Student Spotlight: Darlene Echeverria

Darlene Echeverria joined the Forest Biomaterials graduate program in Spring of 2017, with a BS in Chemical Engineering from the Universidad de Los Andes in Merida, Venezuela. Her research is focused on the evaluation of emerging technologies in the pulp and paper industry. Darlene successfully defended her Master’s thesis in the Summer of 2018, where she conducted a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) by developing simulation models to assess both traditional and alternative, environment-friendly, bleaching chemicals.

How did this experience impact you?

Coming to NC State as a graduate student was a great opportunity that I will always be grateful for. Challenges are good and it is not easy to move to a new place and start your life because you are not just going back to school to take classes, but also working on a research project that you lead and are responsible for. What I have found great is to be able to achieve and accomplish what was expected from me, which was rewarding.

What did you learn about yourself during your experience?

I have learned that there is no limit to achieve what you want, that with a lot of hard work we are more than capable to accomplish anything,. It is important to demonstrate that you can provide good information that can be useful and might have an impact along the road.

What did you enjoy most about your experience?

One of the perks of being a graduate student is getting to know people with whom you can exchange ideas/thoughts and eventually become friends. In addition, I have an adviser that have gives me the opportunity to participate in different conferences such as AIChE and ACLCA to showcase my research.

What did you find most challenging about your experience?

As a grad student you have the “freedom” to set your own hours, but it is important to manage your time well and show research progress and improvements along the way. It becomes a challenge to incorporate a sport or any physical activity into our daily lives, yet this is very important for our health, and we have to take care of it.

Why would you recommend this experience to other students? Any advice to incoming students?

Graduate school is the time you spend learning and developing new things. There are always ups and downs, but you have to look at the bright side and understand that the experience is temporary and you are investing in your future.

Have you completed any other internships, undergraduate research, study abroad or other hands-on experiences? 

Before becoming a graduate student, I worked at Empresas Polar, the largest Brewing industry in Venezuela. During my undergrad, I won a scholarship to attend a chemical engineering summer course at the Technical University of Berlin sponsored by DAAD. Additionally, before joining the chemical engineering program, I participated in an intercultural exchange year in Italy.  For almost 10 years now I have volunteered with the organization AFS intercultural programs in Venezuela.

What do you enjoy most about being a College of Natural Resources student?

As a grad student I am able to meet really nice people and professionals. Because our department is a small community you can find people that care about what you do. We have group meetings to learn about other student’s research areas to help us understand what others are involved in. In enjoy the people and my work so much that I decided to stay in the program to pursue a doctorate degree.