Coming from an Angolan background, I saw how people struggled with having flowing electricity running 24/7. This inspired my interest as an oil-dependent country learns to invest in renewable energy. From this, I became very interested in chemical engineering as it actively works on new ways to generate the energy we need, maximize its efficiency, and maintain our environment. I see chemical engineers as the creators of the future, tackling society’s needs by designing and combining reactions to produce thousands of solutions.
Renewable energy is a topic that interests me as it tackles problems involving oil as a source of fuel. Having independently researched the applications of chemical engineering, I learnt about the potential impact that the fracking process may have on water quality and public health, and the drawbacks in the technique, for example, the large-scale water-consumption and the contamination of water sources with heavy-compounds used in the chemical cocktail.
Attending a lecture at the Royal Society of Chemistry interested me as I learnt about the implications of continuing to use oil as a source of energy and how our society can move away from its dependence from fossil fuels as it is using up nature’s resources. My participation in the Young Engineering Programme expanded my knowledge and understanding of the engineering field. This opportunity expanded my commercial awareness, as we would discuss and debate issues about the implementation of energy-generating pavements in future cities. They generate electricity as pedestrians step on the tiles and their weight causes the electromagnetic induction generators to vertically displace, producing kinetic energy which turns into electricity. I argued that a more comfortable mechanism should be developed because the pavements reduce the mobility of pedestrians with the displacement of the tiles. However, the technology in these pavements has been proven viable through installations in more than 100 sites worldwide, including London.
By studying chemistry, I became interested in organic pathways as they linked into key industrial processes such as the hydration of ethene to produce ethanol which can be used as biofuel, replacing fossil fuels. Understanding the mechanisms behind the processes helps bring my theoretical knowledge into practical examples.
Studying maths enhanced my problem-solving and analytical skills. I furthered my understanding of the maths topic covered in school by frequently attending university-level maths lectures, for example, looking at the origin of Pascal’s triangle helped my understanding of the binomial expansion. As a psychology student, studying people’s behaviour has helped me understand how they think, which lends itself to developing my interpersonal skills, and will allow me to know how to adapt amongst different kinds of people and situations. Not only that, but as engineering needs to fit societal needs, understanding the behaviour of individuals will also help me in creating solutions for the future. Additionally, over this summer I have worked as a Marketing and Propositions Intern at City and Guilds, where I learned how to deliver presentations effectively and work within a team. This enhanced my project management skills as I led a team to create a final group project. Outside of academia, I am part of Girlguiding, a charity that helps girls develop their confidence and serve their community, from this I had the opportunity to visit Mexico for environmental conservation of sea animals. I believe these are the skills that are very important to progress into a chemical engineering career because technology and the environment are growing at a rapid pace that we need to keep up with.
