Joshua Bordin (M.S. '11)

EST&P alum Joshua Bordin was raised in Pleasantville, NY (40 min. from NYC) and received his B.S. Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.  After receiving his undergraduate degree, the job market was not very inviting and he didn’t want to settle. Instead, he was attracted to the EST&P program and believed that it was a good opportunity to expand his skillset and be more marketable. He knew he wanted in work in the Energy sector as an engineer and was especially interested in Carbon sequestration and green energy.

The EST&P program added depth to Josh’s skillset and opened up doors for him in the job market. In hindsight, he admits, “EST&P widened my knowledge base and allowed me to work in the oil & gas industry”. According to him, learnings from EST&P would also allow him to work on SmartGrid projects, and with think-tanks. He realized the most valuable part of the program was the opportunity to work with students in other disciplines, “whose shared interests in energy brought them together”.

Joshua states, “Sometimes as a student you don’t realize how valuable the time and investment in an advanced degree really is, but what you get out of the EST&P program is worth every penny”

He encourages students to “take in the city of Pittsburgh for all its worth”. He finds that the Graduate Student Association (GSA) does a great job of organizing events and bringing graduate students together.

Now, Joshua is working as a Process Consultant in the Gas and Oil division at Siemens Energy in Houston, Texas.  The nature of his job is individual but “like a football team where everyone is specialized in what they do and then they all come together”. He also works with process safety software and conducts process hazard analyses. Also, he realizes that most people view Houston as having just “cowboys and oilrigs”, but says that the city has a lot more to offer culturally, and finds it to be a great place to live in.

-Interviewed by Saakshi Gupta (M.S. '2015)