It was a cold spring day in the city of Madison. The snow had just melted for the first time that year, and the bikers were getting back on the road after a winter-long hiatus. The remaining cold of the season meant little within the large, warm lecture hall at 1415 Engineering Dr, however. Prof Dumesic, the school's catalysis expert, had just finished his presentation on the conversion of biomass to fuels using inorganic heterogeneous catalysts. This seemed strange to me, as I was in the beginning on a semester-long project to design a chemical plant to produce a gasoline replacement using a microbe that had not previously been used industrially. I decided to chat with him after his presentation, and the chill of the weather suddenly seemed close again. I did not know that morning that his words would echo in my head throughout the duration of the semester as I worked my senior design project, eventually helping to push me away from my desires to work on producing biofuels from microbes. Prof Dumesic gave me the very sound chemical engineering reasons why biofuels from microbes are bound for failure, and my data collection and calculations over the coming semester would bear them out perfectly.

By the end of my weekend visiting the University of Wisconsin, I knew I would be spending the next few years of my life there, despite the somewhat awkward encounter with prof Dumesic. Similarly, life in Madison is getting off to a rocky start. Today I tried really hard to work on homework with some of the other first year grad students, but I just couldn't do it for some reason. I get really distracted when TV's are on, and it could be that I couldn't focus because of the football games that were on all afternoon. Still, I have trouble working on homework when it isn't due for a few days. It has always seemed so inefficient anyway, because you don't get the benefit of the lectures that are scheduled during the next few days.

Working on the condo situation has been very distracting as well. I have been spending half of my afternoons writing contracts, reviewing paperwork, signing for loans, and going to inspections. Things may settle down at the end of the week, but it is too soon to tell. There always seems to be one more thing to do. Then I work on homework during the evenings, which is something I learned to avoid over the last year. I will be able to devote all of the day to class after the month is over, and I look forward to this eagerly.

Perhaps the most rocky part has been choosing an advisor, though I'm getting closer every day. It has been a very interesting process, in that I am probably not going to work for the advisor who initially attracted me to this school. After talking to prof Dumesic, I did get an opportunity on my visit weekend to talk to prof Pfleger, the expert on biofuels from microbes in the department. Though my work on my senior design project discouraged me from pursuing his research, I still have kept in touch and went to a couple of his lab group meetings. As much as I want to be interested, I think that performing in excruciating detail the chemical engineering calculations of a biofuel plant has ruined any desire I had to do the work that I originally thought I would be doing in grad school.

Now I am considering a few diverse projects. I might work on a process design project that has the potential to improve both the efficiency of the design process and the chemical plants that would be designed. This is the most traditional chemical engineering project I'm looking at, and it would be purely computational. In the computational field, I am also considering working on models for the cell that would describe how the metabolism works and how it could be modified to produce useful chemicals. I could actually be in the lab as well, working on these fun things called liquid crystals. One thing that we might be able to do with them is detect proteins and toxins without the very time consuming and complex tests that are currently used. I could also use the principles of chemical engineering to design better bandages. The last project I could be working on is top secret! No papers have been published yet (hence the secrecy), but success could make studying certain diseases much easier.

So it has been an interesting process. I have gotten to learn about some of the cutting edge chemical engineering research that I did not even know existed, and some of it has been surprisingly exciting. I have also gotten to examine my own values and learn about what I think makes work that is worth doing. One thing that really sticks out to me is that I am truly an engineer at heart. I decided not to pursue prof Pfleger's research because I realized that it was not practical, and I am being drawn to projects that have very tangible applications in the chemical industry and other areas. I've also realized how much I value a supportive advisor. I've ruled out a few professors because I didn't get the impression that they care about their students that much.

So that is all for today. I realized a few days ago that I owe a few people some articles, and I hope next time to discuss some of the chemical aspects of hair removal. I also want to start doing interviews with other chemical engineers about their current work. Until next time, go Badgers!

Pros and Cons of Going Back to School

I'm reasonably settled in Madison now, as much as I can be in a temporary place with all of my stuff still in the storage unit thing. I'm not yet ready to write a coherent post about my life here so far, but I wanted to give some brief thoughts about school so far. So here are some of the pros and cons of being back in school.

Pro: Free food (yay for new school year events!)
Con: Going out to eat every other night when there isn't free food is hard on the bank account

Pro: Being at a Big 10 school with lots of people and lots of girls
Con: Being stuck in the engineering building most of the time with the standard proportion of girls

Pro: Learning about fun things like molecular dynamics simulation and DNA transcription
Con: Waking up early and getting no afternoon nap

Pro: Meeting some of the most influential researchers in chemical engineering
Con: Trying to convince one of them that they want to be my PhD advisor
Extra Con: Reading dozens of their papers and grant proposals to know what they are studying

Pro: Really good cheese
Con: Really bad beer (sure, there are microbreweries, but all everyone wants is Miller Light and PBR!)

Pro: Lakes
Con: No mountains

Pro: Incredibly advanced labs with every toy one could ever want and more...
Con: In an extremely old building that reminds me of my old middle school

Pro: More bike lanes and bikers...
Con: But still nearly getting hit more often than in Denver

Pro: Friendly students all around campus...
Con: Who you will probably never meet again

Pro: Slowly becoming an expert in my field...
Con: Over the next 5.5 years.

New post this weekend, I hope.