During the Undergraduate Speed Networking session I met Dr. Carolyn Ribes
who works for DOW in their Analytical Technology Center. She gave me some
very useful advice on what things I should be doing during my time as an
undergraduate student in terms of setting myself up from graduate school
admission. Her job is to ensure that standardized analyses are installed
and functioning in Dow’s plants across the globe.

I went to the Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Collaboration talks this
morning. And there was one student from the National Technical Institute
for the Deaf in Rochester, New York. She gave a presentation on her
research about phenol concentrations in wetlands near Rochester in which
she had to sign all of the chemistry of her research. This seems like an
enormous obstacle to overcome, but she stood up in front of a room of
people and gave her presentation with great poise. It was very impressive
to put it mildly.

Sunday April 7:

I learned some really useful tips for oral presentations. The major point
that was stressed is that the “why” is what really needs to be stressed.
One of the speakers showed a video which showed the difference between
science students explaining their project with the technical jargon versus
when they explained the big picture idea of how their research will affect
society. Their faces lit up when they discussed how their projects will
affect society because it really touches on the human element of their
research.
The other thing that I thought was an important point was that only
speeches that are 3 minutes or under should be entirely scripted because
there is less time to get your idea across. Going with a rough outline
typically allows the speaker to come across as more lively as they are
speaking to the audience rather than just reading to them.

Sunday, April 7:

“Research is seeing what everybody sees, and thinking what nobody has
thought.”

I was unaware of the fact that there are casinos in New Orleans. I decided
that I should stop in and try my hand at Blackjack at Harrah’s.
Unfortunately I got a little carried away and lost all of my money for food
:( Check out the before and after pics.

Just landed in Phoenix! I have to say flying with first time air travelers
is always funny. But many times the nerves of people who fly regularly seem
to outweigh those who are excited for their first flight. I can’t wait to
see what will be waiting for us in NOLA!