Harper Zondlak

BS 2024 Chemical Engineering, Environmental and Sustainability Studies Minor

Harper Zondlak is a senior at Carnegie Mellon University studying Chemical Engineering with a minor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies (ESS). To prepare for a career of utilizing her technical strengths to engineer a sustainable future, Harper’s ESS courses specialized in physical sciences and engineering applications. She used the topics learned from these courses as motivation for engineering projects she’s done within her major: modeling a PET(plastic) recycling plant, simulating biogas upgradation, utilizing kinetics to design reusable hand warmers, and more.

Harper’s favorite aspect of the ESS program is the interdisciplinary approach to a wide scope of topics within sustainability. She appreciates that STEM courses within the program discuss ethics, policy, economics, and history when covering environmental issues and solutions. Outside of the classroom, Harper’s knowledge from the ESS program informs her work with CMU Sustainable Earth. As co-president, she organizes and oversees advocacy initiatives, community outreach events, and technology projects that embrace sustainability.

After graduation, Harper will apply what she’s learned at Intel’s logic, technology, and development site, where she will work with gas abatement as a vacuum systems engineer.