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Annika Lehan

“As a Cyclone Engineer, I would like to use technology to design and improve processes that will help guide us toward a more sustainable future. Additionally, I hope to have a positive impact on my peers and one day be able to provide mentorship because it’s only when we help set up future generations that we will have truly made our impact on the world.”

Hometown: Shawnee, Kansas

Clubs and activities: First-year Honors Program leader, a small group leader for Tau Beta Pi, American Institute of Chemical Engineers the design director,  as well as a member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE).

Valuable hands-on learning experience: I found my internships to be most valuable because they allowed me to see the bigger picture by connecting everything that I had previously learned at Iowa State. Even more so though, my internships taught me so much in such a short time and gave me a better understanding of what information to focus on when I returned to school, helping me get set up with my post-graduation job. 

Most influential mentor: The first was Mackenzie Schwartz, my academic advisor, who was incredibly supportive when I was trying to choose my major and heavily influenced my decision to be a chemical engineer. The second was Dennis Vigil, professor of chemical and biological engineering, whom I did undergraduate research with. He was very encouraging and allowed me time to independently learn through my research while still providing me with valuable feedback and guidance.

Best memory: I volunteered to be the small group leader for Tau Beta Pi’s K-12 Outreach for our first-year members because I wanted to establish a really collaborative and engaging, yet productive, group. Getting to see the success of my initiates’ final project was incredibly rewarding and was one of my proudest moments at Iowa State. 

Plans for after graduation: I have accepted a process engineering assistant position with Burns & McDonnell in their Oil, Gas, and Chemical department in Kansas City, Missouri. Besides that, I plan on taking the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam and beginning my training toward becoming a Professional Engineer (PE). I am also very passionate about design and photography and am excited to have more time post-graduation to further explore those interests.

Making my mark on the world: Time and time again, I am amazed by how far technology has come and what we are able to understand in this day and age. As a Cyclone Engineer, I would like to use technology to design and improve processes that will help guide us toward a more sustainable future. Additionally, I hope to have a positive impact on my peers and one day be able to provide mentorship because it’s only when we help set up future generations that we will have truly made our impact on the world.

Engineering like a Cyclone Engineer: One of the things most appealing to me about Iowa State was the sense of community that can be found everywhere on campus. The engineering program is no different — to this day, I am still meeting new engineers in the program who are incredibly friendly and passionate about making a positive impact. Spending every day with these fellow students and experiencing both the good and challenging times together has been one of the best parts of being a Cyclone Engineer.

  Posts

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December 3rd, 2024

International grad students find a home for multiple chemical engineering degrees at Iowa State

Pictured above: Deep Patel, left, and Dhananjay (DJ) Dileep Deep Patel and Dhananjay (DJ) Dileep each completed both a master’s […]

December 3rd, 2024

Plastic isn’t a bad word

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics are in the clothes that we wear, the packaging of our food and drinks, medical applications […]

November 8th, 2024

Students shine once again at chemical engineering annual student conference

CBE students gather around the Student Chapter of the Year Certificate at the conference. It marked the third time in […]

October 8th, 2024

Scaling up bioreactors for a strong bioeconomy

Bioreactors – and the biological technologies they run on – have the potential to spur new bioindustrial manufacturing and expand […]

September 17th, 2024

Nigel Reuel receives American Chemical Society BIOT Young Investigator Award

Iowa State University associate professor of chemical and biological engineering Nigel Reuel has received the 2024 American Chemical Society BIOT […]

September 9th, 2024

Black and Veatch Faculty Fellowship for Chowdhury’s AI-based protein design research

Ratul Chowdhury, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE), was recently named a Black and […]

June 25th, 2024

Reuel receives prestigious American Chemical Society BIOT Young Investigator Award

American Chemical Society graphic announcing Reuel’s award Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering faculty member Nigel Reuel has received the […]

June 11th, 2024

Sullivan Flynn: The right people in his corner 

Sophomore Sullivan Flynn came to Iowa State excited to experience something bigger than himself while also having a group of […]

June 11th, 2024

Mary Thatcher: Prepared for what’s next 

For many students, it can be challenging to determine what path to take. Iowa State’s Chemical and Biological Systems Engineering […]

May 31st, 2024

“No other course is like this:” New class allows chemical engineering students to explore product development

One of the student teams in the initial semester of CH E 4290 poses with the portable oven they developed […]