Biological engineering student Melanie Mills makes a difference in agriculture 

“I’ve got the super fancy, whatever new calculator, but it does not do me any good in competing with Melanie,” said Peter Jeppeson, a biological engineering student. “She’s just got this beat-up TI-89 probably from the ‘90s, and she still kicks everybody’s butt.” 

Jeppeson met Melanie Mills two years ago while working with her for a group project. He said Mills stands out because of her work ethic and dedication.  

“She is totally the epitome of excellence,” Jeppeson said. “She’s super dedicated, super levelheaded and honestly, she’s amazing.”

Mills, who is graduating this May with a degree in biological engineering, currently works full-time at Gossner Foods as a process engineer. When she began applying for internships last October, she was hoping to find something for the summer. 

“I called them, and it ended up that this guy had never heard of me — it was a complete cold call,” Mills said. “And I was just in the right place at the right time when they said, ‘Actually, we really need your skill set. We’d love to have you.’” 

Mills said she is the only engineer working in the facility of about 650 employees. She was hired to reduce water and milk waste and to increase efficiency.  

Biological engineering is a variation of chemical engineering. Mills said it involves thinking about how one can exploit biological systems to accomplish the chemistry that is desired.  

Mills, the youngest of eight kids, grew up on her family’s farm in Burley, Idaho. Her family grew potatoes, sugar beets, alfalfa and corn. They also raised beef and dairy cows.  

“I grew up with exposure to lots of different aspects of the ag industry,” Mills said. “And I knew I couldn’t be a farmer, but I wanted to stay involved in the industry. So I decided to come to Utah State and study something that would help me be able to give back in the ag industry, and I just decided to study biological engineering.” 

Mills has classmates focusing on vaccines, biofuels and prosthetics, but her focus is on agriculture.  

“Since I’ve started in biological engineering, my goal was always to have the technical skills from engineering to be able to communicate with the technical people in the industry, and then have the agricultural background to be able to communicate with the producers and the shareholders in an ag company,” Mills said.  

Mills has been able to start fulfilling this goal in her job at Gossner and will continue to follow this goal as she moves forward in her career.  

She is married to Daniel Mills, who she met at a Logan Institute of Religion activity. Daniel is a junior from western Nebraska studying mechanical engineering.  

Daniel said five of Melanie’s strengths are faith, dedication, common sense, kindness and being goal-driven.  

“I think she was nominated because she has a specific purpose and goal for her education,” Daniel said. “It’s very common that people aren’t sure what they want to do after graduation.” 

Daniel said even though Melanie hasn’t graduated yet, she already has “her dream job.” 

When Melanie isn’t studying or working, she enjoys four-wheeling, sewing and watching Duke basketball. 

Melanie summed up her childhood in a story when she and her cousins used to take two four-wheelers on either side of a canal with a rope in between them and pull someone with the rope on a kneeboard.  

She got a little aggressive, went too fast and pulled the four-wheeler her cousin was driving into the canal. They were able to pull it out of the water and get it running again, but they decided not to tell their parents.  

A few months later, the four-wheeler stopped working because water got into the oil and ruined the engine.  

“​​If we would have been honest and upfront in the beginning, we could have just drained the oil,” Melanie said. “My dad probably would have been mad, but it wouldn’t have been a big deal. It taught me two important life lessons. The first is there’s so much to be said about just being upfront and honest. And the other is that you always have to be paying attention in life. Because if you aren’t paying attention, life can pull you in, in different directions.” 

If she could give advice to her first-year self and other incoming college students, Melanie said they shouldn’t be pressured into feeling they need to be involved in anything. They should find out what they want to do and follow that path.  

She said oftentimes, professors made her feel like she was bound to fail, but she wants new students to know if they are willing to work hard, they can succeed.  

“I think something that wasn’t stressed enough was ‘Sure, college is difficult, but it’s not impossible,’” Melanie said. “If you’re willing to work hard, and not just work hard, but use your time efficiently, you can get it done.” 

Melanie said the three things she values most in the world are her faith, her family and the ability to laugh.  

“I think that’s something that we kind of take for granted in our world, and we almost praise people for being gloomy or say, ‘Oh, my life sucks more than your life,’” Melanie said. “But I think the ability to be happy and find joy where we’re at is a gift.”