Mark Jendrisak ’19 started to gravitate toward a career in waste or wastewater management while he was earning his bachelor’s degree.

“When I chose engineering, I realized we could integrate a solution into reducing or reusing wastes,” he says.

Jendrisak also began to think graduate school could be attainable. He applied for scholarships, obtained two jobs, and sought academic and career advice from advisers, instructors and fellow students. He set a goal to finish his master’s degree in biosystems engineering without accruing debt.

He’s been successful in his first year and has begun to work on the applied research project he will base his thesis on.

Working with Akrum Tamimi, assistant professor of practice in biosystems engineering, Jendrisak aims to reduce the amount of meat waste — bones, organs, anything people don’t eat — going into landfills.

Tamimi is partnering with Sunstate Environmental Services and units within the University of Arizona to develop technology projected to reduce the waste created by the university’s Food Products and Safety Lab by 89%. Tamimi believes this technology will be low enough in cost to have widespread commercial application.

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