From rural West Virginia to chemical engineering innovation: Nicole Robinette’s story

Chemical engineering student Nicole Robinette is conducting research to help people in West Virginia. (WVU Photo supplied)

For Nicole Robinette, succeeding in engineering has never just been about earning a degree — it has been about proving that students from rural West Virginia belong in spaces they may have never imagined for themselves.

Story by Sloane Heagerty, Storyteller
Photos supplied by Nicole Robinette

Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

A chemical engineering student at the West Virginia University Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, Robinette said she hopes her experiences at WVU can help create more visibility and opportunity for students from underserved Appalachian communities.

“I am extremely passionate about supporting students in rural and southern areas of West Virginia,” Robinette said. “There’s so much talent and potential in the coalfields, but not always someone there to show students what’s possible.”

Robinette, who grew up in Danville, West Virginia, said many students from southern West Virginia never see engineering presented as an achievable path.

“I knew so many kids throughout high school and middle school who were so smart,” she said. “When you mentioned college to them, they were like, ‘Well, I can’t go to college.’ And it was like, ‘Of course you can.’”

Coming from a graduating high school class of 126 students, Robinette said arriving at WVU initially felt overwhelming.

“When I first came to WVU, I felt like it was too big for me to really get involved or stand out the way I did at home,” she said. “I worried that I would just blend into such a big environment.”

Instead, Robinette said she found a close-knit community within Statler College that gave her confidence to pursue opportunities she once thought were out of reach.

“My professors know me by name, I’m friends with almost everyone I pass in the Engineering Sciences Building, and I can go just about anywhere on campus and run into someone I know,” she said.

Robinette said that the support system — from professors, peers and mentors — helped her realize students from small towns can succeed in engineering just as much as anyone else.

“There were so many things that I was like, ‘Oh well, I can’t do that. So many other people are going to be going for it,’” Robinette said. “But people here kept telling me, ‘You should apply anyway.’ Eventually enough people said it to me that I was like, ‘Yeah, wait a minute. Maybe I can do this.’”

That encouragement helped Robinette pursue leadership positions in organizations like the Society of Women Engineers and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers chapter at WVU. She now serves in high-level roles and was recently selected as chief engineer for her upcoming senior capstone project.

“At the beginning of this year, I didn’t think I was capable of taking on that role,” Robinette said. “The experience of being selected has already been very meaningful.”

Robinette credits faculty mentors including associate professor Oishi Sanyal and chemical and biomedical engineering shop supervisor Chad Cebulak for helping her feel supported and capable in spaces that once intimidated her.

“When I first got here, I didn’t even know any engineers in real life,” Robinette said. “I kind of had it in my head that there would be a difference between them and everybody else, but they genuinely give everybody the opportunity.”

Robinette’s path into chemical engineering was shaped by environmental issues impacting West Virginia communities. She became interested in the effects of PFOA contamination connected to Teflon production in the Ohio River Valley, and has had the opportunity to assist in research that impacts West Virginians directly. 

PFAS chemicals like PFOA were created in the 1950s and 60s to make products like Teflon, which gives pans their non-stick surface. Companies added PFOA during production to improve the process, but researchers have found it doesn’t break down easily in the environment or the human body. 

She credits Sanyal for the ability to contribute to meaningful research in a field she has been interested in. 

“Being able to work directly on something I cared so deeply about was the moment everything clicked,” Robinette said.

As part of the research, Robinette helped manufacture membranes for testing and studied methods for breaking down harmful PFAS chemicals that accumulate in the environment and human body over time.

“It felt like I was actually helping,” she said. “I never thought that I would be right in the middle of helping people come up with a totally new way of fixing a really severe problem in the world.”

Robinette said research opportunities at Statler College showed her that students from rural backgrounds are capable of contributing to meaningful scientific and engineering advancements.

“I knew I wanted to get a degree in engineering, but I kind of thought that I would just be adding on to things people had already figured out,” she said. “I never thought I would be helping create something new.”

Outside the classroom, Robinette has also worked in the department’s CBE shop, learning hands-on skills such as welding and equipment maintenance while gaining a deeper understanding of industrial systems.

“I’ve gotten to take apart and work on different valves, pumps and heat exchangers,” she said. “That’s something you don’t get to see in class.”

Robinette also described attending the AIChE Annual Student Conference in Boston as one of her most impactful experiences at WVU.

“It was the first time in my life that I was surrounded almost entirely by chemical engineers,” she said. “I really felt immersed in my major in a way I never had before.”

For Robinette, experiences like traveling to conferences, conducting research and taking on leadership roles represent opportunities she once thought were reserved for other people. Now, Robinette hopes to help create those same opportunities for future students from rural Appalachia.

Looking ahead, Robinette said she hopes to work in industrial chemical engineering and process design while continuing outreach efforts for students in southern West Virginia.

“Appalachians are strong, hardworking and intelligent people,” Robinette said. “They deserve to see themselves as capable of more than what the world often expects of them.”

To learn more, visit the Statler College chemical engineering website.

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