Estelle Seghers & the Future of Chemical Engineering

Estelle Seghers smiling in purple cap and commencement gown standing in front of door with Chemical Engineering carvingEstelle Seghers graduated summa cum laude in Chemical Engineering at Louisiana State University with minors in French and Business Administration, but she felt she still had a bit more to learn to be truly successful in her future as a chemical engineer. Estelle applied to the chemical engineering master's program at LSU. She was, of course, accepted back into the tiger family.

Why did you choose to take on such a heavy undergraduate course-load (Chemical Engineering, French, and Business Administration)?
I chose this path of education because I wanted to ensure I had ample opportunity to improve my technical understanding, communication abilities, worldly knowledge, and cultural awareness, and ultimately, because I thought it would be fun and interesting course load – I was right!

Why do you want a master's degree in chemical engineering from LSU?
I truly believe that being well-rounded will have a positive impact on my career and allow me to be versatile within the workplace as well as adaptable in any and every situation I may encounter. After completing my master's degree, I want to offer my skills to an energetic and resourceful team that shares a commitment to continuously refine innovation and fuel progress for cleaner and greener energy for all.

What research area(s) are you interested in?
I am very interested in machine learning and AI as applied to chemical engineering process controls.

Do you have industry experience?
I have over a year of experience in the energy industry, both in upstream and downstream roles. I have utilized my experiences as an intern, undergraduate student researcher, and team member to apply my technical and professional skills in practical situations such as monitoring process units, optimizing energy usage, prioritizing environmental risk management, maturing a reservoir engineering project, assessing new programming, and problem-solving obstacles. Through these experiences, I have realized my tendency towards leadership, my capacity to adapt to new situations and steep learning curves, my intrinsic motivation towards high performance, and the importance of being able to work with a diverse team.