So this is it; the final week of my five year degree has begun. For those who have forgotten or are unaware, I am now on the individual section of my final design project which is due in next Thursday morning. I must say that although the 5 years have been challenging, this is the toughest assignment yet. Don't get me wrong though, this also happens to be the most interesting an, perhaps, enjoyable project that I have worked on.
I am currently designing a mulitphase reactor for the synthesis of methanol from a CO2-rich feed gas. The reason this is interesting is that as an inert liquid medium is used in the reactor to dissipate the high exothermic heat of reaction, and in essence allows an increase in the extent of reaction, it adds a new dimension of complexity to the design and calculations. The gaseous (reactant) components must first diffuse (dissolve if you like) into the inert liquid phase and then travel to the catalyst surface. In this design the catalyst is washed onto a honeycomb monolith structure (much like in a car's catalytic converter). Once at the catalyst surface the components can react forming the product which are subsequently separated from the liquid before undergoing final polishing stages.
I hope this has given you a little insight into the problems that chemical engineers face, and I would add that the approach I am taking is relatively novel. This therefore allows you to take all the experience and understanding you have and apply it to situations outside of the normal context. So, hopefully this final stint will go smoothly and I can report to you next time as a person with considerably more time on their hands!
Some of you may think that there are two primary areas that you must be strong in to be defined as a competent chemical engineer (it should be noted that this post is relevant for those entering realms other than that of the sciences!) These two areas are
- Technical understanding - how well you can intepret and apply theoretical knowledge to real situations and problems;
- Thinking - this is a measure of your ability to problem solve and tackle something with in a logical and sensible fashion.
Now don't get me wrong, both of these are highly desirable and important for engineers but you would be mistaken if you believed that these are the only, or most essential skills. Now, it may be true that industrialists and academics require different types of skills or methods of applying themselves but whatever you go into one day, an understanding of the following skills would be extremely beneficial; it is usually these type of competencies that are assessed during corporate interviews!
- Drive - this ranges from your ability to be good at managing projects, have excellent organisation skills, and most importantly being pro-active rather than reactive. This means that you have the ability to see something needs doing before being asked to do it.
- Influence - this doesn't mean bullying someone to your doctrine! The aim is to show you are competent at getting others to understanding you're way of thinking and changing the way something is being done if you have a better or more economic way of doing it.
- Team work - this is HUGE!!! Inter-personal skills, the ability to communicate effectively and assertively with others (colleagues, contractors, admins, whoever!) is a very important skill. When I spent a year in industry I spent much effort in doing this well and networking with as many people as possible.
- Business/commercial sense - for those who don't like financial or economical branches of life I apologise for dissapointing you now; whatever you end up doing one day this skill will be very important. For chemical engineers the ability to critique various technical solutions to a problem on economic feasibility, in addition to technical plausibility, is exceptionally benefitial.
Now, I don't want to say these are the absolute definitions for these soft skills, or that they are the only ones that must be concentrated on, but having a basic understanding of them now will help you to realise the sorts of competencies that companies look for evidence of when being interviewed or assessed.
