What's Your Engineering Impact?

Purdue interns at Eli Lilly

From a young age, I could list dozens of career options that excited me. Among others, I considered professor, author, scientist, economist, business woman, park ranger, factory worker, and secretary for my father (so I could join him on his business trips). Engineer was not on this list.

Frankly, car engines did not excite me. Nor did I want to build bridges. My dad gave me his old computers to take apart when I was younger. I enjoyed this activity, but not because of anything I learned about computer circuitry. I made jewelry from the colorful pieces. 

Only later did I realize that engineering is so much more than a Dilbert cartoon. 

Engineering is about the spirit of innovation. Engineers discover ways to improve our lives. Engineers help shape the future.

Even with my mile-long list of career opportunities, I still didn’t feel that I had found a Goldilocks fit;  none felt just right. So in high school, I hesitantly agreed to attend an Engineering Explorers program hosted by Eli Lilly.

We learned about different engineering disciplines – Mechanical, Chemical, Civil, Biomedical, Industrial and more. We toured manufacturing sites at Lilly and Research & Development labs. We learned about robots and equipment development and chemical process scale up.

After learning about all the opportunities in engineering, I realized I had found my fit.

At Lilly, I met Jen who worked in process development. Jen  told me to think of her job in terms of a spaghetti factory. A person could make spaghetti one pot at a time, stopping and starting the process again after each pot (this is called batch manufacturing). Or she could create a way to keep making spaghetti without the wasted time in between pots (continuous manufacturing). 

Many plants use continuous manufacturing, but it is relatively new in pharmaceuticals. Jen’s job was to take batch processes and figure out how to change the process so it could be continuous. She toured us through her awesome lab, where she ran experiments in a miniature version of the large plant.

Engineers are creative problem-solvers, and I wanted in on this action.

After touring Jen’s lab, I knew I wanted to study Chemical Engineering at Purdue. I am now entering my senior year, and I am grateful I discovered these opportunities through the Explorer program. After 2 internships in consumer products, I had the opportunity to return to Eli Lilly this past summer as an engineering intern (and to thank Jen for her influence in my decision to study Chemical Engineering). I loved the experience, the people, and the work. My favorite quote this summer comes from Colonel Eli Lilly himself: “Take what you find here… and make it better and better.” This is spirit of engineering at its finest.

Stay tuned for my next post about my summer internship at Eli Lilly!