Year Four.
Fourth year out of five is in the books! I started out my fourth year on my first co-op rotation with the Dow Chemical Company! I was ecstatic to be offered a position with Dow the past fall prior to studying abroad. When I went to talk to Dow at the career fair I thought the company was way out of my league, but gave it a shot anyway (what's the worst that could happen?). It turned into a position with one of the largest chemical companies in the world! I spent the semester working in Louisville, KY about an hour and a half away from Cincinnati. I made a point to come back for a lot of events on campus because fall is my favorite time!! In Louisville I worked in a monomer distillation unit, if you don't know what that is neither did I so that was a learning point. Having not taken my separations course or worked in a chemical plant previously I had a lot to catch up on in my first term with Dow. I made a point to use as many resources as I had available to learn about the valves, pumps, distillation columns, and reactors that I came across in my work and felt I even knew a thing or two when I left. I felt accomplished finishing my continuous improvement analysis and organizing a presentation for a subject matter expert on our utilities water clarification system. Dow is an incredible company and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to learn so much from them.
My spring semester was spent in classes on campus. This semester felt as if I had finally begun learning what I needed to for real world application. My separations course was everything I had wanted to learn and Professor Govind's teaching was some of the best I had received in the chemical engineering. I felt passionate about the course and eager to prove myself. I also took a class on process controls, chemical reaction engineering, professional development, and effectiveness in technical organizations. The technical organizations course turned out to be extremely beneficial in improving my perception of professionalism. Learning more about where my strengths lie and what areas I need to improve in. I worked very hard this semester to earn straight A's for my first term in college, however fell short by one class. This just sets the bar for next fall, entering in my last year of college, I hope to be able to achieve this goal.
This summer I am working my second co-op term with Dow Chemical in Freeport, TX. Instead of working in a run plant engineering role as I did in Kentucky, I will be working in a department called Technical Services and Development. A cross between R&D, engineering, and marketing, this role will allow me to build skills in developing experiments, working for customer needs, and increase my technical knowledge in specialty plastics. I am eager to see what this summer has in store and the new skills I will develop.
My spring semester was spent in classes on campus. This semester felt as if I had finally begun learning what I needed to for real world application. My separations course was everything I had wanted to learn and Professor Govind's teaching was some of the best I had received in the chemical engineering. I felt passionate about the course and eager to prove myself. I also took a class on process controls, chemical reaction engineering, professional development, and effectiveness in technical organizations. The technical organizations course turned out to be extremely beneficial in improving my perception of professionalism. Learning more about where my strengths lie and what areas I need to improve in. I worked very hard this semester to earn straight A's for my first term in college, however fell short by one class. This just sets the bar for next fall, entering in my last year of college, I hope to be able to achieve this goal.
This summer I am working my second co-op term with Dow Chemical in Freeport, TX. Instead of working in a run plant engineering role as I did in Kentucky, I will be working in a department called Technical Services and Development. A cross between R&D, engineering, and marketing, this role will allow me to build skills in developing experiments, working for customer needs, and increase my technical knowledge in specialty plastics. I am eager to see what this summer has in store and the new skills I will develop.