Chemical engineering and environment protection

Written by Yiran  Li

During the 1960s, a number of industrial accidents and widely publicized pollution incidents occurred, which began to galvanize public opinion. Ever since the nascent environmental movement began to take shape, industry has been considered the culprit, and the chemical engineer has long been vilified as the perpetrator. Chemical engineers have been misunderstood for decades. In fact, chemical engineers do a lot to protect the environment and control pollution. “Their broad academic training in both chemistry and engineering, however, makes it possible to harness the basic principles of chemical, physical and even biological conversions to reduce the volume and toxicity of existing airborne or waterborne pollutants and solid waste streams, to design or redesign processes inherently less polluting than their historic counterparts, and to develop more effective monitoring devices and control strategies to increase detection efficiency and to ensure optimal conversion rates (and thus minimize byproduct waste streams).” (ChE)

Chemical engineers make a great contribution to control water pollution and air pollution. Chemical engineers developed many well-known ways to slow down water pollution like vacuum or pressure filtration, centrifugation, membrane-based separation, distillation,  carbon-based and zeolite-based adsorption, and oxidation treatments.

Also, engineers now start to control all the pollution by redesigning the production progress. They use commercial-scale technologies and systems to purify raw water for drinking, making it suitable for human consumption.

A sage once wrote, “The Earth was not given to us by our grandparents, but lent to us by our grandchildren.” It is the collective responsibility of the world community to protect the environment and our natural heritage.

Reference

http://www.chemicalengineering.org/enviro/water.html

http://www.chemicalengineering.org/docs/cheme-environmental.pdf

Prompt Essay #5 : Observing Community

Written by Seungyeon Lee 

I am in a sorority, Phi Sigma Rho, which is a sorority for engineering major students. 
As an active sister in Phi Sigma Rho, i have been able to participate in most of the events or meetings. Unlike other social sororities, Phi Sigma Rho doesn't require active sisters to go to every events/meetings. To be clear, they are allowed to miss three chapter meetings and as long as they earn 440 points during the whole semester, they are good to go. Further, active sisters in Phi Sigma Rho are not required to go to any socials either. 

I have also talked to several upperclassmen in my sorority. 
I asked how they got to choose their major, how they like it so far, and what their future plans are. 
I also asked how Phi Sigma Rho helps through out their college life. 

Summarized answers are below:
Q: How did you choose your major and how do you like it so far? What are your future plans?
A: Most of them chose their major based on what they like and what they are interested in. Also, most of the Sophomores and Juniors are planning to start with their internships/co-ops during this summer.
They mostly have plans which are a month, semester, year ahead. Active sisters who already have been co-oped or intern with a company helps us to contact with a company they have worked with. They also give us a lot of useful sources that helps us a lot.

Q: How does Phi Sigma Rho helps you through out your college years? 
A: Like it was mentioned above, a lot of active sisters help us with lots of sources in terms of internships, co-oping, and also they help us how to 4.0 easily on each classes. Also, based on my experience, there are lots of chemical engineers in our sorority, though only five people are freshman. However, it is good that we can get help or ask about our next year's schedules and also those five people become really good friends that we study together for exams since us five take basically almost the same class as a chemical engineer. It is good that we can both bond with friends and also achieve our academic goals.

Many people around me thinks joining in a sorority would affect my grade in a bad way and that i have to go to a lot of parties. However, that is totally wrong. I can choose whether or not to go for socials. Phi Sigma Rho respects all of the individuals in a sorority and our main goal is to bond each other as well as keeping up good grades. Also, I had a good grade last semester and I can claim that joining a sorority actually helped me getting good grades because studying with my friends helped a lot with my cem exams but I could not have done that without them. I think that the statement 'joining a sorority is a bad choice that it could influence your grades in a bad way' is wrong. I totally believe that grade depends on how individual behaves and makes an effort.

Natura-based cosmetics and Chemical based cosmetics

Written by Yiran Li

Cosmetics are a large part of chemical engineering. A "Green Beauty Barometer" survey states that 54% of women claimed it is important that their skin care product purchases are all natural. From a recent analysis by the Environmental Working Group, many people believe that products touted as "organic”, are made with only organic ingredients, which isn't actually the case. This is a commercial strategy of cosmetics companies in the 21st century because natural skin care has been a new social trend.

Many people's impression of natural beauty products means that soap peppered with brown flakes, or a hunk of shea butter in a glass jar sitting on the dusty shelf of a weird-smelling health food store, is natural. My favorite brand, FRESH, is one such brand that looks natural but is not actually natural at all. Its ads, packages, smells, and even its products look extremely natural. But when we look at the ingredients list, there are many high-hazard ingredients. I recommend a website called EWG that analyzes the compositions of skin care products in explicit ways. 

In my opinion, when I’m selecting the skin care product, the most important factor to me is its ingredients list. We should treat the chemical composition in the skin care product critically. The skin care product we use should be based on our individual skin type. There are some controversial chemical compositions, such as alcohol. Maria Mitchell says it well: “There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness.” To be beautiful, you can try to manage your pressure and bad temper. If you want to get a better skin condition, you should have a healthy diet, a regular schedule, enough exercise and happiness.

Reference: http://www.allure.com/story/millennial-women-green-beauty.
                      http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

Energy Advancements

Written by: Adam Tarrant

          The world is dying. It’s right there in the facts. No matter what side you are on within this controversial topic, it’s still in all our best interests to find more efficient ways to live on this planet. With the world on a steady decline, scientists and engineers are determined to find better, more efficient ways to improve different aspects of energy use. 

          Very recently, “a team of University of Colorado Boulder engineers [have] developed a scalable manufactured metamaterial -- an engineered material with extraordinary properties not found in nature -- to act as a kind of air conditioning system for structures,” such as power plants and other large-scale technology ("New Engineered Material" 1). The new-invented cooling system isn’t run on energy; it simply reflects incoming solar-energy back into space while simultaneously allowing the object to shed its own heat. 

          This eco-friendly, thin material can be mass produced and widely distributed, making a large footprint in the energy-consumption community. 

          It’s clear engineers are crucial to the planets future, and creating more opportunities for aspiring engineers will only benefit the planet, as opposed to hurting it.



source:

"New Engineered Material can Cool Roofs, Structures with Zero Energy Consumption." Science Daily, 9 Feb. 2017, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/02/170209142708.htm