Hallie Simpson was an undergraduate student who graduated from our school in 2024.
Can you describe your background – professional and/or personal?
I was born and raised in Western Washington and grew up with the dream to become a chef. I discovered food science after taking a high school chemistry class and quickly set my sights on studying food science at Washington State University. I spent my first semester at WSU online from home due to COVID. As soon as in person classes started up, I joined the Food Science Club and eventually became the club president my senior year. The three and a half years I spent in Pullman went by fast, but I will continue to treasure the valuable knowledge and warm memories gained from WSU.
I was born and raised in Western Washington and grew up with the dream to become a chef. I discovered food science after taking a high school chemistry class and quickly set my sights on studying food science at Washington State University. I spent my first semester at WSU online from home due to COVID. As soon as in person classes started up, I joined the Food Science Club and eventually became the club president my senior year. The three and a half years I spent in Pullman went by fast, but I will continue to treasure the valuable knowledge and warm memories gained from WSU.
What does a typical day at work look like for you?
At my job, I spend about 70% of my time on the factory floor, 20% of my time at my desk, and 10% in team meetings. On plant test days, I am usually on the floor for the full 8 hours, monitoring test product and collecting data. On other days, I am at my desk analyzing data from testing and attending a few meetings to discuss current projects or review data. The current projects I am involved in are improving our sausage drying technologies and smokehouse upgrades.
Did your internship experience prepare you for your work post grad?
During my junior year of college, my summer internship in the microbiology lab at JR Simplot Co helped expose me to a corporate and industrial setting that you don’t experience in college. I learned about proper GMPs, lab procedures, and time management. Even though I work in a different area of Food Science today, I am still able to apply the knowledge I learned from my internship. I highly recommend interning to all SFS students!
What has been something that you’ve taken from your experience as a SFS student and have applied to your career?
At Oberto, I often use experimental design, sensory knowledge and data analysis skills that I learned from WSU. Luckily, I do not find myself using the complex equations we learned from Food Engineering, though the general concepts do come in handy.
Do you have any advice for undergraduate students pursuing food science?
One thing I wish I knew as a post grad coming out of SFS is that there are so many other career pathways besides the general “Food Scientist” or “R&D Scientist.” Food science can be applied anywhere in the food industry. I never would have thought my current position as a Process Development Engineer would use so much food science. The possibilities are endless, but you have to be willing to branch out. New grads, be sure to broaden your search when job hunting and don’t give up!
Questions from undergraduate students themselves:
If you could relive college, what would you do differently to fully utilize your resources?
Ok, it’s totally unrelated to food science, but I wish I spent more time using the university’s free/low cost resources, like the WSU art museum, or the huge gym and equipment rentals. I wish I participated in extracurriculars like clay club and horticulture club more. Hobbies get expensive when you don’t have the equipment available to you like it is on WSU’s campus. Use your university resources that YOU pay for with your tuition and fees!
Is a bachelor’s degree enough? Or is it better to get a master’s or PhD?
I too wondered about this in my final years of undergrad. I made the decision to go straight into the industry after talking with the SFS master’s and PhD students who were there at that time of my undergrad. Many of them had gotten their bachelor’s and then came back to school after working a few years in the industry. The practical experience they had helped them excel in academic research.
SFS Students, feel free to reach out to me with questions anytime at hsimpson@oberto.com or find me on LinkedIn!