I've recently had a major revelation in regards to life in general. As a senior, I face the problems that almost all the others out there seem to claim, a disease known as senioritis. At the same time, as a senior, people constantly ask me "Where do you plan on attending college next year?" and I politely answer, "Well... I'm not really sure yet." It scares me to death that I do not know my plan for my future, but I have also realized my senioritis is a result of my indecisiveness. I have concluded that it is extremely hard for me to work to my full potential when I struggle to know exactly what my goals in life are, and what my future plans are. Without a goal in mind for next year, I find it hard to complete the multitude of papers and tests that my teachers insist on continuing despite the upcoming Spring Break. This same concept applies to my internship, and life in general.
In the first part of my internship at Cargill, I felt useless and as though I had no purpose within the company. This once again demonstrated my lack of goal, and I felt as though I had no reason to spend hours at the plant. However, I approached my mentor and asked for a more meaningful assignment, in order to get a better understanding of the work of a chemical engineer. He ended up assigning me a project which not only tested my knowledge and capabilities in the field of chemistry, but will in fact be used by the company! It thrills me to think of the possibility of completing such a task, and it has given me a goal for the future of my internship! This goal has given me the motivation to work hard and diligently, just as deciding on a college will help me to perservere well into the day of graduation!
Therefore, I truly think it is important that we as individuals set goals for ourselves. Goals help to motivate and help to keep us focused on the prize.
In regards to my final project, I want to present the information that I am currently working on for Cargill. I am trying to find the most efficient way to process crude oil, testing different molarities of phosphoric acid, the solution which cargill choses to use to separate impurities from the oil. This covers my interest in chemistry and I think the best way to present this information would be a science board, but I also wanted to do a second part to my final project. It is completely different, but as I have a great interest in food research, I was debating on making a recipe-makeover cookbook based on my hopefully upcoming hours spent at Two Dog and further food research. This could help me to gain knowledge on the health benefits of certain foods and how foods combine with others, allowing me to chose the optimum spices and ingredients.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Blog Entry #4
Honestly, I have struggled a lot with my internship. I almsot feel as though my mentor does not trust me to give me real "chemistry" type work, and therefore I have been give the opportunity to tour the factory. Although this has all been extremely interesting, I want to get a better idea of the concept of chemical engineering. Therefore, this past week I asked if there was any possible way for me to obtain a more detailed chemistry project that allowed me to get a better idea of the major ahead of me. Most gratefully, my mentor helped me to initiate a project in which I am testing different variables to see what may affect the efficiency of refining oil for the company. I am extremely excited about this new project as the company is actually going to use my data to possibly change their processes and I get to involve myself in the lab! I am thankful for this new opportunity and I am glad I get to experiment with chemistry in such a way. I still hope that I may get some idea of the concept behind food research and development, which is the direction in which I plan to take my major of chemical engineering. However, as of right now, I am excited to build on the basic concepts with soybeans.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Hydrogenation
Hydrogenation
Since the discovery of hydrogenation in the early 1900s and the popularization of this technique by Crisco in 1911 (Baker), more and more products have been created using this process. However, recently this process has been discovered to have negative health effects and there is research going on to discover new techniques to eliminate the problems associated with the procedure. Oil companies require hydrogen to get rid of sulfur and other things in crude oil. The heavier the crude oil, the more hydrogen is required to get rid of impurities (212 Hoffmann). Hydrogenation is the process of creating saturated fatty acids when double bonds break as they take in hydrogen. Fatty acids with two or more double bonds are polyunsaturated, fatty acids with one double bond are monounsaturated, and fatty acids with no double bonds are saturated and trans (141 Bender). First, during hydrogenation oil is heated to an extremely high temperature and then hydrogen is added (Francis). At Cargill, they produce their own hydrogen gas and they also use this gas to hydrogenate their soybeans, creating fat from soybean oil. By using hydrogenation, we can lengthen the shelf-life of edible organic oils, such as soybean, fish, cotton seed, peanut, corn, and coconut oil. This is because hydrogenation decreases the possibility of the oil oxidizing. When hydrogen is added to oil, it becomes a fat, like margarine, shortening, soap, and animal feed (212-213 Hoffmann).
According to John Cook, new technologies are now being developed so that margarine and other fats are being created without the process of hydrogenation. Without using this process, scientists would be able to eliminate saturated fat in products such as margarine and shortening, and allow these products to be healthier for the consumer (Cook, Emptage, Miller, Rauch, and Funes). Saturated fats cause the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol to go up and cause the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol to go down. LDL cholesterol is recognized as bad for you and HDL cholesterol as good for you, therefore, health conscious individuals should be aware of the amount of hydrogenated products they are consuming (Formanek).
Works Cited
Hoffmann, Peter. Tomorrow’s Energy: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and the Prospects for a Cleaner Planet. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2001. Print.
"The Bad Fat." The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) 15 Jan. 2007: B1. Questia. Web. 4 Mar. 2010.
Bender, Arnold E., and David A. Bender. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Questia. Web. 4 Mar. 2010.
Cook, John D., et al. "Food Biotechnology: Can You Afford to Be Left Out?." The McKinsey Quarterly (1997): 78+. Questia. Web. 4 Mar. 2010.
"THE FATS YOU DIDN'T KNOWCOULD KILL YOU; They're Called 'Trans Fats' - and Doctors Now Say They Are the Major Health Threat in Our Food. Here, We Explain Just What They Are . . . and Reveal the Products They Lurk in GoodHealth." The Daily Mail (London, England) 20 June 2006: 42. Questia. Web. 4 Mar. 2010.
Formanek, Ray. "Observations." FDA Consumer Sept.-Oct. 2003: 2. Questia. Web. 4 Mar. 2010.
Since the discovery of hydrogenation in the early 1900s and the popularization of this technique by Crisco in 1911 (Baker), more and more products have been created using this process. However, recently this process has been discovered to have negative health effects and there is research going on to discover new techniques to eliminate the problems associated with the procedure. Oil companies require hydrogen to get rid of sulfur and other things in crude oil. The heavier the crude oil, the more hydrogen is required to get rid of impurities (212 Hoffmann). Hydrogenation is the process of creating saturated fatty acids when double bonds break as they take in hydrogen. Fatty acids with two or more double bonds are polyunsaturated, fatty acids with one double bond are monounsaturated, and fatty acids with no double bonds are saturated and trans (141 Bender). First, during hydrogenation oil is heated to an extremely high temperature and then hydrogen is added (Francis). At Cargill, they produce their own hydrogen gas and they also use this gas to hydrogenate their soybeans, creating fat from soybean oil. By using hydrogenation, we can lengthen the shelf-life of edible organic oils, such as soybean, fish, cotton seed, peanut, corn, and coconut oil. This is because hydrogenation decreases the possibility of the oil oxidizing. When hydrogen is added to oil, it becomes a fat, like margarine, shortening, soap, and animal feed (212-213 Hoffmann).
According to John Cook, new technologies are now being developed so that margarine and other fats are being created without the process of hydrogenation. Without using this process, scientists would be able to eliminate saturated fat in products such as margarine and shortening, and allow these products to be healthier for the consumer (Cook, Emptage, Miller, Rauch, and Funes). Saturated fats cause the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol to go up and cause the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol to go down. LDL cholesterol is recognized as bad for you and HDL cholesterol as good for you, therefore, health conscious individuals should be aware of the amount of hydrogenated products they are consuming (Formanek).
Works Cited
Hoffmann, Peter. Tomorrow’s Energy: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and the Prospects for a Cleaner Planet. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2001. Print.
"The Bad Fat." The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) 15 Jan. 2007: B1. Questia. Web. 4 Mar. 2010.
Bender, Arnold E., and David A. Bender. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Questia. Web. 4 Mar. 2010.
Cook, John D., et al. "Food Biotechnology: Can You Afford to Be Left Out?." The McKinsey Quarterly (1997): 78+. Questia. Web. 4 Mar. 2010.
"THE FATS YOU DIDN'T KNOWCOULD KILL YOU; They're Called 'Trans Fats' - and Doctors Now Say They Are the Major Health Threat in Our Food. Here, We Explain Just What They Are . . . and Reveal the Products They Lurk in GoodHealth." The Daily Mail (London, England) 20 June 2006: 42. Questia. Web. 4 Mar. 2010.
Formanek, Ray. "Observations." FDA Consumer Sept.-Oct. 2003: 2. Questia. Web. 4 Mar. 2010.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Blog Entry #2
Today was rather interesting as our group of mentorship students took part in a personality test which helped you to determine strengths and weaknesses based on your character traits. After taking the test I found I was very strongly determined to be melancholy. After looking over the said strengths and weaknesses I have to agree. It describes me as a good student, creative, organized, orderly, sensitive, analytical, and demanding on oneself. I can most certainly see these characteristics within myself in everyday life. However, there were also weaknesses based on my character traits. These weaknesses included inflexibility, criticalness, poor self-image, need for approval, gloominess, pessimism, and critical of my own imperfections. Unfortunately, I have to admit these fit my personality as well. I know my family certainly gets frustrated when everything has to go "my way" and I have trouble adjusting and rising above situations that don't turn out the way I want them to. I also know I tend to take myself out of social situations, as I would rather just stay to myself and remain reserved. I know this does not make me a team player and it certainly qualifies as a weakness of mine. However, today I learned that weaknesses can be overcome by recognition and that by knowing my own personal weaknesses I can make conscious decisions to overcome my weaknesses and allow my stregnths to outshine my problems. This will help to make me a better mentor, student, and person in general.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Blog Entry #1
Hi! My name is Chelsea and I'm doing a mentorship in chemical engineering at the international agricultural production company of cargill.
Just a little bit about me, I'm generally a pretty determined person and my whole theory of life is kind of summed up by Eleanor Roosevelt. I adore her and all the work she did and I truly love her quote that states, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." It is so true that we all have the power to overcome the cruelness of others and it is important to ignore those who treat us badly, or at least resist the temptation to be cruel back to them. I guess that is why I truly believe in her quote and I live by it. It gives me the passion I have every day and the motivation to be as determined as possible.
From our trip last Tuesday at Lapdog I learned a lot about our group, myself, and teamwork in general. First off, I noticed that sometimes watching and observing others is just as helpful as attempting something yourself. There is always the opportunity to learn, even if you aren't out there trying something, you can still be taking things in. Another thing I learned is that I love to be a leader in the areas I feel strong in, like math. When we did the puzzle activity and the bean bag activity, which were related to math, I felt the desire to take control of the group. However, in the more social activities, I felt completely out of my comfort zone and simply just wanted to "hang back" and let others lead. The third thing I noticed during our Lapdog experience was the competitive nature of successful people. All those in the mentorship program have shown great potential, which is why they have been chosen to be a part of it. I saw in my fellow peers a friendly competitive nature, which I believe may have been a key factor in helping to aid in their past success. It makes me believe I should encourage my own competitive nature in order to be more successful in life in general.
The word synergy is basically when people or things work together for a final outcome. I saw this at Lapdog mutliple times (pretty much in every activity). However, I saw it the most clearly in the blind-fold activity in which a leader had to direct their teammates, who were blind-folded. Perhaps it was because I was being led, or because I watched other groups for a period of time, but I saw that this activity required a great amount of teamwork. It seemed practically impossible, especially at first, however, in the end groups kept getting closer and closer to completing the task, which just shows that teamwork in the end can get you somewhere.
Mentoring in general is extremely important to me. I have always been exposed to the classroom setting in which I learn the basics of math, science, english, social studies, etc. From these classes I have been able to see what subjects I am interested in, but I have never had the experiences to narrow down a career from these subjects. I have formed beliefs of what I would enjoy doing, but it would be so terrible if I got a major in college, started a job, and realized how much I hated it. With this mentorship opportunity, I am able to see if I truly enjoy chemical engineering and I also get the opportunity to experience the professional workplace, a place that will be of extreme importance to me later in life.
Just a little bit about me, I'm generally a pretty determined person and my whole theory of life is kind of summed up by Eleanor Roosevelt. I adore her and all the work she did and I truly love her quote that states, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." It is so true that we all have the power to overcome the cruelness of others and it is important to ignore those who treat us badly, or at least resist the temptation to be cruel back to them. I guess that is why I truly believe in her quote and I live by it. It gives me the passion I have every day and the motivation to be as determined as possible.
From our trip last Tuesday at Lapdog I learned a lot about our group, myself, and teamwork in general. First off, I noticed that sometimes watching and observing others is just as helpful as attempting something yourself. There is always the opportunity to learn, even if you aren't out there trying something, you can still be taking things in. Another thing I learned is that I love to be a leader in the areas I feel strong in, like math. When we did the puzzle activity and the bean bag activity, which were related to math, I felt the desire to take control of the group. However, in the more social activities, I felt completely out of my comfort zone and simply just wanted to "hang back" and let others lead. The third thing I noticed during our Lapdog experience was the competitive nature of successful people. All those in the mentorship program have shown great potential, which is why they have been chosen to be a part of it. I saw in my fellow peers a friendly competitive nature, which I believe may have been a key factor in helping to aid in their past success. It makes me believe I should encourage my own competitive nature in order to be more successful in life in general.
The word synergy is basically when people or things work together for a final outcome. I saw this at Lapdog mutliple times (pretty much in every activity). However, I saw it the most clearly in the blind-fold activity in which a leader had to direct their teammates, who were blind-folded. Perhaps it was because I was being led, or because I watched other groups for a period of time, but I saw that this activity required a great amount of teamwork. It seemed practically impossible, especially at first, however, in the end groups kept getting closer and closer to completing the task, which just shows that teamwork in the end can get you somewhere.
Mentoring in general is extremely important to me. I have always been exposed to the classroom setting in which I learn the basics of math, science, english, social studies, etc. From these classes I have been able to see what subjects I am interested in, but I have never had the experiences to narrow down a career from these subjects. I have formed beliefs of what I would enjoy doing, but it would be so terrible if I got a major in college, started a job, and realized how much I hated it. With this mentorship opportunity, I am able to see if I truly enjoy chemical engineering and I also get the opportunity to experience the professional workplace, a place that will be of extreme importance to me later in life.
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