- Major: Chemical Engineering
- Hometown: Knoxville, TN
- Graduation Year: May 2025
- E-mail: mzhong2@vols.utk.edu
Ambassador Profile
Hi Future Vols!
My name is Michelle Zhong and I’m a sophomore majoring in Chemical Engineering with an honors concentration. I’m originally from Knoxville, Tennessee so I was hesitant at first to attend a college so close to home but I have fallen in love with Rocky Top over the past year and can’t imagine being anywhere else! In my free time, I love getting outdoors and staying active as well as sketching and reading!
Although such a large university may seem daunting at first, the Tickle College of Engineering (TCE) truly has a camaraderie among the students and faculty/staff that make it feel like a family and that is one of the qualities that I love most about TCE! There are also so many opportunities open to students, so whether you want to pursue undergraduate research or get involved in internships/co-ops during your time here at TCE, there are so many resources available to students here.
On campus, I’m involved with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), Chancellor’s Honors Program, Cook Grand Challenge Engineering Honors Program, and undergraduate research.
This past summer, I also had the opportunity to do an internship with Eastman Chemical Company in Kingsport, TN, working with the Polymers Process Development group. Here, I learned what it meant to be a process improvement engineer and what chemical engineering looks like in industry. Even though I had only finished my first year, the knowledge from my EF and chemistry classes prepared me to learn as much as possible from this experience!
For me, Rocky Top really is “Home sweet home to me” and I hope it can be yours too! If you ever have any questions about TCE, engineering, myself or anything I’m involved in on campus, or anything related to the university, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I would love to chat with you and I hope to see you on campus soon! Go Vols!
Please let me know if there is anything else I can do.
