School of Chemical Sciences   |   College of Liberal Arts & Sciences  |   College of Engineering

ChBE Alumni Career Profiles

Sherri Oliver-Noe photo
Name: Sherri L. Oliver-Noe
Current Position: Manger Global Commissioning & Validation – Global Engineering Services, Abbott
Degrees: B.S. 1984

Career: Oliver-Noe immediately began working in the pharmaceutical industry after graduation, starting as a Quality Assurance Inspector for Armour Pharmaceuticals, Division of Rhone-Poulenc Rorer. She quickly advanced to Senior Process Engineer, the position she held when she left Armour Pharmaceuticals to join Abbott in 1992. Abbott has increasingly given Oliver-Noe more responsibility and relied on her expertise and leadership to optimize their processes. As Validation Superintendent she was responsible for maintaining regulatory change control for five manufacturing areas and two development centers. From 1997 to 1999, she was Section Manager of Biological Manufacturing where she was responsible for the $5.8 million annual department budget and was a manufacturing representative for two FDA/CBER audits. She lead the manufacturing start up for the relaunch of the Abbokinase product, heading the process engineering required for the $42 million renovation and dealing with compliance issues of the renovation. Oliver-Noe presently oversees the resource management needed for Abbott plants worldwide, ensuring that their needs are met for commissioning, validation, vessel design and weld inspection. She contributes to Abbott's overall production policy through her contributions to the ongoing development of their Global Engineering Assurance Strategy.

Value of Illinois Education: "The true value of the ChE degree from UIUC is that it prepares you for almost any technical or managerial career path you want. Your ability to quickly analyze situations, maximize opportunities while minimizing threats, and see beyond the present, are invaluable to employers."

Passion: "One of my passions is to support the continuation of engineering professions for all, but especially for women. America is facing real challenges in the area of STEM education, and staying competitive with other nations technically. I view it as part of the responsibility of my degree to do what I can to lessen these issues. I participate in curriculum initiatives within my local community schools. I sit on boards such as WYSE to help maintain quality STEM education. I speak at local schools, colleges, and offer job shadow experiences. In addition to my normal work responsibilities, I act as a technical recruiter for Abbott. I hope do my part to assure job opportunities for UIUC ChE grads while providing Abbott with top quality engineers."