Frito-Lay’s Topeka, Kansas, plant operates 24 hours a day, so while most of us are sleeping, Catherine Swift, a 2010 graduate in mechanical engineering, is monitoring production lines that produce bagged snack foods, ready for supermarket shelves. Swift helps monitor the plant’s production process for moisture and oil levels, and each shift compares its batches to a reference product for appearance, flavor and texture. Swift ensures that the snacks that leave the Topeka plant are the same quality as the ones made in other locations.

Share This Story

Spark a Memory?

Share your story! Fill out the form below to share your fondest memory or anecdote of S&T. If you'd prefer not typing, you can also share by phone at 833-646-3715 (833-Miner150).

Jenna (Freese) and Aaron Wundrack

Jenna (Freese) and Aaron Wundrack

Jenna (Freese) and Aaron Wundrack met in the mining engineering department in 2013, where they were both pursuing bachelor’s degrees…

Y2K debugger

Y2K debugger

As the clock ticked down to the year 2000, computer scientists around the world were fretting about the so-called “Y2K…

Elizabeth and Teddy Caputa-Hatley

Elizabeth and Teddy Caputa-Hatley

Elizabeth and Teddy Caputa-Hatley met on the second day of Opening Week in 2015 in Butler-Carlton Civil Engineering Hall. Elizabeth…

Year after year, the ‘Best Ever’

Year after year, the ‘Best Ever’

Since George Menefee first donned a bishop’s hat and robe and rode a rail handcar into Rolla on March 17,…

Hilary (Kuehn) and Christopher Zerr

Hilary (Kuehn) and Christopher Zerr

Hilary (Kuehn) was living in the Residential College in August 2006 when her roommate, Emilie, took her to a party…

A civil war fortress

A civil war fortress

As the Civil War raged on, the Union Army, following a defeat at Wilson’s Creek in southwest Missouri, fell back…