Study Chemical Engineering by Cindy Lee

CINDY LEE (NUS, Senior Lecturer)

chellyc — 2019-11-15 08:40:44 UTC

Why do I study Chemical Engineering??

It was the topic of distillation of crude oil into different components that caught my eye and interest the first time when I was in upper Secondary. A chat with my teachers then revealed that this is the sort of topics studied by Chemical Engineers.
Coupled with the fact that I studied Double Maths, Double Science, I eventually found out that Chemical Engineering is the ideal course for me to choose for University.

Did I enjoy my University Education?

Absolutely!Many would say University is one of the most memorable time in their life. The skills and knowledge I learnt are applicable in many fields and not just Chemical Engineering knowledge but the soft skills of presentation, writing, team working. I also learnt a lot during the internship period.Also, I made many life-long friends and also met my hubby who was in the same class as me.

How did my Chemical Engineering Education help me in my career and life?

It's really a blessing to be able to be working in a field where the work excites you.I pursued my PhD and subsequently worked on Supercritical Fluid Research (Green and Sustainable process development).Currently, I am applying my knowledge in my research and in my full time role as an Educator in Chemical Engineering with NUS.
https://blog.nus.edu.sg/chellyc/
Mostly, the core Chemical Engineering concepts of Balances, Driving Forces etc. are applicable in our everyday lives if we look closely. The fundamental training i received has helped me to pick up new ideas and skills easily.

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING and SUSTAINABILITY

chellyc — 2019-11-28 01:48:52 UTC

Some people have the misconception that Chemical Engineering is a sunset industry due to its association with careers in the traditional energy and chemicals industry. However, amidst the global challenges faced today, Chemical Engineers play a pivotal role in providing solutions to some of these global issues. The Chemical Engineering Education Curriculum covers both breadth and depth of the understanding Engineering and Science concepts, useful for process and product development, which I believe can be flexibly applied in various industries and challenges.

"Chemical engineers possess a core set of threshold concepts which are central to a sustainable society, and because engineers will ultimately help design any new society, they bear a moral and ethical responsibility to play an active and indeed central role in its development"

Quoted from Bryne and Fitzpatrick in 'Chemical Engineering in an unsustainable World: Obligations and opportunities. Education for Chemical Engineers 4(2009) 51-67'

SKY

chellyc — 2020-01-15 04:51:15 UTC

Why do I study Chemical Engineering??

Engineering is regarded as a professional degree back then when I had to choose a university course. While I loved Chemistry, I’d prefer to have an engineering degree for job security reasons, that’s why I chose chemical engineering. Plus, it was a course for the cream of the crop since the entry criteria was very stringent, so the prestige was definitely one of the plus points for me.

Did I enjoy my University Education?

Definitely. Classes were as per normal, but I had much fun doodling around in the lab as and when I have time from my ugrad days all the way to the end of my PhD. It was the fun and exploration in the lab that helped me link up the seemingly abstract concepts in class to practical use and deeper understanding. I learn by literally doing and making stuffs.

How did my Chemical Engineering Education help me in my career and life?

For most part, the engineering way of thinking helped me cut down on the time taken to reach my end goal when it comes to lab research. Normally one would think that varying all the different parameters you can think of such as flow rate, temperature, concentration etc and noting the trends will help to optimize the process of chemical synthesis eventually. But if you look at it from an engineering perspective, you’d intuitively know how changes in these parameters will affect your system, do a couple of quick calculations, you can easily narrow down perhaps 30 different experiments to probably 5 experiments to prove your point. That’s a significant amount of savings in terms of time and effort.