CHEE Community Brings Out the Best in Students
Support and caring guided Julie Frieb’s unlikely path to a BS in chemical engineering at the University of Arizona.
Frieb was among those who shared their stories at the May 11 CHEE convocation, which celebrated 21 graduate students and 86 undergraduates completing rigorous programs in chemical and environmental engineering.
Where Are They Now?
Graduates from the Class of 2019 are scattering across the country and the world. The newest alumni are devoting themselves to teaching, nursing, technology research, building construction, biomedical engineering, and oil and gas development.
They have landed jobs at prestigious companies, such as Intel, PepsiCo, NXP Semiconductors, Freeport-McMoRan and ExxonMobil, where Frieb has accepted a position. They also are entering graduate programs at schools like the University of Arizona, University of California at Santa Barbara and Ohio State.
A Little Help Goes a Long Way
Frieb did not know what she wanted to study during her first two years at the UA. She liked science and enjoyed speaking German, so she embarked on a one-year study abroad program in Munich.
Frieb ditched the study abroad after only one semester when she fell in love with and married a U.S. Air Force officer.
While living and working on an airbase in southeastern Turkey, Frieb received a phone call one evening notifying her that she had five hours to pack and hit the flight line. She and many others were being evacuated. She realized then just how important the military community was -- or any community, for that matter.
“There were first-time mothers with newborn babies, pregnant women trying to wrangle toddlers, and newlyweds like myself uncertain of the next time we would see our husbands,” said Frieb. “But there were also friends supporting friends, strangers supporting strangers, and really good friends who managed to slip us a bottle of wine while we waited in Germany for the next transport plane.”
Feeling lost and alone when she returned to the United States and the University of Arizona, Frieb once again relied on community.
“Overnight, I had lost my family, my job and my friends, and I was staring down pursuing one of the most difficult degree programs with no support structure. I feared that I wasn’t smart enough, disciplined enough or good enough.”
As long as she had the ability, a BS in chemical engineering, with its career options, was “a sure bet to a stable life,” Frieb has said.
The CHEE community of students studying and growing together buoyed the returning student, who these days is planning a move to Baytown, Texas, where she’ll start her job with ExxonMobil while her husband, Jordan, is on assignment with the Foreign Service in New York City.
“The student study rooms have this atmosphere where at any time of day, any day of the week I could go there and ask for help,” said Frieb.
From the Lab to Teaching
Similarly, Byron Hempel leaned on CHEE’s support structure to adapt to life as a grad student.
His first year in the lab, Hempel, who earned a PhD in environmental engineering, discovered that the isolated life of a researcher was no match for his outgoing nature. The experience, however, was by no means wasted time.
“I have grown so much as an individual, learning more about myself, what I enjoy, what I value and what I cannot live without,” he said.
One thing Hempel cannot live without, it turns out, is teaching.
Inspired by his mentor, University Distinguished Professor Paul Blowers, Hempel taught undergraduate courses in environmental engineering while working on his PhD. He is joining the CHEE faculty as a lecturer this fall.
“We have so much inner strength to find our way on our new path, and I cannot wait to see where it takes us,” he told the crowd at convocation.
Resilience Begets Success
Department Chair Anthony Muscat spoke of the building blocks of success: social support, technical training, teamwork, problem solving and resilience, particularly in the wake of failure.
“Be confident that you have the toolkit within you to find a path forward in any situation,” he said. “Your persistence and resiliency will carry you through.”
Student Accomplishments
Among students recognized at convocation were college ambassadors, outstanding achievers and design award winners.
- Alejandra Fraijo Arce, Julie Frieb, Jayni Hashimoto, Samuel Portillo, Collin Rehm, Jacob Rischar and Kevin Snyder – College of Engineering Ambassadors
- Alejandra Fraijo-Arce and Jacob Rischar – Outstanding Seniors
- Vanessa Delgado – Don H. White Award for academic achievement
- Olivia Ave, Conner McLeod, Reilly Ruckman and Michael Whiteside – Dr. William Scott Bousman Memorial Award for excellence in the lab
- Alex MacDonald and Matthew Pottzler – Outstanding Teaching Assistants
- Christian Frank, Emily Schroeder, Viann Thuy Pham and Amber Wright – Best CHEE senior design team for their project “Steampunk Cold Brew Coffee Machine”
College of Engineering Design Day Recognition
- Christian Frank, Emily Schroeder, Viann Thuy Pham and Amber Wright – Best Implementation of Agile Methodology and CHEE’s Best Senior Design Project
- Abdulrahman Abdulla, Kevin Dam, Trevor Johnson and Nathaniel Rodriguez – Innovation in Energy Production Supply or Use, First Place
- Paul Cullier, Ryan Headley, Christina Loera and Zachary Westman – Innovation in Energy Production Supply or Use, Second Place
(See "$36,250 in Prizes Awarded at UA’s Engineering Design Day 2019" for more about outstanding senior capstone performance.)