Rachel Long杏吧专区檚 love for chemistry started in high school when she quickly realized she wanted a career in the field.
杏吧专区淚 knew, whatever I did, I wanted it to involve chemistry because it杏吧专区檚 challenging, it杏吧专区檚 something interesting, it杏吧专区檚 something that you can continue learning about constantly and barely scratch the surface,杏吧专区 she said.
With a little push from her parents and mechanical engineer brother, Rachel decided to try the chemical engineering major.
杏吧专区淚 was thinking, 杏吧专区業'll try it for a year, and then maybe I'll go into chemistry and just do research or something,杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿 she said. 杏吧专区淎nd I did one year of it, and I realized with chemical engineering, you have so many different fields that you can be involved in.
杏吧专区淚t has a lot of problem-solving aspects to it, and it's really challenging, which is why I've stuck with it,杏吧专区 she said.
Renewable Energy Careers with Chemical Engineering
As a senior, Rachel has explored the career fields available for a chemical engineering major.
杏吧专区淎t this point, I would really like to go into the environmental side of it, possibly renewable energy,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淚 think it's a field that's the future and what we're going to be using primarily in the future, or at least competitively with oil and gas. So, I think it'd be really cool to be involved in that field.杏吧专区
She decided on this career path because of classes she杏吧专区檚 taken, like CHEE 440: Renewable Energy.
杏吧专区淚t was super interesting to see a chemical engineering perspective on renewable energy,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淕enerally, you hear about solar energy and wind energy. So, to hear about making biofuels and biogas and seeing how the research is being done right now 杏吧专区 it's not stuff that they're thinking about, it's not stuff that people have already figured out, it's stuff that 杏吧专区 right now 杏吧专区 is ongoing.杏吧专区
Relevant & Hands-On Engineering Internships
Other classes have been important to Rachel's future career, as well. One of her internships was with Citgo, and it required a lot of the information she learned in CHEE 405: Heat Transfer.
杏吧专区淥ne of the projects they had me do was monitor the heat exchangers fouling over time. I used fundamentals from that class directly in that project,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淚t's one of the classes you directly apply to real-life engineering. It's past the basics and going on to more real-world applications.杏吧专区
She also learned a lot from her internship that helped in her classes.
杏吧专区淚 got to see the turnarounds, which are where they shut down part of the refinery, and they do routine maintenance, inspection, and make sure everything's up to code. At that point, if any equipment needs to be replaced, they replaced it,杏吧专区 she said.
杏吧专区淚 got to see the inside of a lot of equipment, and that really helped me learn a lot about what we're studying in class and what it actually looks like.杏吧专区
Developing a Chem-E-Car
Rachel is also staying active on campus. She is a member of the , and she participates in extracurricular opportunities that will prepare her to work in the chemical engineering industry.
杏吧专区淚 worked on Chem-E-Car,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淲e get together, and we build a shoebox-sized car that starts and stops from a chemical reaction.杏吧专区
杏吧专区淲e take it to a competition where we compete against other universities that have researched and built their own shoebox-sized car. At that competition, they'll give you a specific distance that your car needs to go. You have a one-hour time limit to get your car ready. Then you have to get your car to stop as close to that line as possible.
杏吧专区淚 worked on it for two and a half years,杏吧专区 she said. 杏吧专区淚t was a really great experience because while you're learning things in class, you can directly apply it, and you get that hands-on experience."
"That's what really solidified that this is what I want to do. Chemical engineering is where I want to be.杏吧专区
