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Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

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Meet Lindsay West: A Food Engineer with a Global Perspective

May. 14, 2020
Lindsay West, a FABE major specializing in food engineering

Lindsay West, a recent graduate of The Ohio State University, discovered the opportunities of her future through a survey course during her freshmen year. She came to Ohio State as engineering undecided and was overwhelmed by the many options. The food engineering specialization helped her focus on her interests and discover a new field. Throughout her time studying at Ohio State, she developed a tremendous amount of skills in engineering. 

“I have a clear vision of what I can do with my degree, but also understand various engineering disciplines, including electrical, mechanical and chemical. Due to the wide variety of courses required in the FABE program!” says Lindsay. 

Lindsay graduated in May with a degree in food, agricultural and biological engineering with a specialization in food engineering and a minor in humanitarian engineering. Last May, Lindsay accepted an internship at Burns & McDonnell, an engineering consulting firm in the food and consumer products group. As an Engineering Intern, she spent the summer learning about the consulting industry, the process of designing facilities and plant expansions for various consumer products. From there, she was offered a position as an Assistant Mechanical Engineer at the world headquarters in Kansas City. 

After graduation, Lindsay will start her role as a Assistant Mechanical Engineer at Burns & McDonnellTraveling has always been a part of Lindsay’s life. Growing up, her family valued learning about many different cultures both in and out of the country. Coming from a small, rural town in Connecticut, Lindsay has advocated for a strong sense of community all throughout her life. These experiences influenced the way she views the world and people. Her passion for traveling eventually developed into a purpose to help others. 

“The trips and projects I have been involved with have helped me to gain a clear understanding of my values, and my potential as an engineer to do more projects in developing countries”

In August 2019, Lindsay joined the Maji Marwa Senior Capstone Design Project. She strived to embody the humanitarian endeavors that came with the year-long project. Lindsay worked in the classroom on the first phase of designing a water distribution system. From this experience, she has had the opportunity to create real world solutions that improve the lives of many people. 

Lindsay says, “This experience is not only personally gratifying, but it has a ripple effect within the local community freeing up time to engage in other productive endeavors like education, farming and starting small businesses.”

Traveling has always been a major part of Lindsay's lifeHer most memorable experience from this project has been seeing the end-of-semester presentations from different Capstone groups. She not only expressed how hard they worked on the presentations but also how exciting it was. 

“I believe the best way to describe this moment is that there was a shared understanding and sentiment amongst everyone in the room that day; we were all working towards the same life-changing goal.”

This May, she planned on traveling to Tanzania to serve and collect data for next year’s capstone group. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she will no longer be traveling. Later, if organized, she plans on traveling to the same community with an alumni group. 

As a buckeye, Lindsay West has had various opportunities in and out of school. For anyone looking to expand their horizons, she suggests making thoughtful connections. Lindsay believes that being persistent in sparking conversations with other students, faculty and professors is the key to learning about new opportunities that Ohio State has to offer. 

“I’ve learned that people love sharing their experiences if you are willing to strike up the conversation,” Lindsay said. “Someone else’s experience may inspire you to get involved or do something similar!”

 

by Evahanna Cruz