Kara Bischoff is a senior from New Castle, Pennsylvania, majoring in chemical engineering. She had an internship with the joint venture between General Motors and LG Chem. Kara was recently named the 2020 YSU STEM Intern of the Year. 

Kara got her internship when the chair of her department, Dr. Price, received an email from recruiters who were looking for a student interested in an internship that involved learning the battery making process for a potential future opportunity in Lordstown, Ohio at a new plant, Ultium Cells, LLC. 

Kara was selected as Intern of the Year due to the lasting impact she made at her unique internship. Kara’s hard work, drive, determination, and education led her to see that certain operations of the plant were not operating efficiently. She proposed a new method of disposing waste that is projected to save the company $100,000 annually. This method requires no additional investment from the company (equipment, software, etc.) since it uses only Microsoft Excel, a program every employee at the company has access to. 

Kara has made notable achievements and accomplishments throughout her college career. She has made the Deans' List every single semester and several appearances on the President's List. Kara is also huge on philanthropy and volunteering– over the last couple of months, she has been organizing a fundraiser, virtual due to COVID, for a local 12-year-old boy to get a diabetic alert dog. The boy was diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis and had a near brush with death as a result of this diagnosis. She was able to raise over $1,000.00 towards the service dog to save his life. Because of her work, the family is able to bring the service dog, Lucy, home in time for Christmas! 

Kara has been a part of many organizations on campus such as: The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (Executive board member at YSU and Regional Chair of Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana for the Executive Student Committee); Member of the ChemE Car Team; The Society of Women Engineers; Phi Sigma Rho; Tau Beta Pi; and The Honors College. 

After graduation, Kara’s plans are to continue working for the General Motors and LG Chem joint venture, as well as attend graduate school to eventually work her way up to a doctorate degree. 

Speaking on her success in STEM and in her internship, Kara says, "Trust yourself, believe in your education and abilities as a professional. It is true that life begins at the end of your comfort zone, as you will never grow and branch out if you are comfortable."