Page 29 - Inventing Tomorrow

What Drives Your Curiosity?
Nicole Sauer
Maple Grove, Minn.
Cli ord Anderson Scholarship recipient
“Every time I try something new, I think ‘this is even cooler than the last thing I did’,” said Nicole Sauer, a CSE junior majoring in chemical engineering.
Since high school, she has been chasing down exciting experiences. She exhausted all of her high school elective classes on a three-year course for building search and rescue robots, in which her high school placed eighth at the international competition.
As she considered her college options, Sauer factored in scholarship o ers and national rankings. The University of Minnesota was the clear choice for her to continue fueling her curiosity in science and engineering.
Being nancially independent because of her scholarships, she wasted no time lling her time outside of classes, which would have otherwise been spent working, with valuable experiences.
Sauer got involved in the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) initiative, and has spent time volunteering with both organizations.
Anxious to work in the laboratory, Sauer sought out undergraduate research opportunities after her freshman year. She participated in research studying zeolite membranes in order to reduce the energy needed for certain chemical separations; therefore, making the process more cost-e ective and feasible in industry.
While completing a co-op at Cargill, Sauer spent 10 months absorbing relevant knowledge about the energy use, technology, and processes used in creating corn products such as ethanol and animal feed.
Sauer sees every experience as an opportunity to build
her understanding of all the moving parts in industry.
Every experience gathered adds more understanding to the way she can tackle challenges such as supporting
the world’s food needs. After graduation, she wants
to contribute to feeding the growing population by designing industrial plants that operate e ciently and sustainably.
“Because of [the Cli ord Anderson] scholarship, I know there are always people who are supporting me and want me to succeed. Even when classes are tough, it’s great to know somebody believes in me, and that has helped set me up for success,” Sauer said.
WINTER 2016 29
RICHARD G. ANDERSON