season of the past year has reminded Arun of something from her time at CMU: fall foliage on campus, working on assignments with her cohort in Doherty Hall on cold winter days, and studying outdoors near Mellon College of Science in the spring.

Doctor of Philosophy

Jeremy Kach

Jeremy Kach is an R&D Senior Polyurethane Scientist II at Covestro. His transition from graduate studies into the workplace was quick. "I've found success at work by asking lots of questions in order to get up to speed quickly, which is a trait that was encouraged and reinforced during my Ph.D.," says Kach.

He also keeps a quick rhythm as part of the Pittsburgh Steeline, playing drums at Steelers football games.

Since graduating, Kach misses the community in the Department of Chemical Engineering. "I made a ton of lifelong friends at CMU," he says. "I don't think there will be another time in my life when I am surrounded by so many."