Caroline Sellers - Process Engineer

Hi, my name is Caroline Sellers! I’m from Montgomery and I graduated from Auburn University in May of 2021 with a degree in Chemical Engineering. I am currently engaged and will get married in May of this year. My brother is also engaged and gets married in March of this year and my other brother’s wife is due to have a baby in April of this year, so my hobbies lately involve lots of flowers and color schemes and baby clothes.

Why did you choose this career?

I chose Chemical Engineering because I loved math and chemistry in high school. As I was looking for jobs close to graduation, I was very interested in the healthcare-adjacent field. I think Avanti has been a good fit for that. Being a quality engineer at Avanti has been so interesting and I have enjoyed so many aspects of Avanti that I get to be a part of.

What is your current role like? What excites you the most about your job?

My role here at Avanti is as a quality process engineer. I do everything from reviewing qualifications and equipment calibration documents to writing or executing facility protocols. One thing that I love and excites me about the quality assurance department is that I have gotten training in a wide range of responsibilities. I have gotten to work on a plethora of tasks within this department and that has helped to better understand the everyday tasks of, not just this department, but the company as a whole.

What does an average week look like for you?

That is difficult to answer because it really depends on the needs of the department/company. Some days I am in Alabaster, executing protocols for the 1300 renovations and other days I could be editing an SOP at Acton Rd. I work with many other departments on a daily basis so you never know what could come up!

What are your career aspirations?

I think at 23 I am still trying to figure that out. I am still so early in my career that I don’t think I can give a definitive answer. I love being a quality engineer so my current aspiration would be to become a quality engineer II and eventually a quality engineer III. Beyond that, I will have to keep you posted!

What are your biggest challenges? What are the compromises?

I think one of the biggest challenges has just been my own inexperience. I don’t know what I don’t know; however, I am grateful to have great people to work with and learn from so I am hopeful that this will continue to become less of a challenge. Thankfully, I don’t think I’ve had to compromise much in my current position.

What skills would you consider the most crucial to succeed in this career? What type of person do you need to be?

I think patience and flexibility are crucial. Things do not always go as planned in this job and in life in general and being patient and flexible goes a long way.

What advice would you give to the next generation of female engineers?

I would tell them to be teachable. If you can do that, you’ll be successful no matter what field you go into.

Have you drawn professional inspiration from anyone? Tell us about someone or something that has inspired you.

I would say I draw a lot of inspiration from my dad. He never takes himself too seriously and he is positive to a fault about work and life in general. He is curious and diligent and always does above and beyond of what is asked of him. I strive to be the kind of person my dad embodies.

What mistakes have you made along the way and what did you learn from them?

Being right out of college, I have made lots of mistakes--I think that comes with the territory. However, I have learned that it is always better to ask for help than to assume I know what I am doing.

If given the opportunity, would you choose this career again?

I absolutely would! This job has been so rewarding and I wouldn’t change a thing.