Chemical Engineering
Biography
What comes to mind when you hear The Volunteer State and The University of Tennessee? For me, it is helping others. My name is Sean Liner and I am a chemical engineering student at the University of Tennessee who enjoys improving people’s lives and company’s success through business, social, and technical capacities. Throughout my life I have identified and solved issues, whether it was helping fellow students by getting a controversial high school policy removed, showcasing more career paths to chemical engineering students not interested in the chemical nor pharmaceutical industries, or connecting students with a motorsport track facility in an industry with a high barrier to entry. I have also provided technical expertise by educating elementary schoolers about chemical engineering, helping Volkswagen to explore sustainable transport protective coverings, investigating the use of propane instead of gasoline for racing, and creating experiments for cyanide reduction.
As a transfer student, I sought out a school that combined my passion in business and engineering, which led me to the University of Tennessee. The Heath Integrated Business and Engineering Program (HIBEP) took the approach that both disciplines are equally important in achieving company goals and offered synergy missing from a business and engineering double major. This synergy is achieved through a small cohort of students from the business and engineering schools working together on technical and business focused projects, and is what made me excited to be a part of this program. Additionally, HIBEP breaks down the figurative business and engineering silos, which has given me the ability to not only create innovative technical solutions, but also evaluate costs, determine if there is a market, etc. This is built upon by the mentorship program, which has been invaluable in providing a corporate perspective to questions that I have as a student looking to begin my career.
HIBEP is providing foundational skills and experience that will allow me to be successful in my career. With interests in energy and environmental policy, I would like to pursue a career within fuels and lubricants as a process design engineer, process control engineer, or in another relevant chemical role. I will also be exploring graduate school in the future to deepen my engineering and/or policy understanding in order to be an effective engineer that can also navigate the effect of policy decisions within the energy industry. Sustainability is also essential nowadays, so I will continue to learn and contribute to synthetic fuel and lubricants, hydrogen, and other alternative energy development.
