Chemical Engineer · Charlotte, NC
Leah Clark
Chemical engineer with hands-on plant experience and real software shipped, looking to grow into a deeply technical career across controls, automation, or digital transformation.
Open to full-time · January 2027
About
I'm a senior chemical engineering student graduating in December 2026, and I'm sitting for the FE Exam this fall. Three internships in process, quality, and manufacturing engineering, most recently at ASSA ABLOY, have grown my interest in instrumentation and controls.
I taught myself to build software and used it to build working applications during my internship. I like turning messy data into something a team can actually use. Outside of engineering, I perform with the UofSC Marching Band and recently finished the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon.
3.70
GPA
3
Internships
'26
B.S. ChemE, USC
Experience
May 2026 – Present
Process Engineering Intern, ASSA ABLOY
- Led digital transformation of maintenance operations, building a hub for KPI tracking, daily meetings, and machine status monitoring, reducing downtime reporting delays by 90%.
- Led a 5S Kaizen event to reorganize a maintenance workspace, removing 9+ bins of obsolete materials, recovering 540 sq ft, and creating space for a touchscreen display integrating the team's new tracking hub.
- Built a browser-based application centralizing PFDs, PFMEAs, and Control Plans, used to investigate air-leak tester failures and propose new functional test designs.
- Trained two interns on WI creation, submission, and approval, managing the full pipeline to website publication.
Jun 2025 – May 2026
Quality Intern, ASSA ABLOY
- Verified and corrected 175+ work instructions, identifying discrepancies between documented procedures and actual operator practices on the floor.
- Ballooned 220+ engineering drawings to support inspections and resolve specification inconsistencies.
- Reengineered the NCM Cage inventory workflow to address missing items, disorganization, and lack of tracking, building an Excel tool for real-time inventory visibility.
May 2024 – Aug 2024
Manufacturing Engineering Intern, BOMAG
- Created 3 machine work instructions from scratch and rebuilt documentation across 4 machine lines, reconstructing 100+ Excel sheets (2000+ pages) of shop floor work instructions.
- Maintained a manual defect tracking log by machine over 3 months, documenting recurring issues to support root cause analysis and process improvement.
Selected work
Web app
Maintenance Command Center
A centralized digital hub for the maintenance team: live KPI tracking, daily management meetings, and machine-status monitoring, all in one place.
View project
Continuous improvement
5S Kaizen Event
Led a 5S Kaizen event to reorganize the maintenance spare parts and tooling area, removing 9+ scrap bins and 3 outdated cabinets and reclaiming 540 sq ft of floor space.
View project
Web app
FlowPFMEA
A browser-based PFD, PFMEA, and Control Plan tool that replaces scattered spreadsheets with one structured, linked workflow.
View project
Personal project
Career Tracker
A web app to organize companies, contacts, and interactions, with a weighted "Fit Circle" that scores and compares roles against what matters most to me.
View project
Senior design · USC
Cyclohexane Process Design
Co-developed a conceptual process design for a 40,000 MT/yr cyclohexane production facility and authored the technical report on methodology and assumptions.
View project
Toolkit
Engineering
Technical
Professional