Carly Graves

Life in BAE

“I can’t say enough positive things about BAE at NC State. It has changed my life in many ways and set me up to succeed professionally. It has allowed me to pursue a career that brings me a lot of fulfillment. The relationships I built at Weaver Labs will last a lifetime, and I look forward to seeing how I interact and collaborate with old classmates and professors in the future. It is such a welcoming place and the resources available to students are limitless if you seek support and mentorship. 

I was heavily involved with ASABE from my first semester at NC State and I credit a lot of the opportunities I had to that participation. I spent two years involved as a general member and decided to take a leap of faith and run for president my junior and senior year. Serving as president was a responsibility I took great pride in. With the help of an amazing officer team, we delivered so many quality guest speakers, coordinated industry tours, and hosted fundraising events. I also participated in the Graduate Student Association as Historian for a year, was a BAE Ambassador for 2 years during undergrad, and was a member of Alpha Epsilon for 2 years.”

Career Path

“I had a difficult time deciding on a career path to pursue, simply because there were so many options and routes available based on my skillset and experience. After having industry internships in the bioprocessing (Novozymes) and stormwater (WithersRavenel) sectors during my undergraduate degree, I felt I had not yet found my niche in Bio and Ag Engineering. That prompted my interest in sticking around for another two years to pursue a master’s degree in agricultural waste management. This gave me time to build my skillset and explore more career paths. I wanted a career and job that allowed me to get outside and work directly with people. For that reason, I heavily considered working with NC Cooperative Extension and the Natural Resource Conservation Service (an agency under the USDA). However, I was fortunate to find an opportunity to work in a similar area I studied for graduate school, agriculture waste management, as an Assistant Project Engineer at Agri-Waste Technology in Apex, NC. In this role I get to work directly with poultry and swine producers by providing recommendations on ways to improve their operations. I use my engineering knowledge to help them access USDA grants to make necessary improvements to their farms. I get to build personal relationships with people, and I feel like I am genuinely helping people in need while also caring for the environment and feeding the world responsibly.

The things that drew you into this department, the family environment, the care for the environment, the prospect of working hands-on in the field…those opportunities are out there. Just because you had an internship with one company that didn’t fit your desires does not mean other companies are all the same. You have worked hard and deserve a career that is fulfilling. With your knowledge and skillset you are valuable in the workforce and can absolutely find a company or organization that will fulfill your passions. Also, I highly recommend that you stay open minded as you progress through your degree program. I wouldn’t be where I am now if I hadn’t taken internships in such different areas, worked with professors on projects I knew nothing about at the start, or attended ASABE meetings for companies I thought I wasn’t interested in. Stay open to new opportunities and you never know what will speak to you and excite you, even if it wasn’t the plan you had in your head. It never hurts to meet people, learn new things, and grow as an engineer and an individual. Lastly, you have so much ahead of you to be excited about, but also slow down and appreciate the long days in Weaver because you will miss them someday!”