People often identify the major of chemical engineering as one of the most difficult anyone can select. Although my personality exemplifies persistence and determination, the daily struggle of managing stacks of lab reports, chemistry problems, and various articles on baffling concepts often make me wonder why I dream to pursue such a profession. I decided that I wanted to study chemical engineering in my junior year of high school. During high school, I knew that I wanted to go into a field that heavily relied on math and science, but I also knew that I didn’t want to study their pure forms.
For months, my parents suggested that I consider engineering; they sent me articles and Google pages, but I was not initially interested. One fateful day, my AP Chemistry teacher mentioned something about chemical engineers and organic chemists designing and synthesizing proteins to perform specific tasks. That afternoon, I spent hours digging through the very same Google pages my parents showed me months earlier about protein, biomedical, and chemical engineering. In that moment, I was sold on chemical engineering. My supportive family impacted my future, influenced my passions, and instilled a desire to attend Carnegie Mellon UniversityAs I perused through these Google pages, I came across the engineering program of this very school. I found that the Department of Chemical Engineering is committed to the highest standard of integrity in education and research. The department’s research labs and computing facilities are housed in Doherty Hall in space that underwent a $28M renovation. I admire the fact that this university continues to enhance and improve their facilities in order to allow students to progress in their goals within research.
By establishing several research centers across campus as well as with other universities, the collaborative research environment provides students, faculty, and researchers an interdisciplinary opportunity to work toward solutions to today’s problems. I plan to utilize and take advantage of these research opportunities to reinforce and extend what I learn within my courses.Overall, I believe chemical engineers make the world go round. Whether it is strengthening the manufacturing of a prescription drug or inventing a procedure to melt and mold the metal into the items like silverware we use every day. There is practically no industrial or commercial product that an engineer has not handled in some manner. We wish for the water we drink to be free of pollutants such as insecticides and other wastes. We dream that patients receive the safest and most affordable medication possible. We desire the food we eat is produced safely, reliably, and sustainably.
Chemical engineers improve the quality of products we utilize and intake. These masterminds map out processes utilizing mathematics, physics, economics, and most certainly chemistry to keep the planet we live in today running as smooth as it can. I urge myself to always think that my future work may cause a person in this world to breathe cleaner air, drink cleaner water, acquire affordable treatments, and use more renewable energy. It is for these reasons that I dream to become a successful, selfless chemical engineer.
I find that Carnegie Mellon, a university and community that is constantly advancing to aid its students, feels like a family similar to mine that drives me to deepen my interests.
