Currently the Senior Vice President of Operations & Engineering at CMS Energy, Poppe credits her Purdue IE education with helping her get to where she is today. "Purdue IE prepared me with fundamental skills upon which I still rely - basic scientific problem-solving, how to ask a lot of questions and keep learning, how to continuously improve any organization, and how to work together with other talented and capable people," she says.

Poppe chose to study industrial engineering because she wanted to work with people rather than machines. She encourages IE students to find their passion, figure out how to apply their industrial engineering talents to it, and to be curious about future possibilities. “Life can be a joyous adventure if you bias your career toward what you love doing,” she advises.

“My Purdue IE degrees are a true point of pride for me,” Poppe states. “Purdue IE is leading the charge in making a difference in the areas that matter the most, healthcare, manufacturing, and energy.”