On November 4th, the EDI Fellows welcomed Mr. Cody Hegel, senior project engineer at Apeel Sciences, as a virtual speaker. Although he had little interest in the engineering field as a child, he changed directions and obtained a degree in chemical engineering from UC Santa Barbara. He then worked in an internship at Apeel Sciences, a startup with the goal of generating and implementing the use of a more sustainable coating for fresh produce that would extend its shelf life. Mr. Hegel ultimately took a full-time job at Apeel and helped design and launch the system which applied the coating to the produce.

Apeel’s product is now used on several food products in nine countries around the world. Now a senior project engineer, Mr. Hegel spoke to us about his journey through engineering education, incidents which required quick problem solving (such as when the machine which applied the coating failed on its first full run only a week before commercial launch), and applying his skills to make the world more sustainable. As part of the Batten Leadership Program, we in the EDI Fellows strive to better our communities, and Mr. Hegel’s impact on food sustainability on a quite literally global scale set a perfect example for us.