If you ever find yourself sitting next to Kate Handel on a flight, do not expect a quiet trip.
She will probably notice your Auburn shirt before the plane reaches cruising altitude. Before long, you will somehow find yourself talking about football Saturdays, campus traditions and why Auburn feels different from anywhere else.
That is just who she is.
“I’ve always felt like when you’re wearing an Auburn T-shirt or your hat at the airport, you’re an ambassador for the university,” she said. “I’ve always really liked the idea of getting to be people’s point of contact when they first come here and get to experience what campus is like.”
Raised on Auburn
Auburn has always been part of Handel’s story.
A third-generation Auburn engineer, she grew up surrounded by family traditions rooted on campus. Every football season, several families packed into cabins at Chewacla State Park before heading to Jordan-Hare Stadium for game day. Today, those traditions are being passed down to the next generation.
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When it came time to choose a college, Handel visited other schools. But she always came back to Auburn.
“It really is cheesy,” she said. “But Auburn just feels like home.”
Today, home also happens to be where she is conducting cutting-edge research.
Handel is entering her fourth year of her doctoral program in chemical engineering. Most days are spent in the lab studying nanomaterials for biomedical applications.
Her dissertation focuses on iron oxide nanoparticles that could one day make MRI contrast agents safer, helping doctors diagnose cancer while reducing harmful side effects for patients.
It is complex work, but the reason behind it is not.
“If you know the end goal is something impactful, it makes it easier to get through those difficult days at the lab,” Handel said.
More than molecules
After graduation, Handel will report for active duty with the U.S. Air Force as a developmental engineer. She also recently earned her private pilot’s license.
Why, you may ask?
Because she wanted to challenge herself.
“It was a completely different way to flex my engineering brain,” Handel said.
That same curiosity trickles into everything she does.
As an 1887 Society Ambassador, Handel gives campus tours, recruits and represents the Graduate School at events throughout the year, including the New Graduate Student Welcome Event, Auburn Author Awards, Auburn Research Symposium and graduate recruiting fairs.
Being an ambassador has also introduced her to people well outside the College of Engineering.
“This work gets me out of just the engineering school bubble,” Handel said.
“I think people should consider becoming an ambassador because it gives you the chance to represent the outstanding population of hard-working graduate students. You get to showcase all the amazing work going on right here on our campus.”
Maybe this is not goodbye
Graduate school has taught Handel more than engineering.
Research rarely goes according to plan. Experiments fail. Weeks can pass without the results you are hoping for. Learning to persevere has become just as important as the science itself.
“I tell people anyone could do a Ph.D.,” Handel said. “It just becomes a matter of what you’re willing to persevere through.”
Her advisor often reminds the lab that there is no such thing as bad data, only bad analysis. That is a lesson Handel has carried well beyond research.
Next spring, Handel will begin her Air Force career, but she is not convinced her Auburn story is over.
One of the biggest surprises of graduate school was not the research. It was her love for teaching.
As a teaching assistant, Handel found mentoring undergraduate engineering students rewarding.
“When they finished their projects, nothing I did that semester compared to seeing how much they’d grown,” Handel said. “I was like a proud mom.”
Now, she can picture herself returning to academia someday, maybe even at Auburn.
“I really do love the idea of coming back,” she said. “I’ve loved it a lot more than I thought I would.”
Until then, she will keep doing what she has always done: talking to strangers, welcoming new faces and showing people why Auburn feels like home.
Official ambassador or not.
