Engineering a global education

Liam Schroeder ‘25 graduated this past spring with not only a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering technology but a pretty broken-in passport. 

“Study abroad opportunities at UD really kick-started my love for travel,” shared Schroeder. “And I learned that it doesn’t have to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Throughout his four years, Schroeder traveled to eight countries through experiential learning opportunities tied to his major. His first year he traveled to Costa Rica to learn about sustainable engineering; his sophomore year he traveled to Guatemala with the ETHOS program to use his engineering skills to help a local nonprofit; and the summer before his senior year he studied abroad in Germany, again studying sustainability in engineering.

For his senior project design course, Schroeder was assigned to work with a commercial tofu processing company based in Shanghai, to develop a consistent recipe and protocol for their tofu as they modernized, digitized and eventually scaled their company.

“I’ve never [worked] in the food processing industry before,” said Schroeder, “so learning food science and combining my existing industrial engineering knowledge pushed my skillset.”

In order to better understand the process, Schroeder and other team members traveled to Shanghai over spring break to visit the plant.

“We spent four days at the plant conducting in-person tests on the sensors used to measure the process, so future senior design projects can expand on our research and development.”

In addition, Schroeder and the team explored the city of Shanghai and learned more about Chinese culture with guided tours, a gym class, an art class and trying different foods.

“I didn’t make it to the Great Wall of China, so that just means I’ll have to go back!” he added.

Upon returning to campus, Schroerder and the team conducted final tests on the overall system before presenting at the end of the semester on their progress. 

“Study abroad opportunities at UD really kick-started my love for travel ... And I learned that it doesn’t have to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Travelling during his time at UD propelled him with confidence into his current position at GE Aerospace, he said. As a part of the Operations Management Leadership Program, every eight months Schroeder relocates to a completely different part of the country to learn a new role within the company.

“Exploring and trying new things is such an important part of being 22,” he said. “With so many professions within this company alone, I’m excited to try my hand at them all.”