Looking Back and Going Forward

I never wanted to start a blog, especially one focused on Chemical Engineering. I am still a student, what could I say that was worthwhile? Without being assigned this project by Dr. Kremmel, it is safe to say I never would have shared my thoughts on Chemical Engineering. However, now that I have done it, I am so glad to have had this opportunity. It has helped develop my writing ability and spread the word on the exciting developments in Chemical Engineering.

In class, Dr. Kremmel always stressed two things. The first was to know why you are writing (purpose). The second was to know who you are writing to (audience). Throughout this project, my purpose for writing has been to demystify Chemical Engineering. I wanted to show that it’s not scary and can be understood by anyone. My audience has been primarily focused on my family, friends, and peers (I know many of you have been reading my post, I appreciate it). I have truly enjoyed getting to be an educator about my passion.

Below is a list of my blog posts from this semester with a summary of each.

1. How Students See Chemical Engineering: This post went over my background as a Chemical Engineering student. It includes a conversation with my friend and roommate, Grant Bauer, on how exciting developments in Chemical Engineering.

2. Industrial Uses of Green Chemistry: This post discussed how the ethical issues with traditional chemical processing. I discussed how green chemistry is being used to promote environmentally friendly processes.

3. A Brief History of the Ethanol Industry: In this post, I talked about the history of the ethanol industry. I found it interesting because it has close ties to the agricultural industry.

4. Being Real about Celebrity Climate Hypocrisy: This post discussed how pop culture icons often fail to live up to the standards espouse. I did my best to be fair and give credit where it is due. I also offered suggestions on how these celebrities could best be the change they wish to see in the world.

5. Science Fair Water Treatment: I had fun writing this one. I targeted this post at an audience of children who, like me, enjoy doing experiments in the kitchen. I gave a brief overview of how water treatment is done and reinforced it with an experiment. This post included a short video of me walking through the experiment.

6. A Mechanical Engineers View of Electric Vehicles (Featuring Guest Blogger Livi Jurrens): This post was written for my blog by Livi Jurrnes, a senior Mechanical Engineering student and the Student Association Senate President at SD Mines. She also writes the blog Easy EV. This post was a written interview with her writing responses to questions I had emailed her.

7. Digital Privacy: Personal and Professional (Featuring Micah DeBoer): This post was written and posted on my friend Micah DeBoer’s blog Privacy4All. He interviewed me on my digital privacy habits and gave me tips on how to improve.

8. The Solar Panel Conundrum: For this post, I made a virtual exhibit that walks through the problems and solutions of using modern solar panels. The goal of this post was to use a few words as possible and let pictures tell the story.

9. Green Chemical Synthesis – Renewable and Profitable: In this post, I give a brief overview of an academic poster presentation that I did for class. It contains a video of my presentation. I also discuss why I love Chemical Engineering.

As I finish this semester, my goal is to continue writing this blog. After all, I am still learning a lot and love getting to share it. As I get into design teams within the next year, I am hoping to share how my team and I are participating in finding new solutions. Also, I hope to give updates on the lessons I learn over the summer while interning with Agropur again. Please continue to check in on this blog, I keep you posted (pun intended).