My Ph.D study so far...

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

I'm now in my 4th semester of my Ph.D studies. I will be lying if I say that doing Ph.D is easy. It's not as easy as that. I told my wife few months ago that preparing the project report for my Institution Engineers Malaysia (IEM) interview (to be a professional engineer) was tougher than doing my Ph.D. I'm wrong!!! Maybe that time, I was not really focus on my Ph.D. But now, as I'm more focus with my studies, I am well aware that completing this study is not as easy as it seems to be. It is so tough. Ask anybody who successfully completed their Ph.D... Nobody says it is easy.

Suddenly I felt time is very limited. I'm beginning to feel the pressure. I have more or less one year to complete my studies. I need to start working on my experiments. My experimental rig is fine and I believe it will be ok as I already tested it several times. The only concern for me is the quartz reactor that is brittle in nature. I need to keep sufficient stock of it. In addition, I also need to ensure my other equipments and consumables have spare as well. When talking about the experimentation work, the Gas Chromatography (GC) should also be in perfect condition for me and my Iranian colleague (Maryam) to analyze our products. The GC is the basically the heart of the study besides the rig reactor and process. I'm going to start my experimental work tomorrow officially and I hope everything will be fine... (Need to pray a lot!!!) OK ...enough about the experimental work.

Journal Paper... This is another thing hunting my back and consuming a huge chunk of my time. I have a draft prepared and submitted to 2 reputed publishers only to see on both occasions it got rejected for funny reasons (the first one) and out of scope reason (the second one). I admit that I felt miserable being rejected just like that. Well... I need to bounce back and fight to improve my draft paper and then send it again to other journal.

Thermodynamic modeling... Yeah...not only experimental work, I also need to work on the thermodynamic modeling of my catalytic reaction. This is quite interesting but at the same time it is my weakest part. I'm slowly working on this section and I hope I can complete this study in the next 2 months... (also, I need to pray to God a lot on this). I'm receiving some help from Maryam on this. She has been helping me when I got confuse and lost.

There are certainly a lot more to share about my research journey as a Ph.D student. I think I should reserve the rest for future sharing. For the time being, I just need to focus on my study for a while. Wish me luck... :)

Before ending... I would like to thank my other half of her undivided support for me. It is good to have a partner who is also in the same chemical engineering field. She understood what I'm doing and at the same time provided me precious input and ideas.

Also, my other colleague in the lab... All of you are great...haha...especially Emm2020...who has been next door to me in the lab...Let's finish this together!!!

p/s: Sorry if this post is not of any benefit to you guys. I just need to vent off some tense in me.



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Chemical Engineering Is the Future of Technology

Sunday, April 3, 2011

In today's world, it is becoming increasingly necessary for man to be able to manipulate the world around him in order to thrive, and as we continue to thrive we have to learn how to undo the damage we have done in past years. Chemical engineers are the only tool we have for new research and development in almost every field, including the medical field, environmental science, research science, and a large portion of the research done in the technological fields.

Microelectronics involves itself in the development of technology that will aid those in the medical professions. They study plasma processes, which are used in a number of treatments, and laser technology, which enables doctors to perform surgeries faster, more safely, and more affordably that ever before. They also study super-molecular self-assembly and organization and colloidal systems, all for use in the continued study of the human body and how it grows and develops. These technologies are enabling doctors to treat patients quicker and cheaper, which is more than necessary when one considers the dramatic shortage of doctors and nurses and the ever-growing list of people needing medical treatment. These technologies help an entire host of issues; the decrease in cost leads to health insurance becoming more affordable and therefore more accessible to the everyday citizen. Easier recovery times and safer surgeries lead to a higher survival rate and a better standard of living.



Technological development is not the sole focus of chemical engineering, however. Biochemical engineering involves the study of mammalian tissues, virus removal from blood, protein manipulation, and a wide array of genetic engineering technologies. These research scientists are leading the way to a number of cures and treatments that will improve the health of America Imagine a day when HIV/AIDS, cancers, and a wide array of terminal and debilitating conditions have been eradicated or are easily treated.



The focus of chemical engineering spans more than just the medical field, however. Almost all students majoring in chemical engineering study the use of resources like oil and natural gas and can delve into research for more efficient methods of obtaining these fuels and exercising them to their full potential. In today's world, with gas prices fluctuating and the populous dissatisfied, no profession could be in higher demand.



The U.S. Military, as well, is interested in chemical engineers that specialize in polymer engineering, which is the study of the synthesis of different chemicals, and process engineering, the study of catalyst development and fault detection and control, as they can work with the military to develop weapons.



Chemical Engineers are closer than ever to finding cures for deadly diseases, defending our nation from hostile countries, and improving the standard of living for citizens. Those that invest their time and money in a chemical engineering program will not be disappointed, as there is an endless spectrum of meaningful, important careers, opportunities, and chances to shine.



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This article is contributed by Sally.Sally is a dedicated writer for StudentScholarships.org. She is an expert in Scholarships, Financial Aid, Career Advice, and most other things college related.

Image credited to cecon.com/uniqueness/chemical-engineering.html

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