At Drexel, a career isn’t decided before your first term as a freshman. It’s something you test, revise, and solidify through hands-on experience. For mechanical engineering student Sophie Rutan, three co-ops helped turn an early curiosity in engineering into career certainty.
In high school, Rutan worked as a theater technician both at school and in her community. Through building sets, examining technical drawings, and learning how to program lights and sound cues, she realized she wanted to work with her hands. She took an Intro to Engineering class as a senior and saw the similarities and started her journey at Drexel as an undecided engineering major. After two terms of classes and a lot of research, she decided on mechanical engineering.
Her first co-op was a hands-on experience with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Working under a Drexel alum, she created technical drawings using programs and tools she used in her classes. Her second co-op was with SEPTA, in project management. There, she did a lot of computer-based work, producing data to track the cost and timelines of projects and reviewing technical drawings. Her final experience, she decided, should be a combination of the previous two.
“I wanted to experience working for a private engineering company,” she said. “which would allow me to do hands-on engineering work with advanced machinery and technical drawings.”
Rutan ended up at AdvanSix, a chemical company that produces ingredients for various industries. As an Environmental Co-Op, she helps with weekly environmental inspections and produces monthly water reports that are sent to the Philadelphia Water Department. She also is in the process of identifying and documenting what’s in all of AdvanSix’s tanks and pipes, as chemicals are constantly changing.
“I am most proud of the work I do in the weekly inspections of the plant,” Rutan said. “I enjoy climbing to the top of the tanks... [I can] see the entire plant from the top of the tank and track the chemicals moving through the pipes.”
Like many other Drexel students, Rutan’s final co-op is an amalgamation of all her previous coursework. One class that she’s reminded of on the job is her engineering ethics course.
“In that class, we read many examples of manufacturers who allowed public harm because they didn’t want to incur costs to keep the public safe,” she said. “At AdvanSix, the safety of the public is a top priority... their methods work because there has not been an emergency situation at the plant since 1982.”
After co-op ends and her final terms of classes begin, Rutan is bringing back a greater appreciation for machine maintenance, blueprint reading, and the discovery of a wider network of companies hiring mechanical engineers in the Philadelphia area.
Through it all, she’s only gotten more sure of her career choice.
“In my first and third co-op I’ve discovered that I really enjoy working with machines and figuring out how they function. My second and third co-op helped me understand the importance of record-keeping and reports,” she said. My current co-op has shown me how important environmental engineering is and how immediate an effect an engineer’s work can have on the public, and how enjoyable it is to work in an engineering team.”
Three co-ops, three industries, and one clear takeaway: Rutan is exactly where she’s meant to be.