Blake Trusty continues path to success

By Lydia Roop
English ′24

Blake Trusty has been around the block a few times, gaining internship experience in areas such as quality assurance, manufacturing, and research and development (R&D) during his time at Trine. Since then, he has found his niche area of interest for his career – sustainable energy.

“I wasn’t sure what it was I wanted out of my career,” Blake said. “Ultimately, as I started learning more about the discipline of chemical engineering, I realized that the world was in a rapid period of change, one that maybe hasn’t been seen since the field’s inception. What started as a discipline focused around oil has started to transition directly away from its roots. That realization drove me toward doing whatever I can do to contribute on the journey to a sustainable energy future.”

Blake, a 2019 Trine University alum, recently graduated with his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Florida. He is now employed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), a facility dedicated to conducting impactful R&D, which leads to scientific discoveries and breakthroughs in energy and national security.

Small school, big opportunities

A few months before his first semester at Trine, Blake fully intended to become a mechanical engineer. However, after the unexpected loss of his high school tennis coach and chemistry teacher, Blake was reminded of how much he enjoyed chemistry. 

“I decided to pursue chemical engineering at that point and never looked back,” he said.

At Trine, Blake was a part of men’s tennis for all four years, was a resident assistant (RA) for three years, and attended as many campus events as he could.

“CCH hot dogs with my roommates was a highlight of Trine, and any CCH event I was ever fortunate enough to make it out to was a great time,” Blake recalled.

Blake’s final undergraduate internship involved R&D work at Rolls-Royce, where he noticed that the employees doing interesting work had advanced degrees and expertise of some sort.

“That told me I really needed to pursue more specialization to accomplish any of the overarching goals I have as an engineer,” Blake said.

Blake found himself in the unique situation of making a successful transition from a primarily undergraduate institution to a high-tier R1 (doctoral universities: very high research activity) research university for his Ph.D. Despite that culture shift, Blake emphasized that his experience at Trine gave him an advantage over his peers as he began with a more realistic understanding of the situations presented to him.

“Trine does an outstanding job teaching chemical engineering as a way of breaking down and solving complex real-life problems, something I believe is unique to the small engineering school experience,” he said.

Leap of faith

Blake’s chemical engineering journey hasn’t been easy, but in his experience, high risk has equaled high reward.

“The path wasn’t straight, and it was tough to go 1,000 miles from home in order to stay on it, but ultimately I’m very happy with the direction I’ve taken,” Blake said.

Although he is only beginning his career at ORNL, he is passionate and optimistic about the work he has the opportunity to participate in. He will develop advanced membrane-based separation techniques in areas such as battery recycling and CO2 capture from industrial waste streams. 

“The immediate impact of each of these projects will hopefully be able to be applied, as the world moves toward a more renewable and sustainable energy future,” Blake said.

The best experience Trine gave him for his new role at ORNL “was the opportunity to connect with the community,” Blake said. “Trine’s community was always ready to succeed, lead and serve, and that atmosphere did an outstanding job preparing me for the culture I’m seeing at ORNL.”

If Blake were to provide one piece of advice, it would be that “there is an abundance of opportunity available if you’re willing to venture a little outside your comfort zone, and people are willing to give you the shot if you have the enthusiasm. Take advantage of that, take advantage of your Trine network (it’s real and it’s powerful, use it!), take advantage [of] your gifts. Go Thunder!”