Outstanding Senior Spotlight: Skye Frank

For graduating senior Skye Frank, her decision to pursue chemical engineering at UC Davis began with coffee.  

“I fell in love with chemical engineering after taking the ‘Design of Coffee’ class,” she said.  

From there, Frank dove in, finding a passion for research through her work in Professor of Chemical Engineering Tonya Kuhl’s laboratory studying a color-changing polymer with potential applications for use as a molecular force sensor. She even obtained funding to build a specialized microscope to study those molecules. 

“This was an amazing experience to do hands-on work to drive forward a project that I was passionate about,” she said. “I was able to learn the importance of iterating through different ideas in order to find one that best fits the situation.”  

Frank also has fond memories of working as a tutor for the chemical engineering department and winning the 2023 Engineering Dean’s Undergraduate Challenge with a team of friends studying mechanical engineering.  

As she embarks on her next step as an environmental engineer at Trinity Consultants in Sacramento, Frank stresses that being able to rely on friends throughout her undergraduate years has been a huge anchor of support.  

“Engineering classes are difficult, and the best way to get through them is to collaborate with your peers. I am very lucky to have a tight group of friends in chemical engineering who I have leaned on throughout all our classes together.”