Sarah came to The University of Texas at Austin (UT) in August 2017 to pursue her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and B.A. in Classical Languages Latin, which she completed magna cum laude in 2021. As an undergraduate, she did research with Dr. Chris Rylander’s Medical Device Lab where she was part of a team developing novel catheters for enhanced drug delivery to a brain tumor. She designed and 3D-printed a device for use in manufacturing the catheter to reduce the number of steps in the process and improve the safety of the device. She also created a replica of the MRI head coil that the catheter would be operating around when delivering the drug to a patient.
Sarah began her graduate studies at UT as a senior in the B.S.M.S. in M.E. program but, in Fall 2021, switched over to a Ph.D. track with a specialization in Thermal/Fluid Systems, joining the Webber Energy Group at the same time. She previously worked on a project for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory that centered on the energy-water nexus, particularly resilience and long-term planning. Currently, she is working on a project for the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation centered on applications of a circular economy in the oil and gas sector.
Throughout her undergraduate and graduate studies, Sarah has interned for bp three times, completing projects around inspection, prescriptive analytics, insulation, mechanical seals, pulsation dampeners, controls dashboards, and wind turbine vibration. She has also served as a TA for UGS 303 – Intro to Energy and Society and was recognized for her work with the H. Grady Rylander Longhorn Mechanical Engineering Club Excellence in Teaching Fellowship for 2021-2022.
