By Ed Pierce
Sierra Yost is following her dreams and is surely bound for bigger things in life but right now she’s relaxing with her family in Windham and enjoying some well-deserved time off before starting a new job in three weeks working as a Material Engineer for the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, California.
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| Sierra Yost, a 2016 graduate of Windham High School and the 2020 Valedictorian of the University of Maine Orono's College of Engineering, has earned a doctorate in Chemical Engineering at Penn State University She will soon start a job as a Material Engineer for the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, California. COURTESY PHOTO |
“I knew I wanted to do research and development as a chemical engineer, and a PhD makes you much more qualified to do so,” Yost said. “I was able to take a lot of AP classes at Windham High, which prepared me for studying and understanding the material in my chemical engineering classes at UMaine and Penn State.”
Yost said that while she was at UMaine, she was able to work at a paper mill co-op, focusing on Research and Development, which led her to decide that she wanted to get her doctorate degree.
“Additionally, I was able to do a research-based honors thesis while there, which taught me the basics of research in an academic setting.” she said.
In 2021, Yost was awarded the Department of Defense Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation Scholarship. Recipients of the SMART award receive full tuition for up to five years, summer internships, a stipend and full-time employment with the Department of Defense after graduation. It was a unique opportunity which provided her with hands-on experience at one of the nation’s most innovative Department of Defense laboratories and working under an experienced mentor while gaining valuable technical skills.
“SMART is a scholarship-for-service program, so I owe four years as a DoD civilian to the Navy,” she said.
According to Yost, the biggest difference between her undergraduate studies at UMaine and her doctorate studies at Penn State were the things she learned about researching.
“I was on the pulp and paper scholarship at UMaine, so my time was very paper focused, but at Penn State I focused on the sustainability of common consumer plastics by optimizing them for 3D printing after they have been used and chemical recycling,” she said.
While at home in Windham, Yost has been working on a few papers with her advisor and colleagues from Penn State and she also went on a four-day trip to Iceland.
Yost says that she misses being close to friends and family here and says her all-time favorite teacher she had during all her time attending Windham schools is Jen Breton at Manchester School.
“She made learning really fun, even when we were doing more difficult work,” Yost said.
Her initial interest in science began at Windham High School.
“I loved the challenges the science classes offered, and I loved how much they loved science, it was contagious, so I have kept searching for positions and opportunities where I can do science that I am that excited about as well,” she said.
Yost’s eventual career objective would be to work in Research and Development in the pulp and paper industry.
“I did some of that during my time at UMaine, and really loved it,” she said. “Beyond that, I would like to end up in New England, preferably Maine, with enough land for a small garden and some chickens and bees.”
In her free time, Yost is an avid runner, likes spending time outdoors and enjoys hiking, skiing, fishing and kayaking.
She is grateful for the role that her father, Rick Yost of Windham, and her mother, Marla Pettinelli of Lewiston, have played in encouraging her success. <
