Food science student lands job with Kraft Heinz after global experience

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Growing up in Lewistown, just a half-hour southeast of State College, senior Katie Rupert first thought that attending Penn State might be too close to home.

She wanted to expand her horizons and go places — and as it turns out, that’s exactly what she did — as a food science major in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.

“When I was touring colleges, my adviser told me, ‘If you come here, I will have you on a plane to Greece in a little over a year,’ and that did happen,” Rupert said. “I ended up studying abroad in Greece for six weeks after my freshman year, and my sophomore year, I also studied in Italy.”

When she graduates with a bachelor’s degree in May, Rupert will head to Chicago for a full-time job with Kraft Heinz Co., working in research and development. Her success is the culmination of hard work and determination, noted Chris Sigler, her academic adviser.

“From the moment Katie arrived in the Department of Food Science, it was clear she was going to make the most of every opportunity in front of her,” he said. “What stands out is not just her academic ability, but her willingness to lean in, take initiative and fully engage in the experiences that shape a well-rounded food scientist.”

Sigler is an associate teaching professor and is a co-adviser for the Food Science Club, for which Rupert served as president this past year.

“I feel like all of my classes and all the professional development opportunities the department offered have fully prepared me to enter the workforce,” she said. “It can be scary to move away and do something different, but I feel like I have the knowledge I need to succeed, so I’m really excited.”

She is the second in her family to earn a Penn State degree, following her mother, Meg Rupert, who earned a master’s degree in education in 1999.

One of Rupert’s favorite features of the department was the opportunity for hands-on learning in laboratories and classrooms, and the chance to interact and network with industry professionals. The food science labs enable students to make their own foods and experience everything that goes along with the process, including taste testing and packaging. State-of-the-art equipment is available in both wet and dry labs, and students can begin conducting research as undergraduates.

Rupert, whose minor is international agriculture, completed internships with Flower Foods, of Philadelphia, and PepsiCo., of Valhalla, New York. As a Schreyer Honors College student, she also conducted research on food safety and presented her honors thesis on Salmonella persistence in hydroponic systems.

Brian Adair, undergraduate program support specialist in the department, said he was impressed with Rupert’s work both inside and outside of the classroom.

“Watching her become a confident and capable food scientist through her experiences in our department has been nothing short of a blast,” he said. “I have no doubt she has a bright future ahead and that she will bring the same energy, tenacity, intellect and perseverance to Kraft Heinz that have become staples of her time here as a student leader.”

Although she is not from an agricultural background, Rupert said she enjoyed learning about the food system — everything from the livestock barns at Penn State to the food processing labs. As president of Sigma Alpha, a sorority for agricultural professionals, she spent time doing community improvement projects, including trail maintenance at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center.

She credited her education and study-abroad experiences for helping to improve her understanding of global food systems and the importance of food security around the world.

“My knowledge of global food systems influences how I think about the foods that we are producing,” she said. “We need to think about the impact of our decisions on the global food system.”

As Rupert sees it, those interested in food and agriculture can have a place in the College of Agricultural Sciences.

“You don’t have to come from an ag background,” she said. “There is a community of people here who will embrace you and even though Penn State is a big place, I feel like I have the small-school experience with the benefits of going to a big university.”