PNNL

Courtney Hiatt currently works at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in the Nuclear Process Sensing and Separations team and specializes primarily in online monitoring. Integrating sensor probes into a process stream allows operators to have access to real-time chemical data, and Hiatt’s primary mission involves building flow loops that integrate probes or sensors into the stream to determine the impact of design decisions.

Building flow loops involves a variety of tasks, including configuring instruments (flow meters, pressure transducers, etc.), programming, sizing pumps, modeling/manufacturing/3D printing custom parts, and collecting sensor data from various flow configurations.

Many of the skills that Hiatt uses in her current position are extensions of the knowledge she gained from her undergraduate studies. Her projects involved mechanical energy storage devices—both pumped hydropower and a thermal mass/phase change material. These projects challenged her to develop her skills with using MATLAB as well as with completing administrative project tasks such as budget management and purchasing engineering components.

• Raman spectroscopy
• Flow loop development
• Microfluidics
• Online monitoring
• Nuclear chemistry
• Mechanical engineering

• Arduino
• Mechanical AutoCAD (Solidworks, Fusion 360)
• Flow loop construction
• Budget management
• CSS
• HTML
• MATLAB
• Python
• Raman spectroscopy
• Standard operating procedures
• Titration

• BS in mechanical engineering, Northern Arizona University
• AS in chemistry, Mesa Community College

• AIChE NED Best Abstract – 1st place
• AIChE NED Presentation – 2nd place
• Mesa Community College Business Pitch Competition